The night of celebrating that followed was hard but Centrals Trinity Beach full-forward Heath Barnett still recalls the relief he felt on kicking his 100th goal of the AFL Cairns season on Saturday.
The moment arrived just before halftime against Port Douglas at Crathern Oval, with Barnett slotting home his seventh goal of the day to the delight of his teammates and home fans.
Expectation had been building since the opening bounce with one helpful scoreboard attendant keeping the crowd fully informed of how many majors Barnett needed as he closed in on the milestone.
Barnett, who finished with eight goals in the Bulldogs’ 22.22 (154) to 6.5 (41) victory, said he wanted to crack the century against the Crocs.
"It’s been hanging around for the past few weeks making me a bit nervous, so I wanted to get it over and done with," he said.
"I haven’t been kicking as well as I normally have been. I was a bit worried before the start because it was quite windy and it looked like it might rain but luckily it held off."
With his 2009 tally standing at 101, Barnett is an outside chance of threatening Ken Rainsford’s AFL Cairns record of 128 goals with three clashes left in the regular season.
But the 28-year-old, who had never kicked 100 goals in a season before Saturday, said records were not on his mind.
"I set myself two goals at the start of the year," Barnett said.
"One was to kick 100 goals and the other was to win a flag.
"I’ve done one and now it’s time to worry about the other."
The Bulldogs were never threatened on Saturday, controlling the match from the opening quarter despite the Crocs kicking the first goal.
It was obvious which team sat second on the ladder and which team lurked second bottom, with the Crocs’ effort not good enough.
Read more at: http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/08/03/55645_local-sport-news.html
Last Modified on 03/08/2009 11:26