Manly Warringah sharpshooter Trent Dennis-Lane booted seventeen goals in the Wolves demolition of Inner West Magpies, 30.16.146 to 6.5.41 in the final round at Weldon Oval to claim the goalkicking award for this season in the AFL Sydney Premier League.
However, his tally is well short of the record of 28 goals in a game set by South Sydney’s Bill Wood against the Sydney club in 1943.
It is also well short of the 24 goals kicked by East Sydney goalkicking ace Peter Ruscuklic against St George in Round 8 and the 22 goals he kicked in the previous round against Liverpool in 1981. That’s a staggering 46 goals over two rounds!
It is worth noting that both Wood and Ruscuklic* kicked their unimaginable bags of goals at Trumper Park.
Dennis-Lane’s tally took him to the top of the goalkicking leaderboard with 57 goals for the season in just seven matches to win the Stan Milton medal. Stan Milton amassed 1361 goals for Paddington and Eastern Suburbs over a 25-year playing career in Sydney.
Previously Dennis-Lane played for the Sydney Swans (2010-2012) after being selected from Subiaco as pick 55 in the 2009 national draft, then St Kilda (2013-2014), and more recently, Bonbeach in the Mornington Peninsula Football League. He is currently an assistant coach for the Giants VFL team.
Prior to the final match of the home & away season, Sydney University forward and former Giant Lachie Keefe led the goalkicking with 47 goals with Pennant Hills key forward Nick Hey and Keefe’s Uni team-mate and fellow forward Alex Witherden (ex West Coast Eagles) both on 46 goals.
Witherden kicked 7 goals in the Students’ thrashing of old rival UNSW-Eastern Suburbs, 21.15.141 to 9.9.63 at Sydney University’s No. 1 Oval, while Keefe managed just two goals. Meanwhile Hey didn’t add to his total due to suspension but his team-mate small forward Oscar Irwin snagged four majors to finish level with Keefe on 49 goals while Witherden finished second in the goalkicking race with 53 goals.
In a standout performance on 21 August 1943, Bill Wood kicked an astonishing 28 goals in South Sydney's 31.15 (111) to 6.10 (46) victory over Sydney establishing an Australian State League record for the most goals kicked by an individual in a senior match.
Surprisingly, Bill Wood’s monster tally of 28 goals kicked in Round 15 did not take him to the lead in the goalkicking award but to just one goal behind Eastern Suburbs full-forward Milton Edgeworth on 73 goals.
Wood surged ahead of his rival for the title to accumulate a total of 81 goals by the end of the home and away season with Edgeworth on 76 and St George and NSW star forward Stan Powditch third on 67 goals.
The South Sydney spearhead finished the season with 95 goals and was pivotal in their run into the grand final where St George led by Collingwood champion ruckman Phonse Kyne, who subsequently coached the Magpies to the famous 1958 premiership triumph, proved superior winning by 27 points, 12.19.91 to 9.10.64.
Originally from Albury, Wood joined the AIF and was posted to Sydney during WWII where he served in a non-combat role aligned with armoured air support. After his prolific goalkicking with South Sydney he was recruited by VFL club Footscray in 1944.
In his debut year, Wood played 15 games and finished with 51 goals, leading Footscray's goalkicking tally and contributing to the team's late surge into the finals for the first time.
Bill Wood played 115 games for Footscray from 1944 to 1951, scoring 294 goals at an average of 2.56 per game.
In the AFL Sydney Women’s Premier Division competition Adrienne Keeffe (North Shore Bombers) also produced a remarkable finish to the season, kicking 15 goals on Saturday to claim the 2026 Women's Leading Goal Kicker Award and secure the Belinda Pride Trophy by the narrowest of margins.
Keeffe's haul lifted her season tally to 51 goals, edging out Manly Warringah Wolves forward Isabella Rudolph, who also finished strongly with five goals against Parramatta. Keeffe's outstanding final-round performance capped an exceptional season in front of goal.
*Peter Ruscuklic kicked an Australian State league record of 213 goals in 1981 including 24 against St George, 22 against Liverpool, 18 twice, 13 two times, 12 against Norths at North Sydney Oval and eleven in a win over Wests at the SCG.