Draw Statistics

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Tonight it looked like either of the close games between Fremantle and Sydney in Perth and Brisbane and North Melbourne in Brisbane might finish in a draw, but ultimately they did not, the home sides winning narrowly in both cases.

We now have to go back to April 2018 and a match between St Kilda and GWS for the last drawn game in the AFL. However, when was the most recent example of a draw with the different types of scoring patterns that can cause a tied game? Here they are:

IDENTICAL SCORES
GWS Giants 10.8-68 vs. Geelong Cats 10.8-68 - Round 15 2017

ONE GOAL LESS, SIX BEHINDS MORE
St Kilda 10.13-73 vs. GWS Giants 9.19-73 - Round 5 2018

TWO GOALS LESS, TWELVE BEHINDS MORE
Sydney Swans 11.4-70 vs. Fremantle Dockers 9.16-70, Round 8 2013

THREE GOALS LESS, EIGHTEEN BEHINDS MORE
Essendon 7.27-69 vs. Melbourne 10.9-69 - Grand Final 1948
 
dlanod said:
Oh boy, anyone got a replay?
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The 1948 Grand Final is only one of two drawn games in the history of the AFL/VFL where there is the 3 goal - 18 behind difference in the scores of the two competing teams. The only other game to end like this was the Bulldogs 12.7-79 to 9.25-79 draw with Carlton at the Western Oval in Round 7 1935.

To date there has never been a 4 goal - 24 behind difference draw, for example 15.3-93 to 11.27-93.
 

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Strauchanside said:
As pointed out on Twitter, that’s now four of the last seven draws in the AFL that GWS has been involved in.
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Daniel Lloyd probably sets a record for four draws played in after one through three as well IIRC.

Edit: Boo, five games too many.
 
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160 draws in 124 years
or
160 draws in 15,881 games @ 1.01%

how many draws have their been in finals, that actually went extra time and do not count as a draw ? i can think of 2 (north v haw & port v wc).
are there any others ?


1670 games of the 15,881 have been within a kick (10.52%)
304 games of the 15,881 have been 100+ point margins (1.91%)

gold coast yet to win a game by 100+ points but have copped 9 hidings.
 
cricketnut14 said:
160 draws in 124 years
or
160 draws in 15,881 games @ 1.01%

how many draws have their been in finals, that actually went extra time and do not count as a draw ? i can think of 2 (north v haw & port v wc).
are there any others ?


1670 games of the 15,881 have been within a kick (10.52%)
304 games of the 15,881 have been 100+ point margins (1.91%)

gold coast yet to win a game by 100+ points but have copped 9 hidings.
Click to expand...

WCE v Collingwood had a draw afew years back in a final. Pies got up in o/t.
 
cricketnut14 said:
160 draws in 124 years
or
160 draws in 15,881 games @ 1.01%

how many draws have their been in finals, that actually went extra time and do not count as a draw ? i can think of 2 (north v haw & port v wc).
are there any others ?


1670 games of the 15,881 have been within a kick (10.52%)
304 games of the 15,881 have been 100+ point margins (1.91%)

gold coast yet to win a game by 100+ points but have copped 9 hidings.
Click to expand...
160 draws in 15,881 games prior to this round, so it should be 161 draws in 15,888 games by the end of it. This is the 125th season for the VFL/AFL.

3 Finals have been played with extra time:
1994 North Melbourne vs. Hawthorn
2007 West Coast vs. Collingwood
2017 Port Adelaide vs. West Coast
 
Yet to draw

Adelaide - have only drawn with Collingwood & St.Kilda
Brisbane - Ad,Ca,Co,Fr,GC,GWS,Ha,Me,St,WB
Carlton - Ad,Br,Fr,GC,GWS,Ha,NM,WC
Collingwood - Br,Fr,GC,GWS,Ha,PA
Essendon - Ad,Fr,GWS,Ha,PA,WC
Fremantle - have only drawn with Sydney
Geelong - Ad,Fr,GC,Sy
Gold Coast - have only drawn with Essendon & West Coast
GWS - have only drawn with Geelong, Hawthorn, North & St.Kilda
Hawthorn - Ad,Cr,Ca,Co,Es,Fr,GC,PA,Ri,WC
Melbourne - Ad,Br,Fr,GC,GWS,PA,WC
North Melbourne - Ad,Ca,Fr,GC,PA,WC
Port Adelaide - have only drawn with Brisbane, Carlton, Geelong & Richmond
Richmond - Ad,Fr,GC,GWS,Ha,WC
St.Kilda - Br,Fr,GC,PA
Sydney - Ad,Ge,GC,GWS,PA,WC
West Coast - Ad,Ca,Es,Fr,GWS,Ha,Me,NM,PA,Ri,Sy
Western Bulldogs - Ad,Br,Fr,GC,GWS,PA
 
AFL legend Ron Barassi Junior started his long career with a draw for Melbourne against Richmond in 1953, while Port and Hawthorn star player Shaun Burgoyne finished his long career yesterday in a drawn match between Hawthorn and Richmond. If Hawks coach Alistair Clarkson never coaches again at this level (which I highly doubt) then he will have finished his coaching career with a draw.

