Tom Hawkins, Tom Boyd and Jonathon Patton are all cut from the same cloth. While they are all at different stages of their careers, all three were dominant junior footballers who had every club falling over themselves to call their name out on draft day due to their ability to dominate under-18 football.
Patton was selected at No.1 in 2011 and likewise Boyd in 2013, while Hawkins would have been No.1 in his draft, had he not been a father-son selection for Geelong in 2006. The three of them were unstoppable against players of their own age due to their size, and it wasn't hard to see why they were taken with the first pick as quality key position forwards are always the hardest to find.
The past two years has seen a big shift in how the game is played and scoring is the lowest we have ever seen. Team defence is the No.1 priority for all clubs and that means every player on the field is often in one half of the ground. Watching this style of football every weekend often has me reflecting on how lucky I was to play most of my career in a different era.
The 1995-2005 era would have suited Hawkins, Patton and Boyd much more than today's game. Hawkins has been a wonderful player for Geelong, but as the Cats have started to decline and the role of a key forward continues to evolve, the game no longer suits players of his physical make-up.
He needs to tailor his upcoming preseason to a program that sees him shed up to five kilograms and focus heavily on his endurance, speed and agility. If he doesn't, he could become a liability for Geelong because he can't cover the territory that is now being asked of him.
With Boyd and Patton, they have long careers ahead of them but they have a battle to succeed at AFL level with the demands being asked of power forwards. Key forwards will continue to be taken with the first pick in the draft but the type of forward clubs are looking for will change.
Last year the top six leading goal kickers in the AFL were key forwards in Lance Franklin, Jay Schulz, Jarryd Roughead, Hawkins, Josh Kennedy and Jack Riewoldt. Buddy won the Coleman with 67 goals. I was always a big believer that every premiership side needed to have two big strong key forwards in the team but that is no longer the case.
If you are too big and cumbersome as a forward group, you can't cover the ground to create attacking options or defend well enough when your team loses possession of the ball.
This is where things have changed. Kennedy, Jeremy Cameron and Taylor Walker lead the way on the scoring front this year but Eddie Betts and Chad Wingard round out the top five with 54 and 53 goals respectively. Jake Stringer and Jack Gunston, who are the modern day prototype of forwards, are going to flourish.
Stringer and Gunston are built differently but both cover a large amount of territory, are good above their head and can find space charging back to goal. This is what Hawkins has really struggled to be able to do in recent weeks and he has, at times, looked disinterested.
All of the big forwards who have flourished this year move really well, and even a player such as Josh Jenkins who is 198cm and 106kg, a similar height and weight to Hawkins, is still prospering because he has the ability to be dynamic in his running and ground-level play.
Jenkins is starting to believe he belongs and he covers the ground exceptionally well for someone his size. Kennedy, Cameron and Walker are all exceptional athletes who are also good below their knees, which allows them to be so much more than just a mark and kick for goal player. Tom Lynch of the Suns and Jesse Hogan of Melbourne are young stars who also fit the perfect mould.
Hawkins has plenty of good football left in him but he has to make significant changes if he is to get back to his best. Boyd and Patton are young men who have struck different hurdles in their first few years of football through form and injury but they need the summer of their lives if they are to justify their billing as No.1 selections.
The two greatest goal kickers in the history of our game - Tony Lockett and Jason Dunstall - would have had to do the same had they been young up and coming footballers. I'm pretty sure they are just as happy as I am that they played in an era where the goal umpire became your best friend and you didn't have to leave the goal square unless you were making a lead.
