Micro Noises 31 - Luke, I say no farther
A place in history is yours for the taking, Luke
Luke Hodge has done just about all there is to be done in footy - premiership player, captain of the most successful AFL club in the past 50 years, Norm Smith medallist, twice Peter Crimmins medallist, three time All Australian - the list goes on. And while the Hawk champ will be focussed on leading his team to an 11th flag in 53 seasons, we at Micro Noises would respectfully like to suggest that Mr. Hodge stop and think about that aim. We believe he should in fact seriously consider retiring. And we don't mean after he leads the Hawks to that flag, we mean now. RIGHT NOW!
Why? Well as important as another premiership might be, if Luke were to hang up the boots once and for all before the Hawks saddle up for their match against Carlton in round 12, he would achieve something that no other footballer in VFL/AFL history has done. He would be the first of 12,198 players to end his career with a games total of 214.
Now some might think that's nothing special but we believe they'd be wrong to do so. Because the only completed career game total under 287 that has not been recorded is in fact 214. And we believe that that's an important gap to fill. So we beseech you, Luke Hodge, hang up the boots now. Walk away from the game while you have the chance to claim that unique place in the history of the League.
(And if that heartfelt appeal doesn't work on Mr. Hodge, we'll try it on Alan Didak, who has also currently played a total of 214 games.)
Missed it by that much
Meanwhile the Blues fell just short of achieving something that's only ever been done once before - by them - in their match against GWS on Saturday. Carlton scored 22.16 against the Giants, and their goal total consisted of 6, 6, 6 and 4 goals in each of the four quarters. Had the Blues managed another two goals, they would have registered the magical 6,6,6,6, which has only been seen once in the 198 times that a side has kicked 24 goals in a VFL/AFL match. And that was by the Blues themselves when they kicked 24.9 in round 21 of the 2009 season to defeat Melbourne.
Four quarter efforts
The item above got us wondering about other matches in which teams have scored the same number of goals in each of the four quarters of the match. Unsurprisingly, there were examples of sides kicking 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and goals in all four quarters relatively early in VFL history, although we found it a little bit surprising that it took until 2009 to see a case of a team kicking 6 goals in all quarters to eventuate. On the other hand, given there have only been 46 occurrences of a team kicking 28 goals, it is less of a shock to discover that no team has yet registered a 7,7,7,7 combination.
Amazingly though, while there have only been seven instances of a team kicking 32 goals, one of those was where the team (Hawthorn in 1992) kicked 8 goals in each term.
Below are the first recorded VFL/AFL instances of sides kicking 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 goals in a quarter. (Click on the date for further match details.)
SEQUENCE | TEAM | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | FULL TIME | OPP. | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | FULL TIME | DATE | VENUE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0,0,0,0 | St K | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 (2) | SM | 2.4 | 5.8 | 6.9 | 8.11 (59) | 24 May 1897 | Lake Oval |
1,1,1,1 | Fitz | 1.2 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 4.6 (30) | Ess | 3.0 | 4.3 | 6.4 | 9.8 (62) | 17 July 1897 | East Melbourne |
2,2,2,2 | Fitz | 2.3 | 4.8 | 6.11 | 8.13 (61) | Carl | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.7 (19) | 4 May 1901 | Brunswick Street |
3,3,3,3 | Coll | 3.1 | 6.7 | 9.11 | 12.13 (85) | Rich | 0.1 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 7.7 (49) | 22 May 1909 | Victoria Park |
4,4,4,4 | Geel | 4.5 | 8.8 | 12.14 | 16.18 (114) | St K | 1.3 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 4.7 (31) | 22 June 1897 | Junction Oval |
5,5,5,5 | St K | 5.2 | 10.6 | 15.11 | 20.14 (134) | Melb | 5.3 | 8.8 | 10.13 | 14.17 (101) | 9 June 1934 | MCG |
6,6,6,6 | Carl | 6.3 | 12.5 | 18.9 | 24.9 (153) | Melb | 4.2 | 8.3 | 12.4 | 15.6 (96) | 22 August 2009 | Docklands |
7,7,7,7 | We're still waiting.... | |||||||||||
8,8,8,8 | Haw | 8.7 | 16.14 | 24.23 | 32.24 (216) | Ess | 2.1 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 8.8 (56) | 1 August 1992 | MCG |
Score Wars
Richmond's win over West Coast on Monday night was also a win for the final score 103, with the Tigers' 16.7 meaning that total has now come up six times in 2013. That puts it one in front of 68, while 54, 77, 82, 96 and 106 have each come up four times. Last year's most common score, 91, has been seen three times this season.
The Marginal Medal
Margin-wise, 28 points still holds sway, having come up four times this year, though it has not been seen since round 7. Hot on 28's heels are 9, 16, 26, 41 and 44, each seen three times in 2013.
Anagrammatic postcode of the week
The first quarter was about as good as it got for GWS against Carlton on Saturday. At the first break, the Giants trailed the Blues by just 20 points, but they pretty much went to water from that moment on. Which makes it rather appropriate that the game's quarter time score was 6.4 to 3.0. 6430 is the postcode of WEST LAMINGTON, which is an anagram of GIANTS MELT NOW.
Ridiculous footy anagram of the week
When the Melbourne board met on Monday, the feeling amongst many was that Mark Neeld would get the chop. But after more than two hours in the boardroom, the Demon coach emerged with his job intact. A board statement that effectively said that Neeld would continue coaching for the moment left many at Melbourne still feeling anxious and unhappy. Perhaps the situation is best summed up by the headline NEELD STAYS. Or more accurately, its anagram: SADLY TENSE.
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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