Prior to Round 19, Lloyd held a nine-goal advantage over Gehrig, but in recent weeks the Saints spearhead has found the goals. Gehrig has kicked 19 goals over the past three weeks – In Round 21 against Brisbane he finished with five goals, Gehrig booted 10 goals versus the Kangaroos in Round 20 and contributed five goals against Adelaide in Round 19.
With just one game remaining, Lloyd needs to better Gehrig’s Round 22 goal total by three or more goals. With St Kilda playing Fremantle Saturday night at The Dome, Lloyd will know prior to Sunday’s match against the Western Bulldogs, his goal kicking target if he is to win his fourth Coleman Medal.
Lloyd can take confidence from his impressive goal kicking record against the Western Bulldogs. In Round 7 this season Lloyd booted five goals in the Bombers’ 26-point win.
The 26-year-old became Essendon’s greatest goal kicker of all time in Round 19, 2003 against the Western Bulldogs when he broke Simon Madden’s 575 goal kicking record in the third quarter of the match.
It was a memorable day for the Bomber spearhead – he booted a career best six goals in the one quarter, kicked over 10 goals for the third time in his career (he finished with 11 majors) and was the catalyst to the 67-point trouncing of the Western Bulldogs. When the two teams met prior that season in Round 4, Lloyd finished the game with five goals in the team’s 19-point victory.
Lloyd will have to turn on a big performance this Sunday if he wants to retain the Coleman Medal.
