Micro Noises 82: A Tiger triumph?
Tigers for the flag... next year
The season is only one round old and it's surely too early in the year to be making prognostications about which teams will be making the Grand Final... isn't it? Well, we at Micro Noises headquarters beg to differ after uncovering very strong evidence that a team not seen in a Grand Final for over 30 years will be there again at last in 2015. Unfortunately that historical evidence suggests the team will lose the "big dance" at the end of this year. But the news is not all bad - that same body of historical data suggests that the team will go one better and take the flag in 2016.
Who is the team and on what basis can we possibly make such an assertion? It's Richmond, now a virtual lock for a 2015 Grand Final and a 2016 flag, if history is any guide. The Tigers finished with a score of 15.15.105 in their round one match against Carlton and the last two teams to register 15.15 in round one of a season - Geelong in 2008 and Hawthorn in 1975 - went on to play and lose the Grand Final in those years, before going one better the following season.
So Tiger fans can look forward to a Grand Final this year - albeit a losing one - and a flag in about 18 months time!
But wait... there's more!
As good as this historical omen is for those who love to scream out, "yellow and black", after a Richmond victory, there's an even better one for the Tigers. The last time Richmond scored exactly 105 in a round one match was in 1972. In keeping with the above omen, they went on to lose that year's Grand Final and then won the Grand Final in 1973. Even better, they won again in 1974!
Who will they play?
Okay, so now we know that Richmond is going to play in this year's Grand Final and lose. But the omens above don't tell us which team will vanquish the Tigers. However, Melbourne's win over Gold Coast on Saturday may have given us the answer. The Demons won 115 to 89, and the only other time they've ever won with that scoreline was in 1988 against Fitzroy. And the premier team in 1988? The Mighty Hawks.
So there we have it. History tells us that Hawthorn will defeat Richmond in the 2015 Grand Final and then the Tigers will finally break their premiership drought in 2016, before possibly going back-to-back in 2017.
We may as well wind the clock forward to 2018 now...
Déjà vu all over again
North Melbourne fans would have had that familiar sinking round-one feeling as they watched the Kangaroos capitulate to the Crows on Sunday. It was the sixth year in a row the Roos have lost an opening-round game. Some of the older Shinboner fans might have felt that sense of déjà vu even more acutely. The final score in the Kangas' loss was 140 to 63, just as it had been in the first round of 1938, when the Roos were pummelled by Richmond.
Welcome to the club
Back in Micro Noises 80 we presented a team of players that all had footy score birthdates. We are pleased to be able to welcome a new member to the extended squad, with Jaden McGrath making his debut for Brisbane last Saturday night at the 'Gabba. McGrath has a classic footy score birthdate of 15.6.96.
Score Wars
78 and 87 have jumped out of the blocks in their attempts to become the most common score of 2015. Each of them came up twice in round one, with 87, runner-up to 94 last season, looking to go one better this year. 78 finished well back in the field in 2014, registering only four times.
The Marginal Medal
Two round-one two-goal games sees 12 points as the early leader in the race for the prestigious Marginal Medal. It only came up as a margin four times in 2014, and is already half way towards reaching that total with 22 rounds plus finals to come. Last year's most common margin, 8 points, has not yet been seen, although we did get a 7-point and a 9-point game in round one.
Postcode of the week
Carlton looked good in the first term last week but after the quarter-time break the Blues went in only one direction - backwards. And perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. They led 4.7 to 2.3 at quarter time and 4723 is the postcode of Retro.
Ridiculous footy anagrams of the week
Richmond's players, including Ben Griffiths, Nathan Gordon and Sam Lloyd, all played a hard, tough brand of footy in their opening-round encounter against Carlton last Thursday night, a fact appropriately marked by the fact that GRIFFITHS, GORDON AND LLOYD ON TONIGHT is an anagram of TONIGHT: HARD, DINGDONG, NO-FRILLS FOOTY.
On Sunday Bulldogs' fans would have found it a little tough watching their 2014 skipper, Ryan Griffen, running around in a Giants jumper, after the captain "jumped ship" in the off season. Those fans might find it quite fitting then, that RYAN GRIFFEN, A FORMER BULLDOG is an anagram of I BLEED, AM ANGRY, GRUFF, FORLORN.
And finally on Easter Monday, the round closed with the traditional Hawthorn versus Geelong encounter at the MCG. The day ended badly for the Cats and particularly for their star Jimmy Bartel, whose head landed heavily on the turf in the centre circle, leading him to be helped from the field in a very groggy state. Perhaps that was predictable. After all, EASTER MONDAY HAS COME is an anagram of MY CATS' OMEN: A SORE HEAD.
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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