Laitham Vandermeer has admitted he may have doubted Cody Weightman would kick the miraculous banana goal from the boundary against Essendon which was voted by the fans as the Club’s 2020 Goal of the Year.

It was Vandermeer’s penetrating pass which gave Weightman the opportunity to clunk a contested mark deep in the pocket, setting up an enormously difficult first kick in the 19-year-old’s career.

Vandermeer’s assumption that the task was going to be too hard was proven wrong, when the debutant went back and confidently snapped it through.

“I was the one that passed it to him, so it was a good goal assist on my behalf,” Vandermeer joked.

“I was near the centre bounce (when I) kicked it – it probably wasn’t the right area to have a shot from, and to be honest I probably doubted him a bit that he’d get it in, but he did.

“Everyone got around him – it’s probably the best way to celebrate a first goal, especially from the boundary.”

The degree of difficulty on such a kick is extremely high according to Vandermeer, based on his experiences with them.

“I always try and attempt them at training but am never successful, so (the snap) is probably up there with one of the hardest kicks,” Vandermeer said.

“If most blokes had 10 shots (from the same angle), they’d probably only lay maybe two or three of them, especially me – I’m a battler from that area.

“For (Cody) to get it for his first goal, says a huge amount about his talent and what’s to come for him.”

Weightman said it was one of the coolest moments of his life, and owes his confidence to the coaches.

“I was sort of nervous getting towards the end of the quarter – you don’t want to turn the ball over when you’ve got a shot on goal – so I went back and fortuitously it spun through,” Weightman said.

“Firstly you’ve got to back yourself, but then to be able to do that you need the coaches’ support and have their backing at the same time.

“I think the fact I didn’t even consider really anything other than if I was legitimately a chance at kicking the goal, (shows that the coaches) do really back me – I felt like I had their confidence.

“It’s one of the coolest moments of my life really.”