Gigs’ Stats Round 17: The final word on Aker

STATS ENTERTAINMENT ROUND 17

by Andrew Gigacz

NEVER IN DOUBT

If anyone out there, who considers themselves a knowledgeable person on footy, had any doubt that Friday night’s match between the Hawks and the Saints was always going to be a draw, let me tell you, they were kidding themselves. There were so many pointers to these two sides ending up level at the end of the game that even a casual AFL observer should have picked up on the inevitability of it.

The first pointers were the games each side had against the Western Bulldogs earlier in the year. Both matches were played on a Friday night and both ended up in a 3-point victory over the Dogs. Clearly, if those two victors were to meet on a Friday night, as they did, they were going to end up level.

Secondly, both sides had earlier in the season beaten Adelaide on a Saturday by 47 points.

Thirdly, both sides had won six of their last seven games.

Even more glaringly, each side lined up with one Ben, one Clinton, one Michael and one Stephen on their team.

But without a doubt the most obvious sign (the one that no self-respecting footy expert should have missed) that last Friday’s game would end in a tie, was that each team’s list of players’ surnames had the letter ‘S’ appearing 9 times.

For Hawthorn: Stratton, Sewell, GibSon, Skipper, LewiS. ElliS, OSborne and WhitecroSS.

For St Kilda: FiSher, DawSon, Steven, Dal Santo, DempSter. Schneider, HayeS, KoSchitzke and JoneS.

I’ll bet you’re wondering how you could’ve missed something so obvious, aren’t you?

2.2 HOODOO UPDATE

The 2.2 hoodoo continues, with Richmond being the latest team to succumb to its powers. The Tigers were 2.2 (14) at quarter time and were subsequently walloped by those July champs, Collingwood.

The last twelve times a side has been 2.2 at quarter-time, even when they’ve been leading at that point, they have gone on to lose the match.

DRAWN TOWARDS TIES

We all know how Danni feels about drawn games (if you missed it, click here ) but for stats geeks like me (and remember, “geek” is the new black) they are manna from heaven. I hate any season where there are no draws and always hope to get two or more in any given year. Hawthorn and the Saints granted that wish for me last week and there’s time for more draws still. I say “bring ‘em on”!

Actually, in recent seasons fans of the draw have been blessed. There have been at least two each year since 2006. But I yearn for the glory days of the draw, like 1977 when we had four, including the Grand Final. And 1914, 1935 and 1944, when we also had four. Or how about 1921? There were a record FIVE drawn games in that season!

And I’d love to relive that wonderful May Saturday back in 1977 when we had two draws in the one day! On that day Essendon, with some 15-year-old kid named Watson making his debut, drew with Richmond at some stadium called VFL Park, and some team called South Melbourne drew with St Kilda at some ground called Moorabbin. That was the fifth, and thus far last, occasion we’ve had two draws in a single round. (The others were in Round 2, 1911, Round 1, 1914, Round 5, 1921, and Round 6, 1944.) Let’s hope we get another round like that soon.

EVERY QUARTER A RIP-SNORTER

Still on the draw, one of the amazing things about last Friday night’s game was that the margin at each change was never more than a point. The Hawks led by a point at the first change, the Saints by the same margin at half-time, and the scores were level at three-quarter time and, of course at the end. Is that some kind of record? Let me get back to you on that.

LOOPY LADDER – BY REQUEST

After the release of last week’s Gigs Stats column, one of my fellow Almanackers, Collingwood supporter Andrew Fithall (whose surname just happens to be an anagram of “La Filth” – and I’m not suggesting there’s a link between that fact and him being a Magpie fan) expressed hope that I would one day produce a ladder that didn’t have Collingwood at or near the bottom of my ladder. Well, never let it be said that I don’t listen to my audience. For Andrew, and for all the Collingwood supporters out there, this week’s ladder is one that not only has Collingwood nowhere near the bottom of the ladder, it has them way out in front at the TOP of the ladder.

Here, then, is a ladder based on the number of Grand Finals each team has LOST:

COLLINGWOOD 25

ESSENDON 14

CARLTON 13

RICHMOND 11

SOUTH MELB/SYDNEY 10

GEELONG 8

FITZROY 5

HAWTHORN 5

Melbourne 5

North Melbourne 5

St Kilda 5

West Coast 2

Brisbane 1

Footscray 1

Port Adelaide 1

Adelaide 0

Fremantle 0

What does that ladder tell us? I’m not sure but gee it’s good to know I’ll be keeping all those Collingwood supporters happy this week.

RIDICULOUS ANAGRAM OF THE WEEK

Well he was big news last week but after the Dogs demolished the Dockers, Jason Akermanis is man who is rapidly slipping from the headlines. Is he a flawed genius? Or just an idiot? I don’t profess to be in a position to make such a judgement, but perhaps his name holds a clue:

J AKERMANIS is an anagram of MAN IS A JERK.