Micro Noises 64 - Hawthorn's hoodoo
10-goal win puts Hawks out of Grand Final race
You'd think winning a game by 62 points - enough for you to leapfrog over your arch rivals and take top spot on the ladder - would be a good thing. Well, sorry Hawthorn fans, but your team's emphatic win over the Western Bulldogs has actually condemned it to the strong likelihood of not only missing out on this year's premiership, but also not even making it to the "Big Dance". The problem with the big win was not the 62-point margin but the actual scores in the match. The Hawks won 107 to 45, a scoreline that hasn't been kind to the victors of games past.
In the only other VFL/AFL matches to finish with a score of 107-45 (in 1936, 1969 and 2008) Melbourne, Geelong and Sydney all had success but all three of those victorious teams then fell in the finals before Grand Final day. Here's the hoodoo the Hawks have to hurdle:
YEAR | GAME RESULT | WINNER'S SEASON RESULT |
1936 | Melbourne 14.23.107 d North Melbourne 5.15.45 | Lost Preliminary Final |
1969 | Geelong 15.17.107 d Fitzroy 6.9.45 | Lost First Semi Final |
2008 | Sydney 16.11.107 d West Coast 5.15.15 | Lost Second Semi Final |
2014 | Hawthorn 16.11.107 d Western Bulldogs 6.9.45 | ???? |
First among unequals
One score from round 19 for which there is no historical parallel is the final one from the Melbourne v Brisbane game at Docklands last Sunday. Brisbane's 23-point win was the first ever VFL/AFL occurrence of a 74 v 51 match, somewhat surprising given that there have been five 74 v 50 matches and four 74 v 52 matches since 1897.
Score Wars - Living in the '70s
A bunch of scores from the 70s in round 19, with 79 coming up twice and 78, 76, 74 and 70 showing up once each across the weekend. Collingwood's thrilling win over Port Adelaide in the last match of the round saw 76 grab a share of the lead in Score Wars 2014. It has now come up as a final score nine times this year, along with 87, which most recently came up as a total for GWS against Geelong in round 18. Hot on their heels are 79 (scored by Sydney last Friday and North Melbourne on Saturday), 91 and 94, which came up three times in round 18, as a winning score for Geelong, and a losing score for the Western Bulldogs and Sydney.
There are now only three final scores between 50 and 120 that have not been recorded this seaon - 53 (last seen in round 18 last year), 84 (round 21 last year) and 112, which was a final score three times in round 23 last season but has not been seen since.
The Marginal Medal
As in Score Wars, the Marginal Medal leadership is also shared, with both 7 points and 8 points having come up seven times this season. Next in line are 20 and 32, each of which have been seen six times in 2014. The last two rounds has seen 10 and 22 make their first appearances this year, leaving 0 (the draw) and 24 as the only margins under 25 missing from this year's results. With only four rounds and finals to go, we are staring down the barrel of our first draw-less season since 2004.
Postcode of the week
Great to see Richmond flying at this time of the season. The Tigers are playing winning footy and have now racked up five victories in a row. But with time running out in the season, the Yellow and Black may well have waited too long to find their best form. And they seemed to know that themselves in the first half against GWS last Saturday. The Tigers were 3.3 at quarter time and 8.5 at the long break and, as everybody knows, 3385 is the postcode of Toolong.
Going postal with anagrams
Sunday's Melbourne-Brisbane game was described by many pundits as one of the worst of all time and one which should be consigned to footy's historical rubbish bin as soon as possible. The second and third terms were the worst, riddled with errors, but the signs of what to come were actually there at quarter time if you knew what the look for. The score at the first break was 3.3 to 3.3 and 3333 just happens to be the postcode of BAMGANIE, which is of course, an anagram of BIN A GAME.
Ridiculous footy anagram of the week (1)
The path to playing AFL football is never an easy one. The hurdles to be overcome and challenges conquered are many and varied. The players themselves will tell you its a jungle out there with other young kids just as keen for AFL glory looking to pick you off like an animal, just to make it to their first game. Which is why the AFL's newest debutant, ORAZIO FANTASIA, who will play for Essendon for the first time against Richmond tonight, is very appropriately an anagram of IN A SAFARI AT ZOO.
Ridiculous footy anagram of the week (2)
Rewinding back to last Sunday, Collingwood would have been thrilled to get over the line against Port Adelaide by six points and sneak back into the eight. However, something the Pies were probably less thrilled by was the crowd of just 32,804. This was despite the match being a tribute to the retiring Nick Maxwell and a "bring a friend for free" game. With the club's bottom line probably dented by that attendance, it's ironic that AFL PIES-PORT is an anagram of PROFITS LEAP.
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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