Fact Ken Farmer's career

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worbod

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 26, 2008
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. . . . . . . . . . . . 10 goals
Season Games Goals Avge in a match Finals
1929 . . 17 . 62 . 3.64 . 0 . . . .0
1930 . . 17 .105 . 6.17 . 3 . . . .1 (4 goals)
1931 . . 20 .126 . 6.30 . 2 . . . .3 (17 goals)
1932 . . 17 .102 . 6.00 . 3 . . . .2 (14 goals)
1933 . . 18 .112 . 6.22 . 3 . . . .2 (8 goals)
1934 . . 16 .106 . 6.62 . 4 . . . .0
1935 . . 17 .128 . 7.52 . 5 . . . .0
1936 . . 19 .134 . 7.05 . 4 . . . .2 (7 goals)
1937 . . 16 .108 . 6.75 . 4 . . . .0
1938 . . 16 .112 . 7.00 . 3 . . . .0
1939 . . 17 .113 . 6.64 . 3 . . . .0
1940 . . 17 .123 . 7.23 . 3 . . . .0
1941 . . 17 . 86 . 5.05 . 0 . . . .0
TOTALS .224 1417 . 6.32 .37 . . . 10 (50 goals)


Best and Fairest: 1936

  • Farmer kicked 42% of North Adelaide's goals during his career.
  • His total of 10 or more goals in a match 37 times is believed to be an Australian record for major football competitions, one ahead of Peter Hudson's total of 36 for New Norfolk (6), Hawthorn (12) and Glenorchy (18). Farmer's total of 11 centuries is also an Australian record, again one ahead of Peter Hudson's total of 10 for New Norfolk (2), Hawthorn (5) and Glenorchy (3).
  • Farmer's best tally was 23 goals 6 behinds versus West Torrens in 1940. The team total for the game was 26 goals 11 behinds, with Farmer's quarter by quarter efforts being 4.0, 5.2, 5.1 and 9.3. Also during 1940 he kicked 9.6 in a team total of 9.10 against Glenelg.
GOALS KICKED AGAINST EACH TEAM

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 goals
Team . . . . Games Goals Avge Best in a match
Glenelg . . . 33 . 233 . 7.06 15 . . 6
Norwood . . . 39 . 227 . 5.82 13 . . 3
Port Adelaide 34 . 183 . 5.38 12 . . 2
South Adelaide32 . 246 . 7.68 16 . .10
Sturt . . . . 28 . 167 . 5.96 13 . . 4
West Adelaide 30 . 191 . 6.36 13 . . 6
West Torrens .28 . 172 . 6.14 23 . . 6
 
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A record that won't ever be matched. My Grandpa played with and against him, so I've heard a fair bit about the guy, and it remains a huge insult to South Australian football that he wasn't amongst the initial inductees of the hall of fame (though credit must be given for his induction 2 years later, though he should have been given legend status by now). Kicked more goals than Coventry and Lockett, including 11 consecutive 100 goal seasons, was held goalless only ONCE in a 224 game career - and that was only due to an early injury. 23.6 in a single match is 5 goals more than anyone in the VFL/AFL has ever achieved. And before any ********s talk down his achievements as being in a "lower league," he kicked 50 goals in his 10 state games against Victoria on Jack Regan (a hall of fame full back himself). Clearly a legendary player.

A fantastic career and I'm envious of those who were able to watch him play.
 
Thanks for sharing that - I've got to be honest and say I've never heard of him before - but he must have been some kind of player!

Makes you wonder how many records we hold sacred today (Fred Fanning's 18 in a game) would still be standing if he had come over to Victoria.
 

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Instances of goals in a game for North Adelaide:

23: 1
16: 2
15: 2
14: 1
13: 4
12: 6
11: 9
10: 12
9: 18
8: 21
7: 18
6: 22
5: 28
4: 34
3: 27
2: 13
1: 5
0: 1
 
Best goalkicking averages in major competitions. (500 goals)


Player . . . . . .Comp .Avge Games Goals
Ken Farmer . . . .SANFL 6.32 224 . 1417
Peter Hudson . . .TFL . 6.24 151 . .943
Peter Neville . . VFA . 5.66 128 . .725
Peter Hudson . . .VFL . 5.63 129 . .727
John Coleman . . .VFL . 5.47 .98 . .537
Jamie Shaw . . . .VFA . 5.44 127 . .692
George Doig . . . WAFL .5.43 202 . 1097
Bruce Schultz . . SANFL 5.39 124 . .669
Mark Fotheringham VFA . 5.33 174 . .928
Bernie Naylor . . WAFL .5.31 194 . 1032
Ted Tyson . . . . WAFL .5.25 228 . 1197
 
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Remarkable career. I'd say that the only person who could have matched him would have been Bernie Naylor, had he not lost four seasons to WWII and them spent a few seasons on the flank. But then again, the war stopped Farmer's career so it's probably a moot point.

Amazing figures
 
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  • Farmer's best tally was 23 goals 6 behinds versus West Torrens in 1940. The team total for the game was 26 goals 11 behinds, with Farmer's quarter by quarter efforts being 4.0, 5.2, 5.1 and 9.3. Also during 1940 he kicked 9.6 in a team total of 9.10 against Glenelg.

Eerie that it's the exact same tally as the WAFL record.
 
Farmer kicked 10 goals or more 37 times in club football for North Adelaide. These are some other high totals I have found around Australia invovling other major club competitions:


36 Peter Hudson (New Norfolk, Hawthorn, Glenorchy)
27 Wayne Fox (New Norfolk, Hobart, Sandy Bay)
25 Rino Pretto (Oakleigh, Dandenong)
22 Fred Cook (Port Melbourne)
22 Tony Lockett (St. Kilda, Sydney)
19 Ron Todd (Collingwood, Williamstown)


Some of these players did play for other major clubs. The clubs mentioned are those for which the players kicked 10 goal hauls.

