Micro Noises 17
One for the ages - and the stats pages
Well what a Grand Final that was! Full of terrific team play, mind-blowing marks, heart-stopping heroics, gobsmacking goals, and monstrous momentum shifts. But before we completely collapse under an alliteration overload, let's not forget that the Grand Final also produced some stunning stats and fantastic facts. Here are just some of them.
- As mentioned in our Grand Final preview edition of Micro Noises, John Longmire has become the first ever coach with a surname that begins with the letter L to win a premiership. Here's the alphabetical premiership ladder:
17 - M (McHale 8, Matthews 4, Malthouse 3, Minogue 2)
15 - H (Hughes 5, Hafey 4, Hickey 3, Holden 1, Howsen 1, Hughson 1)
13 - B (Barassi 4, Bentley 3, Barker 2, Blight 2, Belcher 1, Bisset 1)
12 - S (Smith 6, Sheedy 4, Scott 1, Sutton 1)
8 - W (Worrall 5, Walls 1, Williams 1, Worsfold 1)
7 - C (Clark 2, Coleman 2, Chadwick 1, Clarkson 1, Clymo 1); J (Jeans 3, Joyce 2, Jesaulenko 1, Jewell 1); P (Parkin 4, Pagan 2, Parratt 1); R (Reynolds 4, Rankin 1, Ricketts 1, Roos 1)
5 - K (Kennedy 3, Kyne 2)
3 - D (Davis 1, Diggins 1, Dyer 1)
2 - T (Thompson)
1 - A (Angus); L (Longmire); N (Nicholls)
0 - E, F, G, I, O, Q, U, V, X, Y, Z
Sydney's winning score of 14.7 produced the first ever final score of 91 in a Grand Final. The only remaining full-time scores between 30 and 100 that have not been registered in a Grand Final are 42, 49, 59, 93, 97 and 99. (For more riveting news about the number 91, see "Score Wars" below.)
The Hawks' losing score of 11.15 gave us the second consecutive Grand Final in which the losing score was 81. Five teams have now scored 81 in a Grand Final, with it just once being a winning score (Geelong 11.15 d Essendon 10.10 in 1951). 81 was also a losing score for Hawthorn against Essendon in 1984.
The 10-point margin was the third of that magnitude in Grand Finals. The others were in 1925, when Geelong 10.19 (79) defeated Collingwood 9.15 (69) and 1970, when Carlton famously came back from a 44-point half-time deficit to pip the Pies 17.9 (111) to 14.17 (101).
Sydney became the first team since Adelaide in 1997 to win a flag without a player whose surname begins with a letter beyond S in the alphabet. The Swans had no players in their team with a surname beginning with T, U, V, W, X, Y or Z.
Lewis Roberts-Thomson lost his unique place in history as the only premiership player with a first name of Lewis. LRT almost certainly won't mind losing that honour, as he has now been joined by teammate Lewis Jetta, and he also becomes the only Lewis to be a dual-premiership player. Only seven players with a first name of Lewis have ever graced a VFL/AFL field. Amazingly, four of those have been Swans. Aside from Roberts-Thomson and Jetta, the Swans had Lewis Johnston on their list last year, during which time he played two games, and Lewis Leslie played 22 games for South Melbourne between 1954 and 1956. The other three Lewis "non-Swans" were Lewis Stevenson (West Coast, 2010, 10 games), Lewis Blackmore (Essendon 1905-07, 7 games) and Lewis Jones (St Kilda, 1904, 1 game).
And we believe Bruce McAvaney stated at the last break that this was the first ever Grand Final where the margin was one point at three-quarter time. We haven't yet verified that but we know better than to doubt any statistical statement from Bruce.
Longmire's latitudinal leaps
As a player who originally came from Balldale, near Corowa, before he joined the Kangaroos, and who is now the premiership coach of the club formerly known as South Melbourne, we think it's legitimate to describe John Longmire as the man who came South to win a flag with North, before he moved North to win a flag with South.
Score Wars
Fittingly, its first ever occurrence in a Grand Final crowned a wonderful year for the score 91. Its Grand Final appearance was the 11th time this year we have seen 91 as a final score. In equal second place were 84 and 95, each of those final scores having come up nine times for the season. The only final scores between 30 and 130 (inclusive) not seen in 2012 were 30, 32, 33, 39 and 130.
The Marginal Medal
Nick Malceski's goal with less than 40 seconds remaining in the Grand Final means the 2012 Marginal Medal is a tie! Had the final siren sounded before Nick's kick, we would have witnessed the eighth 4-point ball game of the year but the goal took the margin to 10 points, leaving 4 points and 2 points as the equal-most common margins of the year, each having come up on seven occasions. The Malceski goal was, however, enough to get 10 points into the 2012 placings. It came up six times, along with 29 points and 38 points. The only marginal "no-shows" of the year lower than 60 were 9, 39, 51, 55 and 57.
First among equals
Richmond and Port Adelaide's match in Round 23 might have been the 150th draw in VFL/AFL history but it was the first ever to end with a final score of 106-106.
