AFL goalkicking great Jason Dunstall is extremely well qualified when it comes to assessing the performances of key forwards in today’s game.

Dunstall kicked 1254 goals in a magnificent 269-game career for Hawthorn – an exceptional average of 4.6 goals per match.

These days, Dunstall is a highly-respected commentator with Fox Footy, and he’s definitely not prone to dishing out praise lightly. So, his comments about the first-half display by Richmond star key forward Tom Lynch in yesterday’s match against Collingwood at the MCG are worthy of highlighting.

Lynch, playing on top-class Magpie key defender Darcy Moore, was outstanding throughout the first half and had five goals on the board at the main break, prompting Dunstall to declare: “This big man Tom Lynch is tearing Darcy Moore to pieces.

“This is a first half from a key forward that you just don’t see – 18 possessions, five goals, and he’s missed two absolute sodas.

“It could nearly have been the best first half of football ever witnessed for a key forward, he was that good . . .

“it’s one of those rare key forward games where they just turn it on and dominate a contest in all facets of the game . . . it’s a spectacular half of football.”

Lynch finished the match with six goals from an AFL career-high 25 disposals, along with a whopping, game-high 14 score involvements and game-high 11 marks.

The dual premiership Tiger was typically modest when discussing his performance in a post-game interview on Fox Footy.

“It was good. I managed to get a bit of space and get on the end of a couple,” Lynch said.

“But up the field, the way our backs set up, they were just marking everything and getting it going on transition.”