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I recently purchased the 2019 AFL Season Record book, and was looking at the Morrish Medal results for the TAC Cup. The Morrish Medal was originally awarded in the VFL Under 19's competition until this was replaced after the 1991 season, when the independent Under 18 competition was formed, first known as the VSFL, and later as the TAC Cup.

Players from all of the 12 Victorian TAC Cup clubs with the exception of the Western Jets have won the medal and former full time teams the Tassie Mariners and NSW/ACT Rams also provided winners, but what struck me is that quite a number of Morrish Medalists never went on to play senior AFL football, which is surprising given this is an elite development league to produce professional footballers. Obviously not all TAC Cup players are going to play AFL, but it was quite unusual to see that so many Morrish Medallists never played senior AFL football.

Brad Smith from the Northern Knights was the inaugural winner in 1992 and he never played AFL, nor did 1993 winner Dean Watson from the Southern Stingrays. Gary Moorcroft, the 1994 Northern Knights winner played for Essendon and Melbourne, but 1995 winner Paul Hood from the Geelong Falcons did not. The winners from 1996, 1997 and 1998, respectively Nathan G Brown (Bendigo Pioneers), Derek Murray (appropriately a Murray Bushranger) and Lenny Hayes (NSW ACT Rams) all ended up playing AFL, but the 1999 winner Matthew Stolarcyzk from Gippsland Power did not.

David Rodan won successive Morrish Medals playing for the Calder Cannons in 2000 & 2001 and went on to a long AFL career. The 2002 winner, Luke Shackleton from the Tassie Mariners also played AFL football, albeit just one game for Collingwood. The 2003 winner Mungura Brown from the Northern Knights was never drafted and vanished into obscurity, while 2004 winner Matthew Bate from the Eastern Ranges went on to a successful career with Melbourne.

The distinctly named Fortunato Caruso won successive Morrish Medals playing for the Calder Cannons in 2005 and 2006, but it wasn't enough for him to get an AFL career, but Matthew Kruezer from the Northern Knights was drafted by Carlton following his 2007 victory. The 2008 season saw two winners in Jarrad Blair (Gippsland) and Farran Priest (Murray), but while Blair played AFL Priest did not, and neither did 2009 winner Anton Woods from the Northern Knights.

Joint winners occurred again in 2010 with Dyson Heppell (Gippsland) and Jackson Sketcher (Sandringham Dragons) and Heppell played AFL while Sketcher did not. The 2011 winner Alex Benbow (Dandenong Southern Stingrays) never played AFL, but 2012 winner Nick Graham from Gippsland Power did. The 2013 season was extraordinary with four players - Jacob Chisaro (Bendigo), Ben Cavarra (Eastern), George Cameron (Geelong) and Josh Scott (Gippsland) - sharing the Morrish Medal, but even more remarkable is that not one of them went on to a senior AFL career.

The 2014 Morrish Medal Winner Alex Carr (Gippsland Power) has never played AFL to date, but in recent years there has been more success with Murray's Clayton Oliver (2015), GWV Rebels Hugh McCluggage (2016) and Oakleigh Chargers' Jack Higgins (2017) all playing AFL after winning a Morrish Medal. The 2018 winner Liam Stocker from the Sandringham Dragons was drafted by Carlton and looks certain to play for the Blues.
 
I recently purchased the 2019 AFL Season Record book, and was looking at the Morrish Medal results for the TAC Cup. The Morrish Medal was originally awarded in the VFL Under 19's competition until this was replaced after the 1991 season, when the independent Under 18 competition was formed, first known as the VSFL, and later as the TAC Cup.

Players from all of the 12 Victorian TAC Cup clubs with the exception of the Western Jets have won the medal and former full time teams the Tassie Mariners and NSW/ACT Rams also provided winners, but what struck me is that quite a number of Morrish Medalists never went on to play senior AFL football, which is surprising given this is an elite development league to produce professional footballers. Obviously not all TAC Cup players are going to play AFL, but it was quite unusual to see that so many Morrish Medallists never played senior AFL football.

Brad Smith from the Northern Knights was the inaugural winner in 1992 and he never played AFL, nor did 1993 winner Dean Watson from the Southern Stingrays. Gary Moorcroft, the 1994 Northern Knights winner played for Essendon and Melbourne, but 1995 winner Paul Hood from the Geelong Falcons did not. The winners from 1996, 1997 and 1998, respectively Nathan G Brown (Bendigo Pioneers), Derek Murray (appropriately a Murray Bushranger) and Lenny Hayes (NSW ACT Rams) all ended up playing AFL, but the 1999 winner Matthew Stolarcyzk from Gippsland Power did not.

David Rodan won successive Morrish Medals playing for the Calder Cannons in 2000 & 2001 and went on to a long AFL career. The 2002 winner, Luke Shackleton from the Tassie Mariners also played AFL football, albeit just one game for Collingwood. The 2003 winner Mungura Brown from the Northern Knights was never drafted and vanished into obscurity, while 2004 winner Matthew Bate from the Eastern Ranges went on to a successful career with Melbourne.

The distinctly named Fortunato Caruso won successive Morrish Medals playing for the Calder Cannons in 2005 and 2006, but it wasn't enough for him to get an AFL career, but Matthew Kruezer from the Northern Knights was drafted by Carlton following his 2007 victory. The 2008 season saw two winners in Jarrad Blair (Gippsland) and Farran Priest (Murray), but while Blair played AFL Priest did not, and neither did 2009 winner Anton Woods from the Northern Knights.

