Shepparton’s Luke Smith lodged a game for the ages during a 17.13 (115) to 10.3 (63) defeat of Seymour, putting the team on his shoulders and quarterbacking the Bears in a fashion NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes would be proud of.
A scan of Smith’s stat sheet from Saturday gives a glimpse into just how great the prodigal Bear was on the day.
Firstly, the malleable mid-forward’s 40 touches (at 75 per cent efficiency) puts him in the top bracket as one of three players to reach 40+ disposals in round four alongside Mooroopna’s Ethan Hunt (40) and Coby McCarthy (43).
However, Smith’s 18 contested possessions put him well clear of the Cats’ couple, while his 10 clearances, nine inside 50s and eight goals elevated the Bears’ day out from a picnic to a party.
But it gets better.
Smith tallied a scary 19 scoring involvements — 11 of which resulted in goals — while he scooped the pill off the floor 14 times during the match, two ahead of fellow Shepparton star performer Adam De Cicco.
The feather in his cap was a total ranking point score of 216, making Smith the first player to go north of 200 in the GVL this season.
Only two players completed the feat last year, with Mansfield ball magnet Frazer Dale producing a pair of silky solo showings (200 and 207) in rounds three and 13.
Meanwhile, versatile Rochester tall Mitch Cricelli is yet to be dethroned since going ballistic in round 10 last season in a 238-ranking point total, which stemmed from an afternoon that bore 37 disposals, 23 contested possessions, 44 hitouts and 13 clearances.
Luke Smith v Seymour
Disposals: 40
Contested possessions: 18
Clearances: 10
Inside 50s: 9
Goals: 8
Still, Smith’s game against Seymour has set the benchmark for the league as Shepparton looks ripe to recreate its 2018 premiership storyline as the band of former heroes have returned to wreak havoc on the competition.
In a prior interview with the Shepparton News, Seymour coach Ben Davey lauded the efforts of the Bears and Smith in particular.
“Shepparton are a really good team and they have been building for a couple of years and Ted (Lindon) and the coaching staff have done a really good job building that team,” he said.
“Luke Smith, coming into the team, he has been outstanding and he is such a good person.
“They are an outstanding team and we may have moved the ball better in the second half, but there is also the factor of when a team is up that much at half-time, they do take the foot off the pedal a little bit.”
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