Does anyone know of other famous players who commenced or ended their careers with draws, or coaches who did the same?
 

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There have been 13 one-game players who played in a draw.

Started their career with a draw:
John Barnes
Darren Crocker
Dustin Fletcher
Brad Gotch
Steven Kolyniuk
Cameron Ling
David Sierakowski
Jason Torney

Gary O'Donnell stepped in to coach the Bombers for one game in 2006 after Dean Solomon ran into Sheeds at training and popped out his shoulder. His only game as coach? The Bryce Gibbs match that ended in a draw.
 
Missing Saturday’s game cost Shane Edwards a seventh draw and a share of the all-time record.
 
Ron The Bear said:
Yet to draw

Adelaide - have only drawn with Collingwood & St.Kilda
Brisbane - Ad,Ca,Co,Fr,GC,GWS,Ha,Me,St,WB
Carlton - Ad,Br,Fr,GC,GWS,Ha,NM,WC
Collingwood - Br,Fr,GC,GWS,Ha,PA
Essendon - Ad,Fr,GWS,Ha,PA,WC
Fremantle - have only drawn with Sydney
Geelong - Ad,Fr,GC,Sy
Gold Coast - have only drawn with Essendon & West Coast
GWS - have only drawn with Geelong, Hawthorn, North & St.Kilda
Hawthorn - Ad,Cr,Ca,Co,Es,Fr,GC,PA,Ri,WC
Melbourne - Ad,Br,Fr,GC,GWS,PA,WC
North Melbourne - Ad,Ca,Fr,GC,PA,WC
Port Adelaide - have only drawn with Brisbane, Carlton, Geelong & Richmond
Richmond - Ad,Fr,GC,GWS,Ha,WC
St.Kilda - Br,Fr,GC,PA
Sydney - Ad,Ge,GC,GWS,PA,WC
West Coast - Ad,Ca,Es,Fr,GWS,Ha,Me,NM,PA,Ri,Sy
Western Bulldogs - Ad,Br,Fr,GC,GWS,PA
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wipe richmond v freo off ya list now :)
 
Tonight's 6.18-54 to 7.12-54 draw between the Sydney Swans and Geelong marks the first time these teams have ever played a draw in 126 years. The Swans and Cats were the last two foundation teams never to have drawn before.

It also obviously ends the longest draw drought between two teams, so which now is the longest?

I'll stand corrected, but from what I could see, it is St Kilda and Melbourne. The Saints and Demons drew at the Junction Oval in Round 5 1921 for the first and to date only time in their history, never sharing the points in any match in 102 years since then. There's also Hawthorn, a team that has rarely played draws, and in 98 years to date the Hawks have never tied a game against Carlton, Collingwood or Essendon. Fellow 1925 entrant North Melbourne has also never drawn against Carlton, despite some very close games between the Kangaroos and Blues over the years.
 
emuboy said:
Tonight's 6.18-54 to 7.12-54 draw between the Sydney Swans and Geelong marks the first time these teams have ever played a draw in 126 years. The Swans and Cats were the last two foundation teams never to have drawn before.

It also obviously ends the longest draw drought between two teams, so which now is the longest?

I'll stand corrected, but from what I could see, it is St Kilda and Melbourne. The Saints and Demons drew at the Junction Oval in Round 5 1921 for the first and to date only time in their history, never sharing the points in any match in 102 years since then. There's also Hawthorn, a team that has rarely played draws, and in 98 years to date the Hawks have never tied a game against Carlton, Collingwood or Essendon. Fellow 1925 entrant North Melbourne has also never drawn against Carlton, despite some very close games between the Kangaroos and Blues over the years.
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Carlton and Hawthorn have played 170 matches 1925-2023 for no draws.
Melbourne and St Kilda have played 169 matches since their last draw in 1921
Collingwood and Hawthorn have played 168 matches 1925-2023 for no draws.
Essendon and Hawthorn have played 168 matches 1925-2023 for no draws.
Melbourne and Western Bulldogs have played 165 matches since their only draw in 1929.
 
