GigStuff 60 – Bad kicking is good for Gigs

 

by Andrew Gigacz

 

BAD KICKING IS GOOD FOR GIGSTUFF

There’s been a glut of bizarrely inaccurate scores in the first few rounds of this season. Freo scored 7.15 against Carlton on Friday night and Brisbane followed that up with 4.17 just 24 hours later. OK, those are inaccurate scores but not so bizarre, as both of them were last registered in 2010 (coincidentally both in Round 3) but what about Adelaide’s 19.23 in Round 1 against the Suns? Not very accurate but still, not that rare. It was last recorded by Brisbane against Melbourne in Round 6, 2008 and a year earlier by West Coast, also against Melbourne.

Alright then, what about North’s 17.25 (127) against Gold Coast on Sunday? Surely that hasn’t come up too often in the past? Yes, now we’re getting somewhere – in fact it was only the third time in VFL/AFL history that a team has ended a match on 17.25. The previous two were by South Melbourne against Melbourne (again!) at the Lake Oval in 1981 and by Collingwood at Victoria Park against – you guessed it – Melbourne in 1978.

But we can do even better than that by taking a look at last weeks West Coast-Hawthorn slog. Hawthorn’s 5.16, as shocking as it was, was knocked up relatively recently by North in their 2007 Preliminary Final shocker against Port. But how long is it since we’ve seen a team match the Eagles’ 5.21 (51)? The answer is FOREVER. Yep 14,000-odd matches into the AFL’s history and that’s the first time ever that one’s come up.

Amazingly, there have been occurrences of a teams scoring 5.22, 5.23 and even 5.24! That was done by Essendon in 1914 against… Melbourne AGAIN!

SCORE WARS

I know this is what you’re all dying to ask – what’s been the most common final score this year? Well it ain’t 5.21 (51), I can assure you. In fact that’s the only 51 we’ve had this year. The runaway leader after five rounds – OK, maybe not runaway; let’s say walkaway – the walkaway leader after five rounds is 79, which, after not being seen in the first three rounds, has come up twice in each of the past two. And though it’s been a losing score on three of four occasions, it’s a winning score – so far – when it comes to Score Wars. 79, however, cannot afford to rest on its laurels, because 64, 105 and 110 are hot on its heels, having come up three times each. The only “no-show” scores (between 50 and 130) of last year – 55, 126 and 128 – have not been sighted in 2012 and neither has last year’s winner, 98.

THE MARGINAL MEDAL

After five rounds, this year’s Marginal Medal is anyone’s, with no margin having come up more than twice so far. The leading pack consists of 2, 4, 10, 13, 17, 18, 21, 22 and 63. Both of last year’s only two sub-50-point margins not be recorded, 44 and 37, have had a run this year. The longest sub-10-goal margin “drought” now belongs to 58, which was last seen when Geelong beat the Saints by that margin in the 2008 Qualifying Final.

NO HIGH-FIVES FOR THESE TEAMS

Five rounds into the season and Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast are all without a win. If you’re thinking it’s been awhile since we’ve had three winless sides this far into a season, you’d be right. The last such occurrence was in 1995, when St Kilda, Fitzroy and Melbourne were all winless after Round 5.

PAM’S POINT ABOUT GOALS

Thanks to Pam Sherpa, who emailed me last week to point out that GWS had scored more goals than at least three other sides in both of rounds 3 and 4. They didn’t quite reach that target this week but they did outscore both Brisbane and Fremantle.

RIDICULOUS POSTCODE OF THE WEEK

A nice touch by Essendon on ANZAC Day in having a half-time score of 3.6 and a three-quarter-time score of 7.8. You might remember that the Bombers circled around Wangaratta on a wet pre-season night earlier this year but never quite might made it in to town. Those scores commemorate that very fact, because 3678 is the postcode of East Wangaratta, North Wangaratta, South Wangaratta and even Wangaratta Forward but it is NOT the postcode of Wangaratta itself (which is 3677).

RIDICULOUS FOOTY ANAGRAM OF THE WEEK

Finally, well done to late-bloomer TERRY MILERA, who has had a fine start to his career with the Saints and seems to TEAR MERRILY around the AFL field like he’s been doing it all his life.

Read more ridiculous comments from me on Twitter @AndrewGigacz.

 

 

 

About Andrew Gigacz

Well, here we are. The Bulldogs have won a flag. What do I do now?

Comments

  1. Good to see GigStuff back – I think

  2. Gigz, the most wondrous thing about your pieces is the postcode of the week. Its like you’ve tapped into a portal where these things are formulated by immutable forces!!! Wangaratta … Essendon not being able to land … the half time and quarter time score alligning to postcodes in the planes flight path … my mind is about to blow a fuse.

    Keep em coming

  3. Thanks Cookie and T Bone.

    T Bone, the postcodes are the gift that just keep on giving. Since I first spotted one back in 2009, there’s hardly been a week that I haven’t been able to make something out of the scores. Mind you, with 9 games a week now, I suppose my chances are better than ever now!

    Cheers

    Gigs

  4. Gigs, short, sharp and snappy. Would those inaccurate efforts compare to the lowest accuracy percentage ever? Sorry, i seem to be obsessed with decimals, fractions and percentages lately after teaching it a week or two back…

  5. Stephanie Holt says

    Definitely saving the best till last there. The Wang and Milera notes were priceless.

  6. Gigs, your brain is a rare and miraculous thing – the postcodes are gold..

  7. Brubaker the Rotisserie man says

    Isn’t Milera a teammate of that eminent shlep Stephen Milne?

    shlep/schlep definition
    n.
    a stupid person; a bothersome person…

  8. Nice one Brubaker.

    Stop press! Last night’s win by Collingwood makes 21 the outright leader in the Marginal Medal. And last year’s Score Wars winner, 98, showed up for the first time this year.

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