Jon Ralph has branded Brendon Goddard’s actions in the dying seconds of Essendon’s shock after-the-siren loss to Sydney last week as a contender for the worst play of the season.
The 32-year-old former Saint was designated to kick the ball out after a Swans behind inside the final minute of the game, with a long kick outside 50 to a huge pack likely to have been enough for his side hang on for a crucial away win.
Instead, Goddard decided to play on out of the goalsquare, inviting pressure from Swans small forward Tom Papley who subsequently smothered his kick out of play.
The resulting throw-in was won by Sydney, with a rushed kick by defender Dean Rampe, Goddard’s direct opponent at that time, being marked inside the goalsquare by Gary Rohan.
His resulting kick after the siren handed the Swans their sixth win of the season and saw them jump above their opponents on AFL ladder.
The Herald Sun journalist has criticised the Bombers’ 2016 stand-in captain, believing he not only needed to have a greater sense of the game and not take any unneeded risks with his kick-in, but that he also needed greater intensity to making a smother on Rampe that could have saved their win.
“It was a horrific game (from Goddard),” Ralph told SEN’s The Run Home.
“You’ve got to understand that if you point your finger in a rant and you throw pretzels, the fans in the footy world are going to come down very hard on you.
“People make mistakes in crucial plays, but for a bloke of 15 years’ experience, it was almost the worst play of the year.
“He had to know that the game says ‘If I am going to take three or four more steps, I am going to be smothered by Papley.’
“And then, the throw-up. He had to be closer to Rampe… he had to smother that ball like it was a mine and he was protecting everyone in his football team from it. He had to just jump on that ball and do everything he could.
“Instead, the ball went to Gary Rohan and the rest is history.”