To date, in the 36 years since the Eagles made their debut in 1987, there has only been one drawn AFL match in Perth, and this was over 20 years ago in a game between the West Coast Eagles and Western Bulldogs at Subiaco Oval in 2003. True, a 2007 semi-final between the Eagles and Collingwood ended with tied scores at the final siren, but the Magpies won in extra time.

The Eagles have played a number of draws in their history but most have been in away games. Fremantle took 18 years to draw for the first time in 2013, and this game against Sydney was played at the SCG. Another 9 years would pass before the Dockers drew again, this time against Richmond in Melbourne.

So all in all, there has been one draw at the now closed Subiaco Oval, no draws at the WACA when this was an AFL venue from 1987-2000, and none at Optus Stadium since it opened in 2018 involving the Eagles, Dockers or interstate teams playing at the venue during the Covid hub situation of 2020 and 2021. Throw in the lack of draws in the WAFL - there has been only one since 2012 (South Fremantle & West Perth in 2022) and your chances of seeing a drawn game in WA are very remote indeed.
 
emuboy said:
To date, in the 36 years since the Eagles made their debut in 1987, there has only been one drawn AFL match in Perth, and this was over 20 years ago in a game between the West Coast Eagles and Western Bulldogs at Subiaco Oval in 2003. True, a 2007 semi-final between the Eagles and Collingwood ended with tied scores at the final siren, but the Magpies won in extra time.

The Eagles have played a number of draws in their history but most have been in away games. Fremantle took 18 years to draw for the first time in 2013, and this game against Sydney was played at the SCG. Another 9 years would pass before the Dockers drew again, this time against Richmond in Melbourne.

So all in all, there has been one draw at the now closed Subiaco Oval, no draws at the WACA when this was an AFL venue from 1987-2000, and none at Optus Stadium since it opened in 2018 involving the Eagles, Dockers or interstate teams playing at the venue during the Covid hub situation of 2020 and 2021. Throw in the lack of draws in the WAFL - there has been only one since 2012 (South Fremantle & West Perth in 2022) and your chances of seeing a drawn game in WA are very remote indeed.
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This post came back to bite me a little bit, because on the weekend the West Coast Eagles' WAFL team somehow despite being winless with a percentage of 30 and losing to East Fremantle by 184 points a week earlier somehow managed to draw against Lathlain Park co-tenants the Perth Demons 15.8-98 to 15.8-98. For the Dees, it was their first draw since 2009 when they finished level with Swans. Swans also drew against West Perth the same season, and Perth and West Perth drew in 2008, completing an odd triangle of stalemates between the three teams in 2008 and 2009. Prior to this though, Perth had not drawn for 22 years, dating back to 1986.

As for the Eagles, they have drawn for the first time in just their fourth WAFL season (the team did not contest in 2020 due to COVID). Peel Thunder, which made their debut in 1997, have never played a draw in 27 seasons to date. I don't know the record of the longest time taken to draw from debut in the high-level leagues around Australia, but Peel would have to be pretty close to it.

There's also some pairings of WAFL teams that have never tied despite playing many matches over many years. Swan Districts and South Fremantle have never played a tie since the former commenced in 1933, while both South Fremantle and Perth made their debut in 1900 - and 123 years later the Bulldogs and Demons have never shared the premiership points in a game. Perth and Subiaco have also never drawn a game since the Lions began in 1902.
 
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Leaving aside a tied West Coast vs. Collingwood semi final in 2007 which the Magpies won in extra time last night's Fremantle vs. Collingwood match was just the second drawn AFL match ever played in Perth, the first ever played at Optus Stadium and the first by the Dockers at home.

The only other tied match played in Perth was nearly 21-years-ago; a relatively high-scoring stalemate between the Eagles and Bulldogs at Subiaco Oval in June 2003, 16 years after the Eagles 1987 debut and 8 years after the Dockers commenced. There was never a drawn match played at the WACA when it was used as an AFL venue, and no interstate teams using Perth as a hub during the COVID years in 2020 and 2021 tied matches either.
 
South Fremantle and Swan Districts played a rare WAFL draw today, the Bulldogs vs. Swans game finishing an 8.12-60 each stalemate at Fremantle Oval.

Remarkably, it is the first time these teams have ever drawn against each other in over 90 years of competition. South Fremantle drew in 2022 against West Perth, but for the Swans it is their first drawn game since 2010.
 
What do people think of the idea of playing both teams' songs after a draw? I think we get used to a particular sense of atmosphere when watching a game. When the final siren sounds we are used to hearing the winner's song and with a draw we do not get a song. When watching the end of a neutral game it can be interesting to observe the players' interactions and the way the crowd celebrate while the music plays, even with a one-sided affair. With a drawn game, why not play the home team's song first, just the once, and then the away team's song, again once only.
 

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