Jordan De Goey is enjoying one heck of a purple patch.

A club-imposed suspension saw him sit out the opening three rounds, but since returning against Adelaide in round four, he has quickly stamped his authority on the 2018 season.

It’s not purely a matter of disposals, though, but where he’s getting them and how he is using them.

Since round four, only six players league-wide have kicked more goals.

21 – Ben Brown (North Melbourne)
19 – Jack Darling (West Coast)
18 – Josh Kennedy (West Coast)
17 – Jack Gunston (Hawthorn)
16 – Luke Breust (Hawthorn) / Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)
15 – Jordan De Goey (Collingwood)/ Jarrad Waite (North Melbourne)

In the past three weeks, only one player across the competition has kicked more goals.

13 – Jack Darling (West Coast)
12 – Jordan De Goey (Collingwood)
11 – Tom McDonald (Melbourne)
10 – Jack Gunston (Hawthorn) / Jack Riewoldt (Richmond)

At Collingwood, De Goey now shares top spot on the club’s goal kicking leaderboard with Will Hoskin-Elliott.

Hoskin-Elliott, for that matter, is one of only two players in the league to have kicked at least one goal in each of the first nine rounds of the 2018 season. He has now kicked at least one major in each of his past 12 games, and in 14 of his past 15.

15 – Jordan De Goey / Will Hoskin-Elliott
13 – Josh Thomas
12 – Jaidyn Stephenson
8 – Ben Reid

Add the four goals De Goey kicked in his only VFL appearance back in April, and he’s kicked a total of 19 in seven matches of any kind this year.



Jordan De Goey celebrates a goal against Adelaide in round four.

These are career-best returns for a man who is still only 22 years of age.

In his first three seasons, he only twice kicked more than two goals (four against the Eagles in 2017 and three against the Suns in 2016) and, while he made a regular impact in front of goal in the TAC Cup (he kicked 14 goals from nine games in his draft year), he never kicked more than three goals (a feat he achieved three times).

De Goey has morphed into an accurate kick for goal, too. He kicked 16 goals from 30 scoring shots in 2016, but now has 15 from 18 this year.

It’s career-best form, yes, but all Collingwood fans hope there is plenty more to come.