Sports

First Things First

As a keen punter I must admit to my long term interest in first goal scorer betting over the years.

I know that the odds can be stacked against you with 44 players to choose from and some unusual results from time to time but I am also attracted to the instant return at the start of a game and the lure of a value priced commodity getting me a big result for a small outlay – it’s effectively my roulette spin of the AFL betting scene each week.

Like any other time I have a bet though I like to do my homework before I put my money down.

This year I decided to go through the weekly results from 2016 and analyse the results to see if there were any interesting findings in regards to players that bob up as first goal scorers at odds that can return me a profit.

The reality of the situation is that some guys simply have a knack of getting off the chain early to score the first goal of the match.

Some of the prolific goal kickers like Josh Kennedy and Eddie Betts stand out as obvious picks and they can make you some nice money but generally they go around as favourites – what I was interested to see was are there players at bigger odds that aren’t so obvious that can show up on numerous occasions in a season at good odds.

The answer was a resounding yes. A few of the players that arrived on numerous occasions as long priced options were quite surprising.

The biggest shock to me was the player that appeared as the most prolific first goal scorer of 2016. The player is a Sydney Swan but it is not Lance Franklin – it is none other than Gary Rohan.

Gary Rohan scored the first goal of the match in 6 of the 18 games he played in 2016 at odds ranging from $13 to $21. Fair to say he will be carrying some of my coin in season 2017!

Eddie Betts and Josh Kennedy were both first goal scorers on 5 separate occasions and returned tidy profits for their loyal fans that backed them each week.

Ten unique players scored the first goal of the match on 3 occasions – a few of them at big odds stood out – Kane Lambert at odds ranging from $26 – $31, Tom Scully at $21 – $31 and Steven Motlop at $17 each time.

Thirty four individual players kicked the first goal of the match twice for the season – a few at juicy odds such as Jack Viney $31 twice, Callan Ward at $29 twice, Michael Barlow – both at $26, David Zaharakis at $26 and $29, Tom Rockliff at $26 twice and Shaun Grigg at $26 twice.

I will document below all of the Multiple Goal Scorers for the 2016 season and the TABtouch prices they were when they slotted the first major of the match.

I will be specking the players mentioned above throughout the course of the 2017 season and hopefully having some nice jackpot results for small outlays.

Good luck with your thoughts!

Multiple First Goal Scorers in 2016

Gary Rohan (6 times in 18 games)

Round 9 $21

Round 11 $21

Round 17 $21

Round 19 $13

Round 23 $13

Wk 2 Finals $13

Eddie Betts (5 times in 24 games)

Round 2 $9

Round 5 $10

Round 12 $10

Round 17 $10

Round 21 $9

Josh Kennedy (WC) (5 times in 23 games)

Round 5 $8

Round 8 $7

Round 22 $9

Round 23 $8

Wk 1 Finals $7

Kane Lambert (3 times in 15 games)

Round 1 $26

Round 2 $31

Round 4 $31

Lance Franklin (3 times in 26 games)

Round 1 $7

Round 8 $8

Round 20 $8

Tom Scully (3 times in 24 games)

Round 1 $31

Round 8 $29

Round 12 $21

Tom Lynch (GC) (3 times in 22 games)

Round 4 $7

Round 19 $8

Round 20 $9

Josh Jenkins (3 times in 24 games)

Round 7 $11

Round 16 $11

Round 18 $10

Steven Motlop (3 times in 24 games)

Round 8 $17

Round 22 $17

Week 1 Finals $17

Joe Daniher (3 times in 22 games)

Round 9 $11

Round 12 $12

Round 22 $11

Jeff Garlett (3 times in 17 games)

Round 9 $10

Round 17 $11

Round 18 $11

Josh Schache (3 times in 17 games)

Round 12 $12

Round 14 $15

Round 17 $15

Ben Brown (3 times in 22 games)

Round 18 $9

Round 20 $14

Round 23 $11

David Zaharakis (2 times in 21 games)

Round 1 $26

Round 4 $29

Tom Rockliff (2 times in 17 games)

Round 1 $26

Round 23 $26

Ben McEvoy (2 times in 23 games)

Round 2 $21

Round 3 $21

Tom Hawkins (2 times in 23 games)

Round 2 $8

Round 3 $6

Michael Walters (2 times in 22 games)

Round 3 $9

Round 18 $9

Shaun Grigg (2 times in 20 games)

Round 3 $26

Round 6 $26

Travis Boak (2 times in 22 games)

Round 1 $26

Round 3 $23

Jack Watts (2 times in 22 games)

Round 4 $17

Round 10 $17

Callan Ward (2 times in 24 games)

Round 4 $29

Round 19 $29

James Sicily (2 times in 22 games)

Round 4 $14

Wk. 2 Finals $14

Mason Cox (2 times in 11 games)

Round 5 $13

Round 8 $13

Steve Johnson (2 times in 22 games)

Round 5 $13

Round 11 $13

Dale Thomas (2 times in 18 games)

Round 6 $21

Round 9 $21

Matt Taberner (2 times in 17games)

Round 6 $21

Round 16 $15

Chris Mayne (2 times in 22 rounds)

Round 7 $17

Round 8 $17

Justin Westhoff (2 times in 22 games)

Round 7 $14

Round 15 $9

Jack Viney (2 times in 21 games)

Round 8 $31

Round 12 $31

Drew Petrie (2 times in 23 games)

Round 8 $8

Round 12 $12

Jeremy Cameron (2 times in 20 games)

Round 9 $8

Round 14 $8

Tom Lynch (Adel) (2 times in 23 games)

Round 9 $13

Round 14 $15

Jesse White (2 times in 16 games)

Round 9 $15

Round 22 $11

Tory Dickson (2 times in 22 games)

Round 10 $9

Round 19 $12

Ben Griffiths (2 times in 13 games)

Round 10 $12

Round 12 $11

Dayne Zorko (2 times in 20 games)

Round 10 $17

Round 19 $17

Michael Barlow (2 times in 13 games)

Round 11 $26

Round 17 $26

Mark Lecras (2 times in 23 games)

Round 13 $12

Round 17 $12

Jack Gunston (2 times in 24 games)

Round 14 $8

Round 21 $8

Paddy McArtin (2 times in 11 games)

Round 14 $13

Round 21 $13

Jay Schultz (2 times in 7 games)

Round 16 $12

Round 17 $11

Robbie Gray (2 times in 19 games)

Round 18 $15

Round 22 $15

Darcy Moore (2 times in 17 games)

Round 19 $14

Round 21 $11

Shane Yarran (2 times in 6 games)

Round 20 $21

Round 22 $15

Charlie Cameron (2 times in 20 games)

Round 20 $15

Week 1 Finals $17

Clay Smith (2 times in 13 games)

Round 23 $31

Week 3 Finals $15