Stats observations

Remove this Banner Ad

worbod said:
The 81-point margin Geelong won by is the largest winning margin to be repeated in grand finals, the other instance being when Richmond defeated Collingwood in 1980. Prior to this 73 points was the highest margin repeated in grand finals when Essendon defeated Carlton in 1949 and when Melbourne defeated Collingwood in 1956.
Click to expand...

Geelong inflicted Sydney's biggest loss in 1992 - 75 points - and the Swans' biggest loss of 2022 30 years later - this time by 81 points.

The biggest problem for Sydney is that in 1992 the Cats were minor premiers and the Swans wooden spooners (3-18-1, lost last 15 in a row) while the biggest loss this year happened when the sides met in the Grand Final.
 
Geelong's score of 133 in the grand final was the second time this score has been registered in a grand final, with Essendon also compiling this score in 1993. But the highest score to be kicked twice in grand finals is 150, firstly by Essendon in 1946 and then by Richmond when they were runner-up in 1972.

The lowest score to be kicked twice in grand finals is 25, firstly by Collingwood when they defeated Richmond in 1927 and then by Greater Western Sydney in 2019.

The most common score in grand finals is 89 which has been kicked 8 times.
The most common winning margin is 5 points which has been achieved 5 times.
 
Chris Scott is the first premier coach with a beard since Robert Walls in 1987, and as far as I can determine they are the only two bearded premiership coaches in VFL/AFL history.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Joel Selwood retires with a record of Played: 355 games, Won: 259 games, Lost:95 games, Drawn: 1 game.

He is the only person to have played over 350 games and lost fewer than 100 of those games.

The most likely person to join him in this "unique" club is his long-time team mate Tom Hawkins. Hawkins has now played 327 games and lost only 90 of those.

The other players to have 300 or more games with fewer than 100 losses are:
  • Gordon Coventry - 306 games with only 81 losses
  • Jimmy Bartel - 305 games with only 89 losses
  • Chris Langford - 303 games with only 96 losses
  • Francis Bourke - 300 games with only 95 losses
  • Kelvin Moore - 300 games with only 99 losses (just sneaks in)

Conversely, Robert Flower holds the record for most games played with fewer than 100 wins. He played 272 games for only 88 wins.

Nathan Jones narrowly avoided claiming this unwanted record by winning his last 8 games (all in 2021) and 12 of his last 13 games to finish with 101 wins from 302 games.
 
WAFL Grand Final Numerology:
West Perth made all three grand finals.
They lost the first two (Reserves and Colts) by 6 and 2 points respectively while winning the league by 12 points.
6*2=12.
Also, if you add up the margins in all the games it equals 20. 6+2+12=20.
It was West Perth's 20th league flag!
 
Goggin Our Best said:
Id be interested if you had the list for all clubs
Click to expand...
WAFL League Premierships:
East Fremantle 29
West Perth 20
East Perth 17
Subiaco 16
South Fremantle 14
Claremont 12
Swan Districts 8
Perth 7
Peel 2

*13 premierships awarded to now defunct teams- 10 Unions, 2 Rovers and 1 Fremantle.
 
If Jason Horne-Francis is successful in his request to be traded from North Melbourne to Port Adelaide or quits the Kangaroos anyway, he will become the first Number 1 National Draft selection in 30 years and just the third overall to last just one season with the club that selected them at Number 1.

The last time this happened was in the early 1990s, when the Brisbane Bears delisted their number 1 pick in the 1991 national draft John Hutton in the 1993 pre-season despite a very good debut season for the struggling Bears in 1992. This was a big surprise to everyone, probably most of all to John Hutton. The only other case is that of Richard Lounder, who played just 4 games for Richmond in 1989 after his selection by the Tigers as number 1 selection in the 1987 national draft.
 
emuboy said:
If Jason Horne-Francis is successful in his request to be traded from North Melbourne to Port Adelaide or quits the Kangaroos anyway, he will become the first Number 1 National Draft selection in 30 years and just the third overall to last just one season with the club that selected them at Number 1.

