Micro Noises 158: Another AFLW first
Women take five weeks to achieve what men couldn't 11 years
It's taken AFL Women's only five weeks to achieve what the VFL couldn't manage in 11 seasons as an eight-team competition. Round 5 of AFLW saw GWS defeat Melbourne by 5 points, Collingwood sneak home by a point against Fremantle, Carlton eke out a 6-point win against the Bulldogs and Brisbane win a thriller against Adelaide by 3 points.
That's four games out of four decided by a goal or less. The AFL, then the VFL, spent the first 11 years of its existence as an eight-team competition and never once in those 11 seasons managed to produce a round in which all four matches were decided by such narrow margins.
The VFL's inaugural season saw its first match to be decided by a goal or under come in round two of 1897, with South Melbourne defeating Carlton by four points. It took until round seven for the league to record its first instance of two games in the same round decided by six points or fewer. Over the next decade, before the VFL expanded to a 10-team competition, there were only two rounds which saw three of the four matches decided by a straight kick or less. They were:
YEAR | ROUND | RESULT 1 | RESULT 2 | RESULT 3 |
1901 | 13 |
Melbourne d Carlton by 6 points |
Essendon d South Melbourne by 1 point |
Collingwood d Fitzroy by 5 points |
1904 | 10 | Essendon d St Kilda by 5 points | Geelong drew with Carlton | South Melbourne d Collingwood by 3 points |
37th heaven
It wasn't until the opening round of 1933, the VFL's 37th season, that its teams managed to put together a round of football with four matches decided by a goal or less. By then there were 12 teams in the league, and six matches per round. The 1933 opening round saw Carlton defeat South Melbourne by 4 points, North Melbourne draw with Fitzroy, Hawthorn edge out St Kilda by 2 points, and Footscray triumph over Essendon by 6 points, the same margin by which the women Bulldogs lost in round 5 of AFLW.
They can't be separated
The first, and so far only, draw of AFLW came in round three when GWS and Fremantle and GWS finished their match at Blacktown locked together on 43 points. And just in case we'd forgotten that there's nothing between these two sides, they decided to remind us again last weekend. The Giants were 2.1 at quarter time of their match against Melbourne last Friday and 2.1 again at half time after a scoreless second term. The next day, the Dockers were also 2.1 at quarter time and still 2.1 at the long break, after they too failed to score in the second quarter.
Déjà vu all over again
If you were Demons or Blues fan at the round 4 AFLW match between Melbourne and Carlton at Casey Fields a couple of weeks ago, and you were overcome by a strange sense of déjà vu, we might be able to explain why. The Demons women won 6.6.42 to 5.6.36, just as the Demons men did against Carlton in July 1901.
When the highest is not high enough
The Western Bulldogs round five score of 7.6.48 would have been enough to win just about every other match in AFLW history, equalling what until last week was the highest AFLW score, kicked twice by Adelaide. Unfortunately for the Dogs, their opponents Carlton kicked 8.6.54 to create a new AFLW record. As a consolation, the Bulldogs now hold the record of highest-ever losing score. It's not a win, but at least it's something!
Postcode of the week
Collingwood's one-point win over Fremantle last Saturday was due in no small part to Emma King's efforts in the ruck. With 28 hitouts, King gave her teammates first use of the ball on numerous occasions. Such was Emma's dominance of the match, it would almost have been appropriate to rename the venue from Rushton Park to King's Park. The quarter-time score in that match adds weight to the argument. The Magpies led 3.0 to 2.1 at the first break, and 3021 is the postcode of Kings Park.
Year of the week
The Melbourne's women's side probably wasn't aware of it, but they made an obscure nod to history in their loss to the GWS Giants last Friday night. The Demons went down in the round 5 match, 1.9 to 3.2, a nod to the fact that their men's side also went down in round 5, 1932.
Ridiculous footy anagram of the week
With Travis Cloke having made the move from Collingwood to the Western Bulldogs over the off-season, many fans are wondering if Cloke can deliver the Dogs enough goals. But we have it on good authority that Doggies' coach Luke Beveridge will be happy enough with Cloke even if he doesn't kick bags of goals, as long as he wins his fair share of the ball and contributes to a win. And we think there's a good chance of that happening, given that TRAVIS CLOKE NOW A BULLDOG is an anagram of DOG WON BALL - LUKE'S A VICTOR.
Micro Noises is Andrew Gigacz's regular, quirky look at all things footy. The name Micro Noises is an anagram of Enrico Misso, who played one game for St Kilda in 1985. He remains the only Enrico and the only Misso to have played footy at the highest level.
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