AUSTRALIAN RULES
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
IN recent seasons Jack Vogan has been the pillar at the centre of the Bathurst Bushrangers’ back six and made a name for himself as one of the most dependable defenders in the Central West AFL competition.
He has height, good hands, strength, a decent boot and reads the game well.
It should come as no real surprise then that he has taken all those attributes to the other end of the field this season for the Bushrangers Rebels and turned into one of the best key forwards in the title race.
As the competition went into a general bye on the long weekend, Vogan sat second on the list of goal kickers with 35, just one behind Cowra’s Nathan Worth.
His consistency has been remarkable, with five bags of five or more goals in his eight matches, including kicking six majors against both Dubbo and Parkes.
It is certainly not unheard of for a key defender to move forward and have an impact – AFL fullback of the century Stephen Silvagni was famously used by Carlton as a pinch-hitter, even bagging 10 goals in a match on one occasion.
But for a player to make a permanent switch and have such a massive week-to-week impact like Vogan has is a rarity.
“All through juniors I was a ruckman and when I got into seniors back home at Tumbarumba, they used to have paid players
that would be in the forward
line, so I was limited to playing defence once I got to that stage,” Vogan said.
“We [Rebels] had the luxury right from the start of the year of having three talls in myself, Steve Grundy and Harry Bowden who were going to rotate through the ruck, I was going to go into the ruck when Harry had a bit of a rest up forward.
“But he’s had a blinder of a season in the ruck, so he’s stayed there pretty much permanently and Steve has been playing great footy too, so I’ve ended up playing forward the whole time.”
Vogan started shakily against Young in round one, kicking one goal but slicing another five shots through for minor scores.
He booted five in round two against the Bathurst Giants, but could have nudged double figures with straighter kicking.
It prompted a block of goal kicking work, and his renewed accuracy combined with his knowledge of what good forwards do to get on top of good defenders has helped him become one of his team’s most important player.
“I’ve often spoken to my brother about how back men make the best forwards. I know exactly what used to annoy me when I was a defender and all the tricks and ideas that forwards would use to get an edge,” he said.
“It really got under my skin when I would have to get on my bike and follow my man on a long run up field, or short sharp leads over and over again, so I’ve tried to use that to my advantage.
“In the first two rounds I missed a lot of shots and basically said to myself ‘This isn’t on’ and went back and worked hard on my accuracy.”
While he admits he would love to have a real field day and produce a haul of 10 or more goals in a match, Vogan said his consistency has been the best part of his season to date.
He has a point.
Aside from round one, his lowest return was three goals against undefeated Cowra, and even in that match his effort made up more than a quarter of his team’s score.
“I’ve prided myself on being as consistent as I can. It’s been a bit of a dream of mine to maybe kick 10 in a match one day, but I’d rather kick five and know that I’ve played a genuine role for the team,” he said.
“In the wet weather against Young last round I thought if I could get three I’d have an impact for the side. I ended up with five and a couple of assists as well which was a good result. I try to set little goals and so far it is working.”
