ONLY those with mischievous senses of humour would have given North Melbourne's Lindsay Thomas or Collingwood's Travis Cloke the nickname, 'The Accurate One'.
But the Coleman Medal leaders after four rounds are slowly but surely discarding their reputation for inaccuracy in front of goal.
It's been a case of hard work, solid coaching and belief from teammates that straightened Thomas up.
It's a good story because in 2011, Thomas was in danger of becoming to football what Ian Baker-Finch became to golf in the mid-’90s.
His kicks at goal sprayed like champagne being shaken on the winning dais.
The North forward ended 2011 with 21 goals and a set shot percentage of just 30 per cent.
He looked worried and played worried. And he worried.
It makes the turnaround since even more remarkable.
Already, just four weeks into this season, Thomas has kicked 16 goals with a set shot accuracy of 64 per cent and an overall accuracy of 76 per cent.
It's followed on from an improved 2012, when he kicked 38 goals with a set shot accuracy of 65 per cent.
He is enjoying football and, importantly, could not care less about outside perception.
After kicking 4.2 against the Lions on Sunday to take his tally for the year to 16.5, he credited Brent Harvey with reminding him to play on instinct.
Harvey had sensed the load his good mate was carrying need to be lightened.
He would hang around with him after training, practising goalkicking and doing a fair trade in banter as well.
"We just make it super competitive," Harvey said.
Both hate losing, so a competition involving 10 shots at goal each would build the tension and the skill level.
Along the way, Harvey was observing Thomas.
He considered him among the best kicks on the run he'd seen, so it was suggested Thomas push his run-up back to a distance Brett Lee might appreciate.
The other words of advice were easily delivered but harder to follow.
"Don't think about it too much," Harvey told Thomas.
Brett Allison put in some fruity advice and Thomas just kept working.
In truth, Thomas had to work hard to make things come naturally.
"Nothing happens just by chance," Harvey said. "If you don't work hard, nothing happens."
Cloke has always lived dangerously in front of goal too.
In 2009 and 2010 his set shot accuracy percentage was below 50 per cent.
He improved it to 60 per cent in 2011 and 59 per cent in 2012.
So far this season he is tracking at 64 per cent.
This improvement has moved Cloke from being a just under 40 goals a season player into a 60-70 goals a season player. This season, he is on track to get somewhere closer to 80 goals.
Of course, playing closer to goal has helped too.
It's a remarkable turnaround for Cloke, whose kicking for goal was at one stage as unreliable as an arts student's car.
They are not the only two players to show improvement over time either.
Melbourne's Jeremy Howe kicked 19.25 in 2012 and identified kicking for goal as an area he needed to improve in 2013.
Howe has held true to his word, kicking six goals straight from set shots and 7.2 overall in 2013.
Geelong's Tom Hawkins continues his strong form in front of goal, having kicked 11.3 in 2013, including 9.2 from set shots.
Even 'Buddy' Franklin, with 15.5 and a 75 per cent accuracy rate, is tracking better than he did in 2012 when he had 52 per cent accuracy rate.
Jack Riewoldt has also rebounded from four behinds in the first game to have now kicked 15.8 and a very acceptable accuracy rate of 65 per cent.
Other straight shooters are Sydney Swan veteran Jude Bolton with 9.1 and Essendon's Ben Howlett who has kicked 8.1.
What makes Thomas's effort all the more meritorious is that he stared down the yips and is well on the way to overcoming them.
And he did it with a combination of hard work and that other critical factor needed for improvement: support from his mates who believed in him.
"He might be trying to handball off a bit of the credit there," Harvey said. "He has been working super, super hard."
