Awards season is officially underway for 2016 and West Coast’s Josh Kennedy has proven himself as the dominant force up forward to take out this year’s Coleman Medal.
But as is always the case, rarely do we get the chance to recognise those in the back half of the ground – a point Sydney defender Ted Richards made when joining the annual All-Australian debate:
Question: If All-Australian key forwards are judged on goals kicked, interesting to know which key defender had the least goals conceded?
— Ted Richards (@tedrichards25) August 29, 2016
His query caught the eye of Champion Data who provided the football world with the 2016 ‘Reverse Coleman’.
2016 Reverse Coleman - Key Defenders with 15+ Games (Top 10)
| Player | Games | Goals conceded | Average goals conceded |
| Harry Taylor | 22 | 15 | 0.68 |
| Jacob Weitering | 20 | 19 | 0.95 |
| Will Schofield | 21 | 20 | 0.95 |
| Lachie Henderson | 18 | 18 | 1.00 |
| Nick Haynes | 16 | 16 | 1.00 |
| Sam Frost | 16 | 16 | 1.00 |
| Oscar McDonald | 15 | 15 | 1.00 |
| Heath Grundy | 22 | 23 | 1.05 |
| Lachie Plowman | 18 | 20 | 1.05 |
| Patrick Ambrose | 18 | 20 | 1.06 |
Source: Champion Data
Long heralded as one of the best one-on-one defenders in the game, the Cats’ Harry Taylor comes out on top for fewest goals conceded this season with just 15 goals against in 22 games.
Lachie Henderson also makes the top 10 with 18 goals conceded in 18 games, whilst veteran Tom Lonergan’s average of 1.15 goals against per game lands him just outside in 12th position.
Geelong’s defence is ranked second in the league for points against (70.6 avg. per game) and with numbers like the above from the club’s tall defenders, it’s no wonder why.
