By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
Another Darley Devil has been crowned the leading goalkicker for his grade in the Ballarat Football League, tying for this year\u2019s Tony Lockett Medal after a stellar season.<\/p>\n
Nick Rodda made it to a league-topping 56 goals in his first Senior season for the Devils, sharing the honour with Melton\u2019s Ryan Carter, who kicked 10 goals in the Bloods\u2019 final home and away match. Rodda only kicked one goal in the final game of the season.<\/p>\n
Mr Rodda was modest about the achievement, saying he \u201cprobably left a lot of goals out there\u201d and praising his teammates for contributing to a remarkable turnaround compared to last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty happy about it, but I was quite inaccurate this year. I was lucky enough to come away with it, equal with Ryan Carter. I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s any secret to kicking goals, I probably should\u2019ve added to the tally through the year, I think I had one game against Ballarat where I kicked three goals eight points or something,\u201d he told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the younger blokes on the team have really matured and taken their game to another level, they\u2019ve obviously found their feet in senior footy throughout the year. Hopefully that puts us in good stead for the finals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Devils finished in fourth this season, with their \u2018Road to Redemption\u2019 campaign after last year\u2019s winless season, taking them to an elimination final against reigning dual premiers East Point.<\/p>\n
Mr Rodda said it was rewarding being part of the Devils\u2019 redemption story.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully we can give the competition a bit of a shake-up, it\u2019d be good, especially for the supporters after a winless season last year. It\u2019s been something to cheer for for them, and hopefully there\u2019s a few more weeks of cheering ahead for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Rodda had his best game against Lake Wendouree in June, kicking nine goals, and also kicked a bag of eight against Melton South in April. Across the season, he kicked an average of 3.5 goals per game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lachlan Ellis Another Darley Devil has been crowned the leading goalkicker for his grade in the Ballarat Football League, tying for this year\u2019s Tony Lockett Medal after a stellar season. Nick Rodda made it to a league-topping 56 goals in his first Senior season for the Devils, sharing the honour with Melton\u2019s Ryan Carter, […]<\/p>\n