AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game
On this day in 1972, a crowd of 72,659 saw Richmond open its season with a thrilling four-point win over Collingwood at the MCG. That figure represents the highest attendance at any of the 57 V/AFL matches played on April 3. — Andrew Gigacz
Jarrod Molloy made his AFL debut 30 years ago today. Molloy played 59 games for Fitzroy from 1994 to 1996 and 61 more as a Brisbane Lion from 1997-2000. He joined Collingwood in 2001, and played a further 49 games as a Magpie. — Andrew Gigacz
Happy 140th birthday to Geelong's Joe Kelly. Kelly played his one and only game for the Pivotonians in a Round 2 loss to Essendon in 1905. Kelly died in 1961, aged 77. — Andrew Gigacz
Happy 121st birthday to Fitzroy's Ernie Michel. As a 20-year-old in 1923, Michel played five games for the Lions, including a win over eventual premiers Essendon on debut. — Andrew Gigacz
Carlton holds the record for the highest score registered in any of the 12 V/AFL matches played on March 19. The Blues scored 22.22.154 on this day in 2000, defeating Hawthorn by 42 points. — Andrew Gigacz
Happy birthday to former Blue and Bulldog Mark Williams, who turns 60 today. One of four V/AFL footballers of that name, this one played 19 games for Carlton and 13 for Footscray from 1983 to 1990. — Andrew Gigacz
Happy 121st birthday to Carlton's Frank Mount. Mount played one game for the Blues in 1927, a win over Fitzroy at Princes Park, and three more in 1928. — Andrew Gigacz
Clay Cameron, Sean Lemmens and Jack Martin all made AFL debuts for Gold Coast 19-year-olds 10 years ago today. Cameron went on to play 23 games for the Suns, Lemmens has played 145 for the club and Martin has played 148 AFL games, 97 for Gold Coast and 51 for Carlton. — Andrew Gigacz
Happy 50th birthday to former Magpie, Crow and Kangaroo Jason McCartney. From 1991 to 2003, McCartney played 38 games for Collingwood, 37 games for Adelaide, and 107 games for North Melbourne. — Andrew Gigacz
Seven AFLW and one AFL men's game have been played on March 13. The closest of those by final margin came on this day in 2021 when North Melbourne's women's team defeated the Western Bulldogs by 11 points. — Andrew Gigacz
On this day 24 years ago, Ryan Fitzgerald began his AFL career with a flourish, kicking five goals for Sydney in a win over St Kilda. Fitzgerald played only nine more games for the Swans. He played eight games for Adelaide in 2002. — Andrew Gigacz
First recorded by Fitzroy in 1907 and most recently by Port Adelaide in 2015, 11.3 has been a final score only 11 times across 128 V/AFL seasons. Its reverse, 3.11, has been registered 31 times. — Andrew Gigacz
The one and only V/AFL match to be played on March 10 came on this day in 2000 when North Melbourne hosted West Coast at the MCG. The reigning premiers went down to the Eagles by 43 points. — Andrew Gigacz
The very first match at Docklands Stadium took place on this day in 2000. On that Thursday night, 43,012 fans saw Essendon thrash Port Adelaide by 94 points, with Matthew Lloyd kicking seven goals. — Andrew Gigacz
North Melbourne's Chris Carroll was born 100 years ago today. Carroll played 13 games for the Shinboners, kicking 18 goals, including five against Essendon in his third match. — Andrew Gigacz
Melbourne recorded what was then the biggest ever AFLW win on this day in 2022. The Demons thrashed Fremantle by 88 points at Perth Stadium. The record was surpassed by Adelaide later that year. — Andrew Gigacz
All three AFLW matches played on this day in 2017 were decided by a goal or less. Collingwood held on to beat Fremantle by a point, Carlton withstood a Bulldogs comeback to win by six points, and Brisbane defeated Adelaide by three points in a Grand Final preview. — Andrew Gigacz
North Melbourne's Ron Allan was born 100 years ago today. Allan played 14 games for the Shinboners, one in 1946, 12 in 1948 and a final one in 1949. — Andrew Gigacz
March 2 has not been a kind date to Brisbane's AFLW side. The Lions have played on the date twice and lost both times, to Melbourne in 2018 and Geelong in 2019. — Andrew Gigacz
Happy 160th birthday to Fitzroy's Joe Kerrigan. A star with the Maroons in their pre-VFL days, Kerrigan played a total of 139 for the Roys in the VFA and five with Fitzroy's league team. He also played VFA footy with Port Melbourne and Essendon. — Andrew Gigacz
On this day two years ago, Brisbane set a new AFLW winning margin record, defeating West Coast by 74 points. The record was short-lived, Melbourne recording an 88-point win only six days later. — Andrew Gigacz
Happy 130th birthday to former Blue and Don Les Kittle. After playing five games for Carlton in 1919, Kittle added one to his VFL tally with Essendon in 1924. — Andrew Gigacz
Happy birthday to Geelong's Ian Lewtas, who turns 70 today. Lewtas played 15 games for the Cats, two in 1973, three in 1974, nine in 1975 and one in 1975. He kicked four goals, including two on debut. — Andrew Gigacz
Happy 140th birthday to Fitzroy's Danny Murphy. In the opening round of the 1911 season, Murphy played his one and only match for the Maroons. Unfortunately, it was a narrow loss to Melbourne. — Andrew Gigacz
Kicking off a premiership defence with five wins on the trot is a good thing, yeah? Maybe not, says Gigs.
