Irrespective of
the depth of talent at Essendon Football Club in recent years,
Essendon could not help but acknowledge that Matthew Lloyd
quietly shows multiple hallmarks of a champion in his
Football game, making him one of the more consistently valuable
players in the Bombers' line up, and in the AFL itself.
He thoroughly meets the full forward
pre-requisites of being a strong mark and great kick,
but he additionally exercises not only strong use of the body,
but also strategic use of the body in contests.
As explained elsewhere in this site, great
leadership requires great vision and great ability to influence
and Matthew Lloyd is a dab hand at both vision and
influence. Offically and unofficially, he is a strong
effective leader in the Essendon team.
Almost every decent Matthew
Lloyd profile will mention his characteristic preparation for a
set shot for goal: almost surgical precision commencing with
breathing, sock adjustments, grass tossing to gauge the wind,
careful deliberation and opposition-punishing execution of his
kick. It seems that the worst that his detractors seem to
say of Lloyd is that his remarkable feats, when viewed
independently, can be labelled 'flukes' or 'luck'. This
criticism is easily countered when you view Matthew Lloyd's
statistics and/or his ability to consistently repeat these
'flukes' of freakish goals, extraordinary marks and creation of
opportunities where none existed.
Matthew Lloyd pictures snapped during a
game invariably reveal an expression of intense concentration,
yet another quality of a dedicated footballer who
rewards his team and Essendon supporters with an incredible
ability to capitalise on even the smallest of
opportunities.
In 2008, Matthew Lloyd won the AFL 'Mark of the Year' with
an awesome athletic leap over the pack against Melbourne in
Round 18 v. Melbourne.