Micro Noises 69 - Not reigning Cats and Dockers
Out in straight sets, each of two
Geelong would have felt pretty bad after its loss North Melbourne in last Friday night's thriller at the 'G, not only because its season coming to an abrupt end, but also because it became the first team in seven years to go out in "straight sets". The Cats finished in the top four but lost in both week one and week two of the finals, becoming the first side to do so since West Coast in 2007. The Eagles finished third that year, as did Geelong this season, before losing a Qualifying Final to Port Adelaide and a Semi Final to Collingwood.
But the good news for Geelong was that it didn't have to wait long to be joined in such inauspicious company. 24 hours later, Fremantle blew a 24-point half-time lead against Port Adelaide to become the second side this year to go out in two. The Dockers had lost to Sydney in week one of the finals. Both the Cats and Dockers going down in consecutive weeks marks the first time under the current top-eight system that two teams have gone out in straight sets.
That phenomenon did occur twice under the old top-eight system, though. In 1994, Carlton finished second on the ladder, two games clear of third-placed North Melbourne, but lost to Melbourne and then Geelong in the first two weeks of the finals, while fifth-placed Footscray lost a thriller to Geelong and then got thrashed by Melbourne in week two. Three years later, second-placed Geelong and fifth-placed West Coast suffered the same fate. The Cats lost consecutively to North Melbourne and Adelaide, while West Coast were defeated by the same two sides in reverse order. In both the 1994 and 1997 scenarios, however, only one of the teams to go out in straight sets was from within the top four. This year marks the first ever occurrence under either top-eight system of two top four sides going out in two.
Keeping it on the level, even when falling behind
118 years down the VFL/AFL track and the finals still keep throwing up things that have never happened before. In last Friday's Second Semi Final, Geelong may have trailed North Melbourne's total score at the end of each quarter but, as Greg Parker on Twitter pointed out to us, the Cats were never behind on behinds, as it were. Geelong trailed North 5.1 to 7.1 at quarter time, 5.6 to 9.6 at half time, 8.9 to 12.9 at the last change and finished the match behind, 13.14 to 14.14. This represents the first final in VFL/AFL history in which the behinds tally of both teams has been the same at each break.
Port's premiership power play
If history is any guide, Port Adelaide will win a flag, if not this year, then by 2017 at the very latest. The Power's winning scoreline against Fremantle on Saturday night was 105-83, the fourth such scoreline in VFL/AFL history. In each of the previous three instances, the winner of those matches has gone on to take out the flag within three seasons.
YEAR | ROUND | RESULT | WINNER'S NEXT FLAG |
1970 | 17 | RICHMOND 15.15.105 d Hawthorn 11.17.83 | 1973 |
1997 | 12 | NORTH MELBOURNE 16.9.105 d Adelaide 12.11.83 | 1998 |
2012 | 3 | SYDNEY 16.9.105 d Port Adelaide 12.11.83 | 2012 |
2014 | SF | PORT ADELAIDE 15.15.105 d Fremantle 11.17.83 | 201? |
Score Wars
North's winning score over Geelong has put 98 in the running to take out victory in Score Wars 2014. With three matches left to play (unless the Grand Final is a draw), 94, 81, 79 and 76 have all been a final score 10 times this season, one ahead of 98, 91, 87 and 69. And of course we know that what all Micro Noises fans would like to see this weekend is North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Hawthorn and Sydney score one each of 98, 91, 87 and 69, to make it an eight-way tie for first place going into the Grand Final!
Postcode of the week
Talk abounds after Geelong's loss to North Melbourne last Friday about whether or not the Cats' era of dominance is finally over. Here at Micro Noises, we're not prepared to say that the future is black for Geelong and that its fans should prepare for a long period in the wilderness. We do respectfully point out, however, that the Cats scored 5, 0, 3 and 5 goals in each of their four quarters last Friday and that 5035 is the postcode of Black Forest.
Ridiculous footy anagram of the week
We were a bit surprised to learn of the sudden sacking of Crows coach Brenton Sanderson this week. While we can't possibly know the inner workings of the Adelaide football club, it did appear from the outside that Sanderson's termination and hasty goodbye seemed at least slightly disdainful. So it didn't really surprise us to discover that ADELAIDE COACH BRENTON SANDERSON is an anagram of SCORN ALERT: HE'S ABANDONED. "END! CIAO!"
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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