Eddie Betts operated on a different level to the mere mortals of the AFL. Across his glittering 350-game career, the champion goalsneak could produce magic on a football field that his rivals would struggle to conjure in their dreams.
Betts' Secret: Commentating in His Head
Tight against the boundary, three on one, odds stacked against him — that was Eddie's happy place. That he had the time and wherewithal to kick such brilliant goals from such impossible scenarios was freakish and unique enough. But he even did it while commentating the entire play himself in his head as he acted it out in real time, Betts told 7NEWS.com.au.
“It's weird, because I feel like it slows down a bit,” he said. “In those moments, I know where the goals are and, in my head, even before that, I commentate in my head. So, when I'm on the footy field, I commentate and I predict where the ball's going to go; 'If the ball goes here, I'm going to set my man up, so if it goes here, I'll run a certain pattern so he's on the opposite side of me'.
“I kind of predict that in my head and, depending on which side the ball goes, I'll set whoever's on me up and try to get to that position. And when I do get there, it happens pretty quick, but it feels like it's slow motion because I know where the goals are and, in my head, I'm like, 'If I get around them right here, I can put it in the right direction'.”
His Best Goal: 2016 Against GWS
The former Carlton and Adelaide great won goal of the year four times — and is quick to remind you he came second another five times — but it was his 2016 effort against the GWS Giants that he rates his best. “And that's what happened against the Giants: I slid on the ground, it didn't go out, and once I brought it in, I was waiting for the whistle to see if the umpire would blow the whistle for out of bounds. And because he didn't, I just continued on and snapped it and it went in.
“I kind of felt sorry for Tom Lynch because, watching it over and over again, he was in the goal square by himself and I kicked it over his head.”
The iconic goal has been recreated as the latest Toyota Legendary Moment, following on from the series' rebirth with Heath Shaw last year. Betts won goals of the year with a right-foot check-side from one side of the boundary line, a left-foot check-side from the other side, a left-foot torpedo from where the boundary meets the 50m arc, and of course, the right-foot snap against the Giants. All four required impossible skill and X-factor that few players in history could ever fathom.
Why the 2016 Goal Is Most Special
But the one against the Giants remains the most significant to Betts. “I've always said that this goal would be the one that I would always hold special to me,” he said. “And the reason I would say that is because (it was) 2016 Sir Doug Nicholls Round, my auntie Susie Betts — my dad's sister — designed the jersey, so the jersey that I wore that night was a design from my auntie, from my family, from where I am from.
“And so, to represent my family, myself, in that jersey, in Sir Doug Nicholls Round, and not only that — Adelaide flew my auntie, my dad and my grandmother, who has passed away now, over to that game. And to kick that goal and win that game as well was pretty surreal. So when I look back on my greatest goals, I look back on this and I would always say that one was the best goal.”
Ranking His Top Four Goals
Betts rates his 2019 goal of the year — in what was his 300th game — against Gold Coast as his second best, the left-foot torp against Fremantle in 2015 as his third best, and the banana from the boundary while playing for Carlton in 2006 as his fourth. “I want those moments, I just want the ball,” he said. “Because if I can get it, there's an opportunity that I can kick it.
“I get more nervous from in front, so if I have a set shot from in front, I'd be way more confident from the boundary line because I feel like I can kick it.”