The next best career 10 goal total purely in the SANFL is 13 by Bruce Schultz of Norwood.
 
Similarly, Farmer's total of 11 100 goal seasons is a record across major Australian football competitions.


11 Ken Farmer . North Adelaide 1930-40
10 Peter Hudson New Norfolk 1965,66; Hawthorn 1968-71, 77; Glenorchy 1976, 78, 79
9 George Doig . East Fremantle 1933-41
7 Fred Cook . . Port Melbourne 1975-78, 1980-82
6 Ted Tyson . . West Perth 1934-35, 1937-39, 41
6 Austin Robertson Subiaco 1965, 1967-71
6 Jason Dunstall Hawthorn 1988-89, 1992-94, 96
6 Tony Lockett . St. Kilda 1987, 91, 92; Sydney 1995, 96, 98
 
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I am sure that he is not underrated in South Australia. Does he have a medal named after him ?

Yes, Ken Farmer medal for leading SANFL goalscorer, the mighty Roosters had a fair spine for a team of the century FF( Farmer) and Centre( Barrie Robran) matches up against any team IMO, not sure about fullback though...any suggestions?
 
If by saying "any suggestions?" you are asking who was the fullback in North Adelaide's Team of the Century, it was Ian McKay. Barrie Robran was named as first ruck with Andrew Jarman in the centre. If you are familiar with the Full Points Footy website you can see many Teams of the Century by clicking on the Hall of Fame link.
 
On a business trip to Melbourne in April of 1939, Ken Farmer trained with Carlton, but there is no evidence in the online newspaper archives of him wanting to play anywhere but with North Adelaide.

An account of events in the match where he kicked 23 goals is here.
 
If by saying "any suggestions?" you are asking who was the fullback in North Adelaide's Team of the Century, it was Ian McKay. Barrie Robran was named as first ruck with Andrew Jarman in the centre. If you are familiar with the Full Points Footy website you can see many Teams of the Century by clicking on the Hall of Fame link.

Thanks for the heads up worbod:thumbsu:
 
Most goals in a losing team

12 vs Port Adelaide, round 6, 1932
11 vs Port Adelaide, round 8, 1936
10 vs Glenelg, round 17, 1937
9 vs South Adelaide, round 7, 1931
9 vs Norwood, round 8, 1932
9 vs Norwood, round 10, 1935
9 vs Sturt, round 5, 1938
9 vs West Adelaide, round 17, 1938
9 vs Glenelg, round 1, 1940
9 vs Port Adelaide, round 4, 1940

In 1940 Farmer also kicked 10 goals in a losing team for The Rest in an end of season game against that season's premiers Sturt.
 
Farmer scoring more goals than the entire opposition.


Game . . . Farmer's goals . Opponent's goals
Round 13, 1930 . . . 11 . . 10 (West Torrens)
Round 16, 1930 . . . 15 . . 11 (South Adelaide)
Round 11, 1931 . . . 10 . . .7 (West Torrens)
Round 10, 1932 . . . 10 . . .9 (South Adelaide)
Round 9, 1933 . . . .12 . . 10 (South Adelaide)
Round 14, 1933 . . . 16 . . 15 (South Adelaide)
Round 1, 1935 . . . .12 . . 11 (Glenelg)
Round 2, 1935 . . . .16 . . 12 (South Adelaide)
Round 15, 1935 . . . .8 . . .6 (Norwood)
Round 16, 1935 . . . 12 . . 11 (Glenelg)
Round 17, 1936 . . . 15 . . .7 (Glenelg)
Round 9, 1937 . . . .10 . . .8 (West Torrens)
Round 10, 1937 . . . 12 . . .9 (Sturt)
Round 17, 1939 . . . 11 . . .8 (West Adelaide)
Round 7, 1940 . . . .11 . . .9 (Sturt)
Round 12, 1940 . . . 23 . . .8 (West Torrens)
 
Number of SANFL games needed to reach goalkicking milestones.


Goals Games VFL/AFL leader (fewest games needed)
100 . 25
200 . 39
300 . 55 . . 55 Peter Hudson
400 . 73 . . 71 Peter Hudson
500 . 88 . . 87 Peter Hudson
600 .104 . .102 Peter Hudson
700 .118 . .122 Peter Hudson
800 .131 . .165 Tony Lockett
900 .146 . .184 Tony Lockett
1000 160 . .201 Tony Lockett
1100 174 . .219 Tony Lockett
1200 190 . .244 Tony Lockett
1300 202 . .265 Tony Lockett
1400 221
 
Number of SANFL games needed to reach goalkicking milestones.


Goals Games VFL/AFL leader (fewest games needed)
100 . 25 . . 21 Allen Jakovich/John Coleman
200 . 39 . . 37 John Coleman
300 . 55 . . 55 Peter Hudson
400 . 73 . . 71 Peter Hudson
500 . 88 . . 87 Peter Hudson
600 .104 . .102 Peter Hudson
700 .118 . .122 Peter Hudson
800 .131 . .165 Tony Lockett
900 .146 . .184 Tony Lockett
1000 160 . .201 Tony Lockett
1100 174 . .219 Tony Lockett
1200 190 . .244 Tony Lockett
1300 202 . .265 Tony Lockett
1400 221

Couple of additions there for you.
 
Thanks for those additions. It would be interesting to see who the WAFL leaders are in this respect.
 

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