High-volume goal-kicking is one of the more entertaining parts of footy, with it arguably being the main draw toward the game for fans since the AFL's conception. But how many out there have stayed in form long enough to get to that historic margin of 500 goals?
With Richmond forward Tom Lynch just three goals away from becoming the 66th player to join the 500-goal club in the AFL's history (and the benchmark might be reached on Friday night) I decided to take a look at the best from players who played around the same time in the 21st century to see if he'd made the cut.
The criteria for the list is based on whether the player got to the 500-goal mark during any year from 2000 onwards.
Some notable players that missed out were Matthew Richardson, Brendan Fevola, Jarryd Roughead and Brad Johnson.
3Matthew Lloyd (926 Goals)
Notable accolades: Premiership player, 3x Coleman Medal, 5x All-Australian, 12x Essendon leading goalkicker, Australian Football Hall of Fame
It's hard when making a list about some of the best goal-kickers we've ever seen without including this man. Lloyd was a huge part of the historically dominant 2000 Essendon team which went on to have an almost undefeated season during the same year where he booted 109 goals. The big Bomber may not have been the most athletic, but he was a sure-fire from 45-50 out and knew when to lead and how to time his marks better than anyone else.