The last time this happened was in the early 1990s, when the Brisbane Bears delisted their number 1 pick in the 1991 national draft John Hutton in the 1993 pre-season despite a very good debut season for the struggling Bears in 1992. This was a big surprise to everyone, probably most of all to John Hutton. The only other case is that of Richard Lounder, who played just 4 games for Richmond in 1989 after his selection by the Tigers as number 1 selection in the 1987 national draft.
Click to expand...

Amendment, thanks to the advice of 35Daicos, Tom Boyd was GWS No 1 draft pick in 2013, but spent just one season at the Giants in 2014 before joining the Western Bulldogs in 2015.

I seem to have the Mandela Effect with the GWS Giants players in their early years, as I could have sworn Boyd spent two seasons at GWS in 2014 and 2015, and transferred to the Western Bulldogs for 2016, when they won the premiership.

It's the same with Toby Green, I was certain he spent the early part of his career at Melbourne (2012, 2013 & 2014) and only joined GWS in 2015. Funny thing is, two different people I've mentioned this to also thought the same.
 
One of the weirdest seasons on record would have to be the 1969 VFA Division 2 Season.

Heading the ladder was Sunshine (17-1 166.0%), followed by Coburg (16-2 162.2%) and then Williamstown (15-3 180.4%). There was then an amazing 6 game and 91% difference between Williamstown in 3rd and Box Hill in 4th, which finished 9-9 with a poor percentage of 88.1. Besides the Crows, Lions and Seagulls, only one of the other 7 teams managed a percentage above 100, and this was Werribee which finished 7th with a 7-11 record and a percentage of 100.9.

Perhaps not surprisingly, when Williamstown and Box Hill met in the First Semi Final, the Seagulls demolished the Mustangs by 121-points.
 
In 121 games, Dan Houston has never scored a goal in a first quarter… but he has kicked the first goal of the second quarter, four times.
 
emuboy said:
Amendment, thanks to the advice of 35Daicos, Tom Boyd was GWS No 1 draft pick in 2013, but spent just one season at the Giants in 2014 before joining the Western Bulldogs in 2015.

I seem to have the Mandela Effect with the GWS Giants players in their early years, as I could have sworn Boyd spent two seasons at GWS in 2014 and 2015, and transferred to the Western Bulldogs for 2016, when they won the premiership.

It's the same with Toby Green, I was certain he spent the early part of his career at Melbourne (2012, 2013 & 2014) and only joined GWS in 2015. Funny thing is, two different people I've mentioned this to also thought the same.
Click to expand...
On Toby Greene, his career high average disposals comes from his debut season. Wouldn’t imagine there are too many players of his (subjective) quality who are in the same bucket.

I actually just went through his career and I think I’ve underestimated just how prolific a ball winner he had been. Indisputably talented and effectual whether playing his forward role or a midfield role.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

In 1900, St Kilda won the first game of the season by a point over eventual premiers Melbourne. The game actually finished in a draw, but a review of the scores gave the Saints victory by 1-point. However, it was to be St Kilda's only win for the season, and they lost every other match to finish last.

A decade later, St Kilda went into Round 18 of the 1910 VFL season with an 0-17 record, and looking certain to finish the year winless given they were playing top team Carlton, which had the minor premiership wrapped up. St Kilda then caused one of the greatest upsets of all time, defeating the Blues and winning the last game of the year, however they still obviously finished on the bottom of the ladder.

While there have been plenty of other 1-win teams before and after these 1900 and 1910 Saints teams (including other St Kilda sides), they are the only 1 win teams I could find in the history of the AFL/VFL to have either won in Round 1 and then not again for the year, or to have not won their first game until the last match of the season.

What of other high-level leagues? This situation is rare in these competitions too, but there are some isolated examples throughout history. Struggling Brighton began the 1955 VFA season with a big win in the opening round giving long-suffering fans the hope their team was on the rise, but unfortunately the Penguins lost every match thereafter to finish 1955 with 1 victory and subsequently got the wooden spoon.

The Coburg Lions started the 1997 VFL season with an upset win over Box Hill, but the Lions didn't win again for the rest of the season and finished last. In 2000, WAFL team the Perth Demons went into the final round 0-17, but managed to avoid going winless after upsetting local Eastern Suburbs rivals Swan Districts in a boil-over.

