Colin Sheridan: Ask any accomplished kicker - there's something sacred about free-taking

Managers and players may know the worth of having a reliable place-kicker, but their value to the general public will never go beyond that of being taken for granted.

Bryan Sheehan kicks a free during the 2012 Allianz League clash with Dublin. 'One day, there will be a book written about what the Kerry man saw when he stood over a free, 60 yards out from goal,' writes Colin Sheridan. Picture: Stephen McCarthy

LONELINESS, sang Bryan Ferry, is a crowded room. In team sport, there are few lonelier than that of the kicker, no matter how many occupy the stands. When everything is reactionary and spontaneous, the bespoke role of a place-kicker remains an outlier. From the NFL to Junior B. Everything about the kicker’s process is control. Art, maybe, but control. The kicker will often find the fate of his team thrust upon him. His coach will always publicly back him and say the result of a game is never down to one kick. He’ll say it, but nobody believes it.

Speaking once about the beautiful burden, legendary Australian out-half Michael Lynagh said: “When you’ve got the goal-kicking, you are running and tackling one minute and lining-up a kick the next. What you have to do is bring yourself down to a lower level of arousal, because it is a fine-tuned skill. That’s not easy to do. It’s like asking Greg Norman to run 400 metres and then sink a 10ft putt.”