Scott Lucas (footballer)

Scott Lucas (born 30 December 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League, and is noted as the other major forward for the Bombers along with Matthew Lloyd. Together, Lloyd and Lucas were affectionately dubbed the "twin towers" due to their height in the Bomber forward line.

Scott Lucas
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-12-30) 30 December 1977
Original team(s) Geelong Falcons
Draft No. 4, 1994 National Draft
Debut Round 5, 25 April 1996, Essendon
vs. Collingwood, at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Height 192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 97 kg (214 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1996–2009 Essendon 270 (471)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2009.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Football career

Lucas is known for his strong marking and being a powerful, accurate left-foot kick, although his apparent inability to kick with his right foot is almost as notable. Lucas once joked on The Sunday Footy Show in 2006 that the last time he kicked with his right foot was to Gary Moorcroft when he took the 2001 Mark of the Year.[1]

He mainly played across half-forward or centre half-forward, but also played at centre half-back and full-forward. Lucas regularly had shots on goal from outside 60 metres with his booming left foot, and he rarely handballed, averaging less than 3 handballs a match.

In Round 19, 2005, Lucas played his 200th AFL game and kicked his 300th AFL goal against Sydney at Telstra Dome, but the milestones would be remembered for all the wrong reasons, as the Bombers lost by 20 points despite leading at every change.[2]

In 2006, Lucas had an outstanding year in an underachieving Essendon side, playing at full-forward and being their main target and goalkicker in the absence of captain Matthew Lloyd. Lucas finished the season with a career-best 67 goals, runner-up in the Coleman Medal behind Brendan Fevola, and polled a joint team-high seven votes from just 36 votes received by Essendon players in the 2006 Brownlow Medal.[3][4] Lucas was one of just three players who played every match for season 2006. He capped off this season with his second Crichton Medal, winning with 239 votes from Jobe Watson's 221.[5] Lucas had previously won the club trophy in 2003, when the honours were shared with club great James Hird.[6]

Against West Coast in Round 11, 2007, Lucas booted his 400th career goal.

A vintage display also came against West Coast in Round 22, when, despite being close to 50 points down, Lucas rallied in the last quarter in a remarkable solo effort, booting 7 goals (and just missing for a record-equalling eighth), reducing the margin to just 2 points. In the end, though, a late goal to the Eagles saw a gallant Essendon fall 8 points short of one of the greatest-ever AFL comebacks. This was also the last game of Essendon legend James Hird and coach of 27 years, Kevin Sheedy.[7]

During a match against the Western Bulldogs in the 2008 NAB Cup, Lucas managed to kick a record 3 Super Goals,[8] which took his career tally to 7, making him the leading super-goal-kicker in the AFL.

Lucas suffered a knee injury (specifically, a torn cartilage) in the first round of the 2008 season against North Melbourne and was out of action for a number of weeks. Along with teammate Dustin Fletcher, Lucas signed a one-year contract in mid-2008. He bounced back to play in the second half of the season and kicked an amazing midair soccer goal against Richmond late in the season.[9]

On 18 August 2009, Lucas announced his immediate retirement from football.[10]

In 2013, Lucas was inducted into the Essendon Football Club Hall of Fame.[11]

Playing statistics
[12]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1996 Essendon 25141111844913344190.80.86.03.59.53.11.4
1997 Essendon 2522231124185326123241.00.511.03.914.85.61.1
1998 Essendon 2523493128751338123302.11.312.52.214.75.31.3
1999 Essendon 2510891062713345120.80.910.62.713.34.51.2
2000 Essendon 2523574226584349132382.51.811.53.715.25.71.7
2001 Essendon 2525353429776373135421.41.411.93.014.95.41.7
2002 Essendon 2519251523560295108331.30.812.43.215.55.71.7
2003 Essendon 2524191633483417130610.80.713.93.517.45.42.5
2004 Essendon 2521252127569344108531.21.013.13.316.45.12.5
2005 Essendon 2522512428948337134492.31.113.12.215.36.12.2
2006 Essendon 2522674431058368183333.02.014.12.616.78.31.5
2007 Essendon 2522612829266358159312.81.313.33.016.37.21.4
2008 Essendon 25918953177036122.01.05.91.97.84.01.3
2009 Essendon 251422141336219590331.61.09.54.413.96.42.4
Career 270 471 309 3201 835 4036 1550 470 1.7 1.1 11.9 3.1 14.9 5.7 1.7

Personal life

On 4 January 2002, Lucas married Georgina Short. They have 3 daughters: Mia (born 12 December 2002), Hannah (born 12 July 2004), and Meg (born 26 May 2006).

References
  1. Robinson, Mark. "Top 10 Speccies of All Time: No 8 Gary Moorcroft, Essendon".
  2. Gigacz, Andrew (6 August 2005). "Match Details: 2005 R19 Essendon vs Sydney". Australian Football. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  3. "Essendon Football Club News – Lucas, Stanton Bomber's best". Essendon Blog. 29 September 2006. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  4. "2006 Brownlow Medal". AFL Tables. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  5. "Lucas wins second Crichton Medal". 14 September 2006.
  6. Johnson, Len (2 October 2003). "Hird and Lucas share medal".
  7. "Bombers fall short of fairytale finish". 2 September 2007.
  8. "Lucas gives Camperdown a kick-along". Herald Sun. 7 March 2008.
  9. Robinson, Mark (25 March 2008). "Bombers lose Lucas but find positives". Herald Sun. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
  10. Nicholls, Michael: Lucas calls it quits, AFL Online, 18 August 2009.
  11. Scott Lucas, essendonfc.com.au, 4 March 2013
  12. Scott Lucas' player profile at AFL Tables

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