Full-forward is a position in
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
and
Gaelic football
Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
with a key focus on kicking goals.
The
Coleman Medal
The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, one of the most ...
is awarded to the player, often a full-forward, who has kicked the most goals in an
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
season.
In modern
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
and
Gaelic football
Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
, in which players do not strictly stick to a single position, the full-forward is often referred to as a "Key Forward" and can often switch positions with the
centre half-forward
In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a centre half-back. Royce Hart of the Richmond Football Club and Wayne Carey of the North Melbour ...
for "team balance" reasons. The frequency of players kicking 100 goals in a season has decreased in recent years.
in Gaelic Football, goals don’t come to often with an average of 1 goal per game in a single match.
Notable full-forwards
Present
![Franklin prepares to kick for goal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Franklin_prepares_to_kick_for_goal.jpg)
*
Ben Brown
*
Jeremy Cameron
Jeremy Cameron (born 1 April 1993) is a professional footballer with the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants from 2012 to 2020. Cameron has kicked the most ...
*
Lance Franklin
Lance Franklin (born 30 January 1987), also known as Buddy Franklin, is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 20 ...
*
Tom Hawkins
*
Josh Kennedy
*
Jack Riewoldt
Jack Riewoldt ( ; born 31 October 1988) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a three-time premiership player, a three-time Coleman Medallist, a ...
*
Jarryd Roughead
Jarryd Roughead (born 23 January 1987) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach with the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football C ...
*
Taylor Walker
Past great full-forwards
These are the more notable full-forwards who played in the AFL,
SANFL
The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport.
Originally formed as the ...
,
WAFL and
TFL:
*
Gary Ablett, Sr.
*
Malcolm Blight
Malcolm Jack Blight AM (born 16 February 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Woodville Football Club in the South Australian Nati ...
*
Bonny Campbell
Hugh "Bonny" Campbell (1 March 1898 – 28 April 1987) was an Australian rules footballer who played 188 West Australian Football League (WAFL) games and kicked 630 goals. He was a star full forward in the WAFL, a regular West Australian inters ...
*
John Coleman
*
Fred Cook
*
Gordon Coventry
Gordon Richard James Coventry (25 September 1901 – 7 November 1968) was a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Accorded "Legend" status in the Australian Footb ...
*
Rick Davies
Richard Davies (born 22 July 1944) is an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as founder, vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Supertramp. Davies was its only constant member, and composed some of the band's best known songs ...
*
George Doig
George Ronald Doig (25 May 1913 – 27 November 2006) was an Australian rules footballer who played for and later coached the East Fremantle Football Club in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL). A member of the Doig sport ...
*
Jason Dunstall
Jason Hadfield Dunstall (born 14 August 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Dunstall is arguably the greatest Australian rules footballer to come from ...
*
Tim Evans
*
Ken Farmer
Kenneth William George Farmer (25 July 1910 – 5 March 1982) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the North Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
Dubbed the ' Bradman of football' in So ...
*
Brendan Fevola
Brendan Fevola (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played with the Carlton and Brisbane Lions football clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Fevola is regarded as one of the most effective ...
*
Fraser Gehrig
Fraser Gehrig (born 3 March 1976) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL) .
Gehrig was a versatile player during his AFL career, begi ...
*
Barry Hall
Barry Hall (born 8 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club, Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is considered to be one of the be ...
*
Scott Hodges
Scott may refer to:
Places Canada
* Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec
* Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380
* Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saskat ...
*
Peter Hudson
Peter John Hudson AM (born 19 February 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the New Norfolk Football Club and Glenorchy Football Club in the Ta ...
*
Dick Lee
Richard Lee Peng Boon (born 24 August 1956) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright and film director.
Early life
Lee was born to a Peranakan father, Lee Kip Lee, (who wrote for ''The Straits Times'') and his wife , Elizabeth Tan. He was th ...
*
Matthew Lloyd
Matthew James Lloyd (born 16 April 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
A highly decorated full-forward, Lloyd's AFL's honours include ...
*
Tony Lockett
Anthony Howard Lockett (born 9 March 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Nicknamed "Plugger", he is considered one of the greatest f ...
*
John Longmire
John Longmire (born 31 December 1970) is the current coach of the Sydney Swans. As a player, he represented the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1999.
Early years
Longmire was born in Corowa, ...
*
Alastair Lynch
Alastair Graeme Lynch (born 19 June 1968) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is best known as a three-time premiership full-forward for the Brisbane Lions.
The Tasmanian ...
*
Peter McKenna
Peter McKenna (born 27 August 1946 in Brunswick West, Victoria) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Collingwood and Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. He also represented Devonport ...
*
Jim "Frosty" Miller
*
Tony Modra
Anthony Dale Modra (born 1 March 1969) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Adelaide and Fremantle in the Australian Football League (AFL) and West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known fo ...
*
Bernie Naylor
Bernard George Andrew Naylor (19 April 1923 – 26 September 1993) was an Australian rules footballer who was one of the most successful full-forwards in the history of the West Australian Football League. The WAFL now awards the leading goalsc ...
*
Matthew Pavlich
Matthew Pavlich (born 31 December 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
A versatile player, Pavlich is widely regarded as one of the premi ...
*
Fred Phillis
Dennis Keith "Fred" Phillis (born 9 September 1948) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
Background
Born Dennis Keith Phillis, his schoolmat ...
*
Bob Pratt
Harold Robert Pratt Sr. (31 August 1912 – 6 January 2001) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the Coburg Football Club in the Victorian Football Asso ...
*
Rino Pretto
Rino Anthony Pretto (born 13 June 1959) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for various clubs in the Victorian Football League, Victorian Football Association (VFA) and with Fitzroy Football Club, Fitzroy in the Australian Footba ...
*
Alan Rait
Alan Edward Rait (9 November 1908 – 24 March 1965) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also played with North Hobart in the TANFL, kicking 847 goals and topping the leagu ...
*
Matthew Richardson
*
Michael Roach
Michael Roach (born December 17, 1952) is an American businessman, spiritual leader, and former Buddhist monk and scholar who has started a number of businesses and organizations, written books inspired by Buddhism, and translated Tibetan Buddhis ...
*
Austin Robertson, Jr.
Austin Christopher Robertson (born 29 April 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL). He is the son of former South Me ...
*
Anthony Rocca
Anthony Rocca (born 15 August 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer who has played with the Sydney Swans and Collingwood in the Australian Football League.
Rocca is currently serving as North Melbourne's development coach.
Sydney
...
*
Saverio Rocca
Saverio Giovanni Rocca (born 20 November 1973) is a retired Australian professional sportsman. He played Australian rules football for Collingwood and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League, and then switched to playing American foo ...
*
Bruce Schultz
*
Jamie Shaw
*
Norm Smith
Norman Walter Smith (21 November 1915 – 29 July 1973) was an Australian rules football player and coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After more than 200 games as a player with and , Smith began a twenty-year coaching career, inc ...
*
Peter Sumich
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
*
Jack Titus
Jack "Skinny" Titus (9 March 1908 – 19 April 1978) was an Australian rules football player who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1926 and 1943 for the Richmond Football Club. In the golden era of the 1930s, Titus was one o ...
*
Doug Wade
Douglas Graeme Wade (born 16 October 1941) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
He was the League's leading goal scorer (winn ...
Field Positions
References
Australian rules football terminology
Gaelic games terminology
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