Australian Football

Geelong's record score

Round 7 – June 22^nd , 3pm at the Junction Oval

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Six rounds into the newly formed Victorian Football League, all eight teams were still adjusting to the new scoring system, allowing for a goal to be worth six points and points also now included. The average score in the first six rounds was just 38 points, with the previous round, round 6, producing a total of 199 points from all eight teams; Carlton’s score of 5.5.35 being the highest score of the round.

In fact, in the first six weeks of the league, teams were only scoring an average of five goals a game. St Kilda, sitting winless in the bottom of the ladder, were averaging just 2.5 goals a game, with their round 3 loss to South Melbourne seeing them score only two behinds. A score of over 100 points was kicked by Melbourne in round 5 against Carlton, the only time in so far a team in the new look league had reached such dizzying heights.

So it was with great trepidation that Geelong travelled to St Kilda’s Junction Oval, a ground on which they had not had much luck in the VFA days past. Their opponents for the day were the winless St Kilda, who had come the closest so far to a win four days earlier, losing to Carlton by only 11 points. Geelong, on the other hand, had had a slow start to the season, the team losing their first three games, taking some time to gel, before winning their next three, entering the top four for the first time the previous round. At three wins and three losses, this game was a bit of a crossroads for the Pivotonians, with the team looking now to consolidate their spot in the top four.

This game was played on a Tuesday, owing to Queen Victoria celebrating her diamond jubilee¹. The whole city of Melbourne was celebrating the 60-year reign of the queen, and it is said that trains to the city were crowded with people from every corner of the colony². Four days earlier, a steady downpour of rain had fallen as Geelong dispatched of Fitzroy by 16 points at Corio Oval, kicking 3.13 for the game³; however contrary to outlooks, the weather for the jubilee was described as glorious⁴.

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Geelong travelled up to Melbourne with a strong playing group of 20. Along with them was a group of friends and family, who would enjoy the game and go on to enjoy the celebrations being held in the city that night⁵.

Henry ‘Ivo’ Crapp was in charge of the game, his sixth for the year, and his second time umpiring each of the teams. As an umpire he was said to have adapted quickly to the new rules, and many were praising the way he interpreted them⁶. On this day however he allowed some leeway, Crapp apparently winking at violations in a very relaxed manner while some players openly transgressed the rules through throwing the ball⁷.

The Pivotonians began the game with brilliant dash, not being hampered by the mud, like they had been in their previous match. They were able to get on the scoreboard early, with a goal to Jack Quinn (kicking his fourth goal for the year). The play was hard and tough, with Geelong’s Eddy James getting his first for the day, before the play shifted to the St Kilda end and, after 15 minutes of struggle, Mick Blake got one back for the home side.

But the celebration was short-lived. Geelong were able to respond to this with a quick point, before Eddy James and Jim Flynn kicked goals, and after a few more minor scores, the siren went, with the Pivots holding a 22 point lead.

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As the second quarter began, the play picked up in pace, with the ball hovering in the St Kilda forward line, before Jack Conway was able to outmark Algy Hay and send the ball forward to Eddy James, the Geelong star goal kicker, who entered the round having kicked 10 goals for the season already. Having booted one earlier, James was able to score his 12 ^th for the season.

Almost immediately St Kilda won the ball out of the middle, sending it down to Mick Blake, who fumbled it before snapping it through for a lucky goal, his second for the half. Geelong then picked up their play, Charlie Coles kicking the side's sixth and soon, after some clever play from Tracker Young, Eddy James took another great mark, as he had been doing all day. His shot unfortunately missed its mark. To rectify the situation, Joe McShane kicked the next two goals, the visitor’s crowd cheering loud for the away team. St Kilda were able to add a goal and a few points at the end of the quarter to go in at the half trailing Geelong by 32 points.

Bert Barling joined the scorers list in an uneventful start to the second half. Eddy James got involved in the play and helped with a score assist to Jim Flynn in kicking another. The ball bounced around from end to end, before Barling kicked his second for the quarter, the Geelong fans raising their voice in appreciation. James kicked another from a quick snap from a scrimmage.

St Kilda were barely able to get the ball passed their center line and could only manage one point for the term, with Geelong adding one more to Jim Flynn before the quarter was over. The Pivots had 10 scoring shots to one in the quarter, with their score hovering just below 100 as the teams changed ends for the final time.

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In the final quarter, Geelong continued were they had left off, Charlie Coles (left) taking a mark from the center clearance and kicking truly, the team total now on 98, before Jack Quinn took the Pivots over the 100 mark with another quick goal (104). Finally Ted Hall was able to kick another for the home side. With the game winding down and darkness creeping across the ground, Flynn was able to add one more, giving him four for the day, and taking Geelong's final score to 16.18.114.

The total was seven points better than Melbourne’s high score from a week and a half earlier⁸. It would be nearly two years before it was surpassed as the League's highest score, Melbourne knocking up what was a mammoth score for the time, 16.20.116, a hapless St Kilda again on the receiving end.

The win gave Geelong its first victory at St Kilda for a number of years and there was much celebrating amongst Pivotonians. One prominent supporter couldn't help but hide his delight, but he was also heard to add, “I can’t forget all the games we have lost on this ground⁹". ‘Follower’ of The Age provided the most apt description of the game, opining that Geelong, “came, saw, and conquered¹⁰”.

BEST
St Kilda: McNamara, Phillips, O'Grady, Hogan, Blake, Lowe, Dunne¹²
Geelong: Young, James, McShane, Conway, McCallum, Coles, Barling¹¹

GOALS
St Kilda: M. Blake 2, T Hall, A Lowe
Geelong: J Flynn 4; E James, J Quinn 3; B Barling, C Coles, J McShane 2

FURTHER MATCH DETAILS: https://australianfootball.com/game/view/48

Record V/AFL scores — a timeline

Geelong's final total of 16.18.114 created a record VFL score for the fifth time in seven rounds, a not particularly surprising fact in the inaugural season of the league. Perhaps a little more surprising is that fact that the Pivotonians' record stood for almost two more years before being broken four times in four months. Since 1899, the third VFL season, the record has been broken just seven times, most recently by Geelong in 1992. The current 27-year 'drought' is the second-longest in the league's history, surpassed only by a break of almost 38 years between Richmond's mark of 1931 and Carlton's of 1969.

In the league's first two decades, the record changed hands among Fitzroy, Essendon, Melbourne and Geelong, with St Kilda usually the team on the receiving end.

VFL RECORD SCORES: