Australian Football

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Friday 13th debutants

And while we're on the subject of the baker's dozen, this week sees the year's first instance of Friday the 13th, so what better time than to look through the V/AFL archives and uncover the players who have made their debuts on the date and find out if it's been unlucky or lucky for them. 

11 players have made their V/AFL debuts on this so-called unlucky date, the first of those being North Melbourne's Ben Buckley, who began his top-level career on Friday the 13th, 1986. In terms of results, Buckley had a lucky night, with the Kangaroos winning. He didn't have a bad night himself, either, collecting 12 touches, although he didn't kick a goal.

That was enough for him to get another four straight games, although they were less lucky ones for his team, all losses. Buckley went on to have a solid career, playing 74 matches, although he never experienced premiership—or indeed finals—success. Buckley's one and only final was his last ever match, a 51-point  Elimination Final loss to West Coast. 

In terms of debut team success, results have been mixed, with six Friday the 13th debutants experiencing a win and five a loss. On a personal level, four of the 11 kicked at least one goal on debut. Collingwood's Alan Toovey kicked three in his first match in 2007 while his fellow debutant on the night, Brad Dick, kicked two. St Kilda's Greg Doyle and Essendon's Jake Carlisle kicked a goal each on debut. Possession-wise, the most prolific debutant in Friday the 13th history was Stewart Crameri. He collected 17 touches on debut, ahead of Buckley and Toovey's 12 and Dick's 11. 

From a longevity perspective, Nick Riewoldt is the outlier by a long way, having played 319 matches, 44 ahead of the next best, North's Michael Firrito, and more to come, with Saint Nick about to saddle up for his 17th AFL season. Oddly enough, the player to have made the least AFL appearances of the Friday the 13th crew is Chris Oliver, who also made his debut for the Saints on the day his teammate Riewoldt did. But despite the fact that Oliver had four possessions on that night while his teammate only had three, his final tally of matches was only 10, a long way behind Nick. All of the other Friday the 13th debutants played at least 25 matches.

Of course the ultimate measurement of footy success is premierships and only one of the eleven Friday the 13th players—Toovey—has gone onto become a premiership player. For three others, though, the possibility of a float remains. Perhaps the one with the best chance is Crameri, who will return to Bulldogs team in 2017 after a year of suspension, with the reigning premiers a fair chance of saluting again this season. With the Saints on the improve, a premiership still remains a possibility also for Nick Riewoldt and Jake Carlisle.

The Friday the 13th debutants

From father to son, from footy to cricket

Neither Chris Lynn nor Billy Stanlake, who both make their debuts for the Australian One Day International cricket team today, were born on Friday the 13th, although Chris Lynn was born on April 10th, 1990 in a week that at least contained a Friday the 13th. Not that Chris Lynn has much to do with Australian football, although being born in Brisbane, he was probably expose to the game as a youth.

Billy Stanlake, on the other hand, has a great connection to the great indigenous game, and its not just the fact that he is 204 cm tall, the perfect height for a modern-day AFL ruckman. Stanlake's father  Warren was in fact a footy player of note. Warren played one match for Footscray in 1981. Coming it at 189 cm, a full 15 cm (six inches) shorter than his cricketing son, Warren's first-up effort wasn't too bad as debut performances go. He picked up eight kicks, two bandpasses and two mark and also had a hit-out and kicked a behind.

But the  Dogs were thrashed by powerhouse Collingwood at Victoria Park that day, to the tune of 94 points, and Warren Stanlake was made one of the scapegoats, dropped from the side for the Bulldogs' next match, never to reappear. We can only hope that son Billy, regardless of how well he goes in his first international appearance today, gets more than one chance to display his wares at the highest level.

Ridiculous footy anagram of the week

Still on Billy Stanlake's dad, Warren Stanlake arrived at the Western Oval kennel as a star player from Lavington bit was still very raw when he made his debut for Footscray in 1981. It seems rather appropriate, therefore, that WARREN STANLAKE is an anagram of A RAW KENNEL STAR.

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.