After six successive years in the finals, Essendon dropped down the ladder as an era ended. Coleman continued to be the best forward in the game, winning the VFL goalkicking by scoring 103 goals in 1952 and 97 in 1953. In the seventh game of the 1954 season, he kicked his best-ever tally of 14 goals against Fitzroy. But at Windy Hill a week later, Coleman fell heavily and dislocated his knee in what proved to be his last game. His attempts to return drew many headlines over the next two years, but, despite surgery, he was forced to concede defeat in the lead-up to the 1956 season.Whitington (1976). Also, for an extensive coverage of the matter of the injury and its treatment, see Ackerly (11 May 2007) There were revelations in early 1958 that Coleman's knee was sufficiently repaired to play on and his true reasons for not playing were unrelated to his knee.http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,,25305169-5016140,00.html