In the SANFL, the Glenelg Tigers in 2021 did the inverse of this. They went into the last round 17-0 and unbackable favorites for the SANFL premiership but stumbled in their last game and lost to non-finalist Port Adelaide. This seemed to dent the Tigers' confidence, and made them vulnerable to Woodville-West Torrens in the finals, which ended up with the Eagles giving the Tigers a 67-point thrashing in the Grand Final, the inglorious defeat a far-cry from the undefeated season that Glenelg looked certain to enjoy weeks earlier.

Does anyone know any other examples of 1 win wooden spooners whose only victory came in either the first or last round of the season, or 1 loss minor premiers whose only defeat was only in the first or last round of the season?
 
The premierships won in the 'double digit' years (e.g. 1911, 1966, 1999, 2022) for the most part have been won by teams that haven't won a lot of flags, or experienced long premiership droughts in their history.

St Kilda's first, and to this day only premiership, was won in 1966. Fitzroy were a dominant team in the early years of the competition, and won the 1899 and 1922 VFL Premierships, but the 1944 flag, Fitzroy's 8th, proved to be the last for the Lions until 2001 when they had merged with Brisbane. South Melbourne won the premiership of 1933, but this was just their third and the Swans would not win another until 72 years had gone by and the now Sydney Swans beat the Eagles in 2005. North Melbourne won two quick premierships in the 1970s and two quick premierships again in the 1990s, but nothing in other decades, and fittingly the Kangaroos were premiers in 1977 and 1999.

Geelong won the 2011 and 2022 premierships and in general have been pretty successful, but the Cats went 44 years without a flag 1963-2007. Melbourne were successful in 1900 but would not win another premiership for 26 years. The Demons also took out the 1955 flag, which started a decade of dominance, but when it ended in 1964 another 57 years would pass before Melbourne lifted the 2021 premiership cup. Hawthorn won in 1988 and the Hawks have a great record of winning flags since the 1960s, but it did take Hawthorn 36 years to win their first premiership in 1961. Essendon, which won in 1911 and 2000, were a pretty good team winning plenty of flags and previous premiership droughts in their history have been more lengthy dry spells. However, since 2000 Essendon has gone 23 years with no premiership and haven't won any final since 2004.

Carlton and Richmond have played plenty of Grand Finals over the years, but very few in a double-digit year and no wins for either. The Tigers were beaten by the Swans in 1933 and the Lions in 1944, while the Blues lost the 1999 Grand Final to the Kangaroos. Collingwood however appear jinxed in double digit years and were beaten by Essendon (1911), Fitzroy (1922), Melbourne (1955), St Kilda (1966), North Melbourne (1977) and Geelong (2011), while the Magpies also collected the 1999 wooden spoon.
 
Jack Riewoldt has now set a new record for having played in the most drawn games.

Riewoldt has played in 8 draws.
Riewoldt wears number 8.
Riewoldt has 8 letters in his surname.
Both teams kicked 8 goals.
The goal which tied the game was kicked at 8 minutes to 10.
Richmond and Carlton also kicked 8 goals each the last time they played in a draw.
 
Connor7395 said:
In Round 2, 1971, Peter Brown made his debut for Geelong against South Melbourne.
Also in Round 2, 1971, Peter Brown made his debut for South Melbourne against Geelong.

Is this the only time two players with the same first and last names ever debuted in the same match?
Click to expand...

Geelong's Brown got 30 touches and a goal, South's Brown didn't touch the ball, so that's where the similarities end.

In Rd 1 1897, the first round of all, two blokes named Bill Ahern made their debuts, one for the Saints and one for Carlton. The teams didn't play each other that day though.
 
Generalissimo said:
Geelong's Brown got 30 touches and a goal, South's Brown didn't touch the ball, so that's where the similarities end.

In Rd 1 1897, the first round of all, two blokes named Bill Ahern made their debuts, one for the Saints and one for Carlton. The teams didn't play each other that day though.
Click to expand...

I suspect that South's Peter Brown was an unused reserve that day and didn't get on the field at all.
 
