Micro Noises 61 - Simply the Don thing
Dons do it again
Essendon scored a regulation win over Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval on Friday night. What's that we hear you cry? How could that heroic, two-point, thrilling victory, a triumph against the long odds of adversity against a much more highly fancied opponent be described as a regulation win? Well, pretty easily we say. Because the Bombers, you see, have done it all before, not once, not twice, but thrice. Done what? Win 62-60, that's what. You see, five of the 14,508 completed VFL/AFL games have finished with a final score of 62 v 60. And on four of those occasions, including last Saturday night, Essendon has been the winner.
The 62 v 60 tale of the tape is (click on the venue for game details):
YEAR | ROUND | RESULT | VENUE |
1905 | 8 | Essendon 7.20.62 v Carlton 8.12.60 | East Melbourne |
1913 | 16 | University 8.12.60 v Essendon 9.8.62 |
MCG |
1923 | 17 | Geelong 9.6.60 v Essendon 8.14.62 | Corio Oval |
1955 | 8 | Hawthorn 9.8.62 v Richmond 8.12.60 |
Glenferrie Oval |
2014 | 16 | Port Adelaide 7.18.60 v Essendon 8.14.62 | Adelaide Oval |
The Twilight Zone
If you were watching the West Coast versus Sydney game on Sunday and had a shiver run down your spine as you were overcome by the sensation that you'd been transported back to 1979, perhaps there was good reason. There were several similarities between that game and one played between Essendon and Footscray, 35 years earlier, almost to the day. Here are some of those similarities:
- The Essendon-Footscray game was played on July 7th, the Eagles-Swans match on July 6th.
- In both games the winning team kicked 10 goals.
- The winning coach in both matches played their last VFL/AFL match in a winning Grand Final for North Melbourne (Barry Davis; John Longmire).
- In both matches the winning team's score was in the 70s (Essendon 71; Sydney 79) and the losing team's score in the 50s (Footscray 50; West Coast 51).
- The leading goalkickers in the winning teams in both matches scored three goals (Dunnell and Taubert for Essendon, Goodes for Sydney).
- In the 1979 match, each team had a player with the surname of Reid; this week, each team had a player with the surname of Kennedy (and Sydney also had a Reid).
- And the pièce de résistance? Each match had an official attendance of 25,076.
Score Wars
Round 15 saw 81 briefly grab a share of second place behind 87 but then 91 came with a rush on the Sunday of that round, registered by the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood in their victories over Melbourne and Carlton, to join 87 in the lead. Both of those final scores have now come up eight times this year. 76 was also registered on that Sunday, joining 81 as a seven-time score in 2014.
The Marginal Medal
No movement at the top in rounds 15 and 16, with 8 points still the most common margin so far this year. It's come up seven times, one more than 32 and 38. Only two margins of under 20 have not been registered this year. We have had no 10-point games and as yet, no draws.
First among unequals
One new scoreline in the AFL in round 16. After 14,508 matches since 1897, Fremantle and Melbourne gave us our first ever 97 v 34 finish at Marrara on Saturday night.
Postcodes of the week
It's hard not to feel sorry for Richmond (unless you're an old Carlton fan). Despite the fact that the Tigers won on Saturday, it's difficult not to identify with the pain of the fans who realise that there's a GULF between their team and those in the upper reaches of the ladder. It sort of makes you want to put a LONG ARM around the fans, give them a comforting CUDDLE and lament with them the fact that another season is up the CREEK. All of this could neatly be summarised by the fact that Richmond's quarter-by-quarter behind aggregate on Saturday was 2, 3, 4, 7 and that the Tigers kicked 5, 2, 3 and 2 goals in each term, and that 2347 is the postcode of both GULF Creek and LONGARM and that 5232 is the postcode of CUDLEE CREEK.
Ridiculous footy anagrams of the week
Bad news for Suns captain Gary Ablett this week, with the camp electing to have surgery on the shoulder he dislocated against Collingwood last Saturday. The decision means that Ablett will not be able to go on for the rest of this season, a fact neatly summarised by the fact that GOLD COAST SUN HERO GARY ABLETT is an anagram of SHOULDER BATTLE, SO GARY CAN'T GO.
Meanwhile, not for the first time Hawk BRIAN LAKE suffered from his own anagram - a BRAIN LEAK - against North Melbourne last Friday night. Lake put a choker hold on Roo Drew Petrie and was suspended for four weeks as a result. Some believe the punishment is too lenient, others far too harsh. In any case, for those who believe that penalty is a bit of a nonsense, we simply point out that LAKE - FOUR MATCHES is an anagram of AFL CREATES HOKUM.
Please note
Before we go, a reminder for all Victorian footy fans: Please note that North Ballarat are playing the Northern Blues in the VFL this weekend.
Or, in short - NB: NB v NB.
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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