In the soon to be released 2003 Essendon Football Club Year Book, Hird and Lucas feature on the cover of the magazine. Following is an excerpt from the Lucas feature article – “An Affair to Remember.”
Scott Lucas first met centre half forward at Windy Hill in 1996. The friendship quickly blossomed and they were soon one of the hottest couples in AFL football. Thousands would turn up to watch Lucas and centre half forward hand-in-hand every Saturday afternoon. The paparazzi would be in attendance, snapping away feverishly from the boundary line. They were on the cover of magazines and television couldn’t get enough of them.
But as is the case with many good love stories, the pair eventually hit hard times. Midway through the 2002 season, just when it appeared certain they were partners for life, things went off the rails. The relationship wasn’t exactly on the rocks but it was clear that Lucas and centre half forward needed a break from one another.
They needed to start seeing someone else for a while to see if they were indeed soulmates. So Lucas began dating centre half back while centre half forward played the field in search of that someone special. Lucas and centre half back soon fell in love. Centre half forward was happy for Lucas and the pair remain good friends to this day and still catch up from time to time.
Okay, enough of the trashy romance novel, but the past 12 months of Scott Lucas’ football career has been a little like that. Centre half forward is all about pressure and Lucas had spent much of his career shouldering that burden. Lead, then lead again, crash packs and get crashed into, create space, create the loose ball – it is an arduous job. He needed a break.
Lucas has spent much of the past season at centre half back and it has undoubtedly rejuvenated his enthusiasm for the game. He is enjoying his football more than he ever has and he was one of the catalysts to the Bombers’ late-season revival. Some felt he was unlucky not be named at centre half back in the 2003 All Australian side. But he was justly rewarded on Crichton Medal night when he shared the best and fairest with his captain James Hird.
Lucas has no doubt the move to defence has been one of the keys to his outstanding form. “Any player who has just one position can feel the pressure if they aren’t going that well. A full forward might not be kicking goals or the full back might be having six kicked on him each week,” Lucas said.
“I suppose I was feeling that way a little bit in that if I wasn’t getting a lot of it the options were limited. But I think now that I have shown I can play both roles it relaxes the mind a little bit.”
“As a whole I would have to say it was my most consistent season. Over the years I have played a little bit in fits and starts. I think the back line can lend itself to performing more consistently so I certainly enjoyed the time I spent down there.”
Lucas said coach Kevin Sheedy had floated the idea of him moving to centre half back a number of times during his career but never actually thought the coach was serious about the move becoming full time.
“Sheeds has spoken to me about becoming a centre half back but I really only spent a quarter here and there down back and I didn’t think he ever had any real intention of leaving me there,” Lucas said.
“My form hadn’t been great and with a few weeks to go last year he put me back. I think it was in Round 20 against Collingwood and I don’t think he felt I was the right match up for Anthony Rocca. But he played me there and I did reasonably well and basically stayed there.
“I feel really comfortable in the backline. I think the coaching staff showed that I’m not settled down back by playing me forward in the two finals – if I had have played the last two games at centre half forward I would have thought that was just about it in terms of playing centre half forward.”
To read the remainder of the Lucas article, look out for the Essendon Football Club 2003 Year Book. The Year Book is due to hit the shelves in late November and is a must read for all Essendon supporters. The Year Book looks at the season that was, catches up with all the award winners from Crichton Medal night and also pays tribute to retiring premiership players Steve Alessio and Paul Barnard. The Year Book is chock-full of information about your favourite club and players.