The 1914 SANFL season was a very unusual one. Port Adelaide Magpies became the first - and to this day - only SANFL team to go through a season undefeated. However, what made the season really strange was that the Magpies were the only team that year to have a higher points for than points against. All other teams including the other finalists had more points against than for.

While the SANFL calculates its percentages differently to the AFL and other leagues around Australia, if the 1914 percentages of the SANFL season were recalculated using the AFL formula the Magpies' percentage would have been over 200, all other teams' percentages would be less than 100.

There's been some odd ladders in the leagues over the years. As just some examples, also in 1914 in the VFL the top 8 teams all had percentages over 100 except for second last 2-16 Melbourne and the completely uncompetitive University team that finished last at 0-18 and provided the Demons with their only two wins of the year. There was also an extraordinary 6 game difference between 8th placed Richmond (8-10) and 9th placed Melbourne.

In the 1993 WAFL season, not only did minor premier West Perth have a percentage of less than 100 but so did second-placed Swan Districts, with third placed Claremont with a big percentage sweeping through the finals destroying everything in its path on their way to the premiership, much like their Tiger cousins Richmond had done in 1980. And in the 1988 VFA First Division season, the 10-team ladder was a mirror image top to bottom.

However, never once can I think of any other time where only one team has a percentage over 100 as was the case for the SANFL in 1914. And the Port Magpies extraordinary 1914 season has one final twist. Not surprisingly given their dominance Port Adelaide thrashed North Adelaide by 79-points in the Grand Final 13.15-93 to 1.8-14, and when the Magpies and the Roosters met 75-years-later for the 1989 SANFL Grand Final, Port once more kept North to 1.8-14, this time winning by 94-points.
 
emuboy said:
The 1914 SANFL season was a very unusual one. Port Adelaide Magpies became the first - and to this day - only SANFL team to go through a season undefeated. However, what made the season really strange was that the Magpies were the only team that year to have a higher points for than points against. All other teams including the other finalists had more points against than for.

However, never once can I think of any other time where only one team has a percentage over 100 as was the case for the SANFL in 1914. And the Port Magpies extraordinary 1914 season has one final twist. Not surprisingly given their dominance Port Adelaide thrashed North Adelaide by 79-points in the Grand Final 13.15-93 to 1.8-14, and when the Magpies and the Roosters met 75-years-later for the 1989 SANFL Grand Final, Port once more kept North to 1.8-14, this time winning by 94-points.
Click to expand...
The 1914 Port Adelaide team then won the club's fourth Championship of Australia, defeating Carlton 9.16-70 to 5.6-36. The next week they also thrashed a composite side chosen from the six remaining SAFL clubs, 14.14-98 to 5.10-40. With the outbreak of war, the Championship was discontinued until a brief revival in 1968-1975.
 
The one I find interesting is that only 5 teams won at the beginning (or end) of a decade (i.e. 1960, 1970 etc.): Carlton, Collingwood, Richmond, Essendon, and Melbourne.

1900: Melbourne defeat Fitzroy
1910: Collingwood defeat Carlton
1920: Richmond defeat Collingwood
1930: Collingwood defeat Geelong
1940: Melbourne defeat Richmond
1950: Essendon defeat North Melbourne
1960: Melbourne defeat Collingwood
1970: Carlton defeat Collingwood
1980: Richmond defeat Collingwood
1990: Collingwood defeat Essendon
2000: Essendon defeat Melbourne
2010: Collingwood defeat St Kilda
2020: Richmond defeat Geelong

My brother and I were wondering whether this would end in 2020, but alas, Richmond's win meant that this would continue for at least another decade.
 
A very useless stat: Poopsie Bananachunks and Poopsie Pizzachunks are the most common names in the AFL, both of whom appear 49 times in a world where everyone is forced to change their name according to the fourth Captain Underpants book.

For the non-readers: The most frequent "first leter first name", "first letter surname" and "last letter surname" combo in VFL/AFL history is J-M-N and J-S-N. This would include Jacob Surjan, Jamie Shanahan, Jamie MacMillan, Jeremy McGovern, Jaidyn Stephenson, Jonathan Simpkin, Josh Simpson, and Justin Madden
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Stats observations

Similar threads

old55
Where can I find player distance covered per game stats?
Replies
0
Views
599
old55
old55

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top