We are never, ever going to get back to guys kicking 100 goals in a game.

It’s not the nature of teams anymore and defenders are far too smart.

It’s a shame considering the emphasis we’ve had on celebrating key forwards like Tony Modra, Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall etc. 

I was lucky enough to play alongside Lockett back when four or five was a stock standard day out.

But from around 2005/2006, the Sydney Swans-Paul Roos era, the emphasis changed from attack to defense in the AFL.

That’s not a shot at Roosy either, he made the best of the players he had and coached them into a flag - full credit to him.

However if you need to pinpoint a moment of change, that was probably it.

The former Sydney coach’s playing style was even infamously described by then AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou as “ugly”…

So what exactly are we talking about in terms of a decrease?

If Ben Brown fails to kick three goals or more against Melbourne on Saturday, the AFL will fail to have a player kick 65 goals or more in a season for the first time since 1965 (John Peck, 56 goals in an 18-game season).

Since the year 2000, only one player has cracked the century - Lance Franklin in 2008 with 102.

In the 10 years prior, from 1990 to 1999, 100 goals in a season was exceeded eight times.

Dunstall kicked more goals in 1992 (139) than the two most recent Coleman medalists (Jack Reiwoldt with 65 and Lance Franklin with 69) combined.

To be clear, the AFL is not to blame for the decrease in scoring… if anything they’ve had a decent shot at bringing it back.

The 6-6-6 rule was brought in, players can now put hands on the back to retain position… I don’t think the AFL is guilty of sitting on its hands.

And although I think it’s a shame for the older generation, I don’t think the new wave of fans are really going to care. 

You can’t miss what you don’t know, and this generation has never known of players kicking 12 or 16 goals in a game. 

So where to from here? I think we need to start celebrating the interceptors and defenders of the game a bit more.

Praise the intercept mark, the chase down tackle, the bloke who gets three or four touches a game but keeps the key forward goalless.

Look at someone like Dylan Grimes, he’s doing incredible work down back.

There are far too many defenders who never receive a Brownlow vote because the midfielder who had 30 touches gets the credit.

Side note, stop judging players based on their stats. Go watch a game, pick with your own eyes the player you think had the biggest impact and back them in without feeling the need to have your argument supported by statistics.

Congratulations to Ben Brown for kicking 10 goals in the modern game, it was a huge achievement.

But while it’s easy to bemoan fewer goals and less attacking play, how about we instead start giving the defenders the credit they deserve.

Dale Lewis is the co-host of Triple M’s The Rush Hour with Jars & Louie, weekdays from 3-4pm and 6-7pm. 

Lewis played 182 games for the Sydney Swans between 1990 and 2001.