Sixty goals in four weeks: The prolific country footy forward breaking league records

Lachie Sharp is the new Coleman of the bush. The slim, 180-centimetre full-forward has kicked three consecutive tons for Bridgewater Football Netball Club and this year broke the Loddon Valley Football Netball league record with 148 goals. The previous record was 143.

But unlike Essendon’s legendary goalkicker, John Coleman, Sharp’s feats in front of the big sticks started with a knee injury rather than ended with one.

His rise to prominence as a potent forward, the most prolific goalkicker in country Victoria this year, took root in 2017 when he was known as an attacking winger at Strathfieldsaye in the Bendigo Football Netball League.

Recovering from a knee reconstruction, he was plonked in the forward line for his first game back and duly booted 10.

“I came back after about eight and a half months, and the guys thought it was a little bit early, so I ended up getting put forward,” he told The Age . “And then I sort of got stuck there.”

Getting stuck might be an understatement. That year, Sharp won the Bendigo Football Netball League goalkicking award, the Ron Best Medal, with 124 goals. He added another 18 during the finals series.

He also won the Bendigo league’s best-and-fairest award, the Michelsen Medal, and Strathfieldsaye won the premiership.

“I was lucky enough to have Ron [Best] come and meet me before one of our finals in 2017, well, I met him actually, and then he stayed and watched, which was great,” Sharp said.

“To be able to talk to him about footy and how it’s changed, and you know, his ins and outs, and just to talk to a great of local footy was pretty special. He’s passed away now, but that’s something that I’ll remember forever.”

Sharp, now 35, joined Bridgewater as a co-coach in 2024, kicking 138 goals. He took over as sole coach in 2025 and booted 124. He finished this season in a rush.

He kicked 60 goals in the final four rounds, including 25 in his side’s 233-point victory over Mitiamo, and ended up averaging 8.7 goals a game across the season.

“We had probably played the top four sides leading into that point, and then we played the bottom sides and to be honest, our team found form at the right time of year,” he said in reference to Bridgewater’s consecutive scores of 202, 271, 231 and 213 in their last four games before the finals.

“Obviously, when the ball’s coming in a lot, it’s a lot easier to get on the end of goals.”

Bridgewater is a small, one-pub town on the Loddon River about 30 minutes north-west of Bendigo.