Micro Noises 189: It's a date!
A dream date
The 2018 AFL fixture has been released, and we're excited - very excited. Not just because next season will see footy played at a brand new venue (Perth Stadium), and not just because Richmond and the Bulldogs will meet in the last round of the season for the first time in 40 years (although we are excited by that). No, the real cause of our excitement is Round 11.
That round will be played over the first three days in June, and the second of those days is, significantly, a Saturday. The significance comes from the fact that Saturdays see five AFL matches played. But what makes the day potentially really special is the fact that it is June the 2nd, or in short form, 2/6/18. Does that look familiar? It should. Yes, 2.6.18 is a footy score, and with five games scheduled for 2/6/18, it means TEN TEAMS will have a chance to register the score that matches the date.
Granted, it's a very low score, but with those five matches to be played in four different states in winter, perhaps one of them will produce conditions conducive to a final score of 2.6.18 on 2/6/18. For example, Hawthorn v Port Adelaide in Launceston. Or perhaps the Essendon v Richmond Dreamtime game on the Saturday night will see our dream come true.
We've been waiting 121 years for a final score to match the date the game was played on, and our hopes for such an occurrence have taken on almost romantic proportions. That might sound a little weird, but let's face it, there's nothing more romantic than scoring a date, is there?
Heartbreak anniversary
2018 would indeed be a lovely year for us to finally break through and see a footy score match the date, because it will mark the 20th of anniversary of the year we came within a whisker of achieving it - twice in the same game!
On August 15th, 1998 (aka 15/8/98), the Western Bulldogs and Sydney played a thriller at Waverley, one which saw the Dogs ahead 15.8.98 to 15.7.97, with about a minute to go. A behind to the Swans and the greatest possible final score in the history of footy - 15.8.98 to 15.8.98 on 15/8/98 - would be achieved. And there was a behind scored in those final seconds... by the Bulldogs. Our dreams were shattered, the final result seeing the Bulldogs kick 15.9.99 on 15/8/98 to defeat Sydney's 15.7.97.
We've carried that heartbreak with us for almost two decades. The time has come to end it. Bring on 2/6/18!
Other highlights in the fixture mixture
Here are a few other notable facts about the 2018 AFL fixture:
- As mentioned above, round 23 next year will see Richmond take on the Western Bulldogs for the first time in the final round of a season since 1978. The Tigers will be hoping to repeat the result of four decades earlier - they won that match by 53 points.
- While the Dogs will end a 40-year last round drought against Richmond, their first round against Hawthorn will continue for at least another 12 months. The Bulldog have not faced the Hawks in Round 1 since 1962!
- The Round 23 match between Richmond and the Dogs will make it two years running that the previous two premiership teams won't cross paths until the final round of the season. The 2015 and 2016 premiers, Hawthorn and the Bulldogs, did not meet until Round 23 this year.
- Gold Coast will play North Melbourne in Round 1, which means the Suns will have opened their eight seasons against eight different teams. The Suns played their first home-and-away game against Carlton in 2011, Adelaide in 2012, St Kilda in 2013, Richmond in 2014, Melbourne in 2015, Essendon in 2016 and Brisbane in 2017.
- The Giants haven't quite matched Gold Coast's run, as they opened each of their first three seasons against Sydney. Since then, however, they have rotated through four different Round 1 opponents - St Kilda in 2015, Melbourne in 2016, Adelaide this year and the Western Bulldogs in 2018.
- Melbourne and Geelong will break a 21-year drought, meeting in Round 1 for the first time since 1996. Melbourne fans will be hoping for a slightly better result - the Cats won that match by 127 points.
- West Coast and Sydney will meet in Round 1 for the first time since 2007. That game was a re-match of the 2006 Grand Final and it produced an identical result, the Eagles winning by one point.
- The other Round 1 match-ups last occurred as follows: Port Adelaide v Fremantle 2015, Essendon v Adelaide 2013, Hawthorn v Collingwood 2012, Brisbane v St Kilda 2005.
Postcode of the week
We note that the AFL has for a third consecutive season scheduled a 'bye' weekend between the last home-and-away round and the beginning of the finals, with the likelihood of the finals commencing on Thursday September 6th. (Both the 2016 and 2017 finals campaigns kicked off on a Thursday.)
Of course when we say 'bye', that will be the operative word only for those teams who are still in the premiership race. The seasons of the remaining 10 sides will effectively be down the the toilet when the finals begin on 6/9/18. That makes it a very appropriate date, because 6918 is the post code of Innaloo.
Ridiculous footy anagrams of the week
In amongst the fixture announcement, it's important that we don't neglect the retirement announcement of a premiership player, Travis Cloke, who has elected to hang up the boots after 256 games. As is the case for many footballers in their 'old age', TRAVIS CLOKE can now probably expect his CALVES TO IRK him.
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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