Men's AFL is back, and so is Micro Noises. Andrew Gigacz looks at Hawthorn's one-point win and invokes Mozart to describe Gold Coast's AFLW loss.
Media Release: Eight new members have been inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
In response to a question from a fan, Andrew Gigacz looks at past V/AFL teams that have flown out of the blocks before falling short of finals.
STK 9.10 (64) | WBULL 19.10 (124) Round 6
GOALS St. Kilda: Membrey 3; Caminiti, Jones, Garcia, Wilson, Owens, Sharman Western Bulldogs: Naughton 6; Weightman, Bontempelli 3; Darcy, Dale, Treloar, West, English, Gallagher, Macrae BEST - AFL.COM.AU (Gemma Bastiani) St. Kilda: Windha ..
WCE 16.13 (109) | RICH 10.10 (70) Round 5
TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox FootyCOMMENTATORS: Adam Papalia, Matthew Pavlich, Will Schofield, Kath Loughnan ..
GEEL 21.13 (139) | NTH 10.4 (64) Round 5
GOALS Geelong: Cameron 6; Close 4; Neale 3; Holmes, Stengle 2; Blicavs, Dempsey, Henry, O'Connor North Melbourne: Ford 3; Drury, Larkey 2; Curtis, Davies-Uniacke, Sheezel BEST - AFL.COM.AU (Alison O'Connor) Geelong: Cameron, Holmes, Miers, ..
SUNS 16.13 (109) | HAW 8.8 (56) Round 5
GOALS Gold Coast: King 4; Swallow 3; Clohesy, Read, Walter 2; Rowell, Rosas Jnr, Anderson Hawthorn: Maginness 3; Moore, Macdonald, Hardwick, Ginnivan, Chol BEST - AFL.COM.AU (Michael Whiting) Gold Coast: Anderson, Rowell, King, Ainsworth, Clohe ..
PORT 9.12 (66) | FREO 9.9 (63) Round 5
TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox FootyCOMMENTATORS: Dwayne Russell, Leigh Montagna, Jason Duntstall, Mark Ricciuto, Kath Loughnan ..
CARL 14.14 (98) | ADEL 16.4 (100) Round 5
GOALS Carlton: Curnow 4; McKay 2; Pittonet, Owies, E. Hollands, Fantasia, Durdin, Cripps, Cottrell, Acres Adelaide: Walker 4; Rankine, Keays 3; Rachele 2; Gollant, Dawson, Cook, Berry BEST - AFL.COM.AU (Dejan Kalinic) Carlton: Walsh, Curn ..
GWS 11.14 (80) | STK 12.7 (79) Round 5
GOALS Greater Western Sydney: Hogan, Greene 2; Thomas, Riccardi, Kelly, Green, Daniels, Coniglio, Cadman St. Kilda: Owens, Membrey, Higgins, Caminiti 2; Wilson, Steele, Sinclair, Hill BEST - AFL.COM.AU (Martin Smith) Greater Western Sydney: Whi ..
WBULL 9.13 (67) | ESS 15.6 (96) Round 5
GOALS Western Bulldogs: Ugle-Hagan 3; West, Naughton 2; Vandermeer, Darcy Essendon: Langford 3; Jones, Stringer, Duursma 2; Goldstein, Caldwell, Martin, A. Davey, Gresham, Durham BEST - AFL.COM.AU (Sarah Black) Western Bulldogs: Treloar, Macrae ..
MELB 8.12 (60) | BRIS 12.10 (82) Round 5
GOALS Melbourne: Fritsch 2; van Rooyen, Neal-Bullen, Lever, Gawn, Chandler, Brown Brisbane: Cameron 3; McCluggage, Hipwood, Daniher 2; Lohmann, Fletcher, Bailey BEST - AFL.COM.AU (Gemma Bastiani) Melbourne: Gawn, Chandler, Viney, Rive ..