First among unequals
And no less than 42 other final scores showed up for the first time in the game's history, including:
SCORE | MATCH | ROUND | SCORE | MATCH | ROUND |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
137-115 | Hawthorn v Collingwood | 1 | 132-38 | Sydney v GWS | 14 |
63-154 | Brisbane v Carlton | 2 | 99-61 | Geelong v Port Adelaide | 14 |
166-58 | West Coast v Melbourne | 2 | 84-86 | North Melbourne v West Coast | 15 |
183-54 | North Melbourne v GWS | 2 | 133-62 | St Kilda v Essendon | 15 |
139-47 | St Kilda v Gold Coast | 2 | 193-31 | Hawthorn v Sydney | 15 |
122-62 | Carlton v Collingwood | 3 | 149-96 | North Melbourne v Carlton | 16 |
64-35 | Fremantle v Brisbane | 3 | 59-178 | GWS v Adelaide | 16 |
131-114 | North Melbourne v Geelong | 3 | 69-121 | West Coast v Sydney | 16 |
111-46 | Brisbane v Gold Coast | 4 | 44-116 | Western Bulldogs v Hawthorn | 16 |
58-116 | Brisbane v Collingwood† | 7 | 134-67 | Geelong v Essendon | 17 |
138-37 | Sydney v Melbourne | 8 | 132-37 | Fremantle v GWS | 17 |
72-34 | Western Bulldogs v Gold Coast | 8 | 86-180 | Essendon v Hawthorn | 18 |
128-109 | Essendon v Richmond | 8 | 127-73 | North Melbourne v Melbourne | 18 |
132-40 | Brisbane v GWS‡ | 8 | 61-115 | Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne | 19 |
84-36 | West Coast v Fremantle | 9 | 119-91 | Adelaide v Fremantle | 20 |
174-59 | Hawthorn v North Melbourne | 10 | 159-87 | Hawthorn v Port Adelaide | 20 |
99-45 | Port Adelaide v Carlton | 10 | 123-81 | Geelong v St Kilda | 21 |
49-144 | Gold Coast v St Kilda | 11 | 85-167 | Western Bulldogs v Sydney | 21 |
135-57 | Melbourne v GWS | 13 | 129-65 | Hawthorn v Gold Coast | 21 |
166-40 | West Coast v Gold Coast | 14 | 163-35 | St Kilda v GWS | 22 |
140-56 | Essendon v Western Bulldogs | 14 | 81-150 | Melbourne v Adelaide | 22 |
102-57 | Richmond v Essendon | 22 |
† After not being recorded in 115 seasons of footy, the 116-58 scoreline showed up again just a few weeks later in Round 15, when Adelaide 17.14 (116) d Port Adelaide 8.10 (58).
‡ Similarly Brisbane's 132-40 win over GWS was the first ever occurrence of that scoreline, but it was repeated just two weeks later in Sydney's win over the Western Bulldogs.
Steak knives
But wait - there's more! This season also saw four goal/behind combinations that had never been registered prior to 2012, such as West Coast's amazing 5.21 (51) against Hawthorn on a wet night at Subiaco in Round 4. Here's the full list of first-time goal-behind combinations for 2012.
Round | Team | Score | Opponent | Opp. Score |
---|---|---|---|---|
4 | West Coast | 5.21 (51) | Hawthorn | 5.16 (46) |
15 | Hawthorn | 28.25 (193) | GWS | 4.7 (31) |
16 | North Melbourne | 24.5 (149) | Carlton | 14.12 (96) |
18 | West Coast | 28.7 (175) | Brisbane | 12.5 (77) |
Meanwhile, in Adelaide...
Still haven't had enough footy? Well the good news is that the SANFL Grand Final is on this Sunday and it pits Norwood against West Adelaide, two sides who haven't met to decide the premiership since 1961. (Check out the highlights here and John Devaney's full report here.) The two clubs have met in four Grand Finals since they first clashed in the 1908 decider, with Norwood leading three Grand Final wins to one. Below is a little precis of those four Grand Finals. Looking at the 1922 result, West might have come to the same conclusion that Hawthorn did last Saturday: bad kicking is bad football!
SEASON | RESULT |
---|---|
1908 | West Adelaide 7.10 (52) d Norwood 6.13 (49) |
1922 | Norwood 9.7 (61) d West Adelaide 2.16 (28) |
1947 | West Adelaide 10.15 (75) d Norwood 5.15 (45) |
1961 | West Adelaide 16.13 (109) d Norwood 11.7 (73) |
Postcode of the Grand Final
Footy season's over and it's time for Australian RULES to take a break, and maybe spend some time at the BEACH. Hawthorn and Sydney knew it at half-time in the Grand Final, too. The Hawks were 4.6 and Sydney were 7.4 at that point. And 4674 is the postcode of RULES BEACH.
Ridiculously farfetched Grand Final footy anagram
Congratulations are of course in order to Sydney coach John Longmire, a man who has taken all he's learnt from his North Melbourne playing days, and now become known as THE person who manufactured a victory for the Swans and thus happiness for their fans. Which makes it all the more appropriate that THE SYDNEY SWAN, JOHN "HORSE" LONGMIRE is an anagram of NORTH'S OLD MAN ENGINEERS JOY. HE'S WHY.
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