Joint winners occurred again in 2010 with Dyson Heppell (Gippsland) and Jackson Sketcher (Sandringham Dragons) and Heppell played AFL while Sketcher did not. The 2011 winner Alex Benbow (Dandenong Southern Stingrays) never played AFL, but 2012 winner Nick Graham from Gippsland Power did. The 2013 season was extraordinary with four players - Jacob Chisaro (Bendigo), Ben Cavarra (Eastern), George Cameron (Geelong) and Josh Scott (Gippsland) - sharing the Morrish Medal, but even more remarkable is that not one of them went on to a senior AFL career.

The 2014 Morrish Medal Winner Alex Carr (Gippsland Power) has never played AFL to date, but in recent years there has been more success with Murray's Clayton Oliver (2015), GWV Rebels Hugh McCluggage (2016) and Oakleigh Chargers' Jack Higgins (2017) all playing AFL after winning a Morrish Medal. The 2018 winner Liam Stocker from the Sandringham Dragons was drafted by Carlton and looks certain to play for the Blues.
There's plenty there who have missed out, that's for sure. It's an ordinary strike rate. Ben Cavarra (now a 23 year old) did get picked up by the Western Bulldogs last year, so he's still in with a chance of playing AFL football.
 
You need to keep in mind that the umpires award those votes....They're not really in any position to judge which players have scope for upside & development to AFL level.

Remembering also that many boys have private school commitments, so that the awards are in no way an accurate measure of who will or won't get drafted.

Now perhaps people can see why Hawthorn avoid early draft picks like the plague & use them for trading in established players....It's still a lottery.
 
You need to keep in mind that the umpires award those votes....They're not really in any position to judge which players have scope for upside & development to AFL level.

Remembering also that many boys have private school commitments, so that the awards are in no way an accurate measure of who will or won't get drafted.

Now perhaps people can see why Hawthorn avoid early draft picks like the plague & use them for trading in established players....It's still a lottery.
Hawthorn were very happy to use early picks to bring in the likes of Hodge (#1), Roughead (2), Franklin (5), Lewis (7), Rioli (12) and Birchall (14), and that played a massive part in them winning four premierships between 2008 and 2015. Now that great team has broken up, and surely it's a case of dishing off any early picks they get to bring in established players just to try and stay in the race, rather than bottoming out. I doubt that it should be seen as an "ongoing policy", and suspect that if they did find themselves down near the bottom anytime soon that they would go back to using their early pick on the best young prospect they could get.
 
Hawthorn were very happy to use early picks to bring in the likes of Hodge (#1), Roughead (2), Franklin (5), Lewis (7), Rioli (12) and Birchall (14), and that played a massive part in them winning four premierships between 2008 and 2015. Now that great team has broken up, and surely it's a case of dishing off any early picks they get to bring in established players just to try and stay in the race, rather than bottoming out. I doubt that it should be seen as an "ongoing policy", and suspect that if they did find themselves down near the bottom anytime soon that they would go back to using their early pick on the best young prospect they could get.

Sure...But given we sat almost at the foot of the ladder at the end of 2004, then we pretty well had no other choice open to us....We also traded out alot of players for high draft picks: Thompson, Croad, McPharlin, Rawlings & Hay et al.....All tall key position players who reaped maximum returns at the time.
 
Sure...But given we sat almost at the foot of the ladder at the end of 2004, then we pretty well had no other choice open to us....We also traded out alot of players for high draft picks: Thompson, Croad, McPharlin, Rawlings & Hay et al.....All tall key position players who reaped maximum returns at the time.
I actually think what Hawthorn did way back in 2001 was just about the most "ballsy" move ever seen in terms of trading. It's incredible to think that they had made a Preliminary Final that year (and only just lost), but they (seemingly) decided the team wasn't going anywhere and chose to move down the ladder for a while. McPharlin wanted to head back to WA, while Croad didn't want to go anywhere, but they did very nicely out of that trade with Fremantle (Hodge and Mitchell) and the rest is history, as they say! They then kept it going for a while with the other players you mentioned, making sure they stayed near the bottom. 2004 really helped set things up. It took a fair few years for the move(s) to pay off, but they certainly did!
 

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I actually think what Hawthorn did way back in 2001 was just about the most "ballsy" move ever seen in terms of trading. It's incredible to think that they had made a Preliminary Final that year (and only just lost), but they (seemingly) decided the team wasn't going anywhere and chose to move down the ladder for a while. McPharlin wanted to head back to WA, while Croad didn't want to go anywhere, but they did very nicely out of that trade with Fremantle (Hodge and Mitchell) and the rest is history, as they say! They then kept it going for a while with the other players you mentioned, making sure they stayed near the bottom. 2004 really helped set things up. It took a fair few years for the move(s) to pay off, but they certainly did!

That trade could have worked out even better in terms of future dividends, had we taken Steve Johnston ahead of either of Ladson or Elstone, as I begged the club to at the time.....We eventually secured both Hale & Lake, who also made-up that super-draft....Clarko's ineptitude in securing us a key defender for over 5 seasons, cost us another flag I reckon....Possibly even 2.
 
Kade will move to #2 in a few short weeks and the only thing that would prevent him from going #1 would be not playing.

Most losses in the V/AFL:
208 - Kevin Murray
200 - Doug Hawkins
199 - John Rantall
198 - Kade Simpson
196 - Paul Roos
 
Kade will move to #2 in a few short weeks and the only thing that would prevent him from going #1 would be not playing.

Most losses in the V/AFL:
208 - Kevin Murray
200 - Doug Hawkins
199 - John Rantall
198 - Kade Simpson
196 - Paul Roos


Poor Kade….No reflection on him or all those other names there....All good players who just so happened to play in really crap sides.
 
Poor Kade….No reflection on him or all those other names there....All good players who just so happened to play in really crap sides.
The fact that someone has played in ~200 losses means they have played in a lot of games, thus must have been pretty good players that unfortunately played for bad teams.
 
The last time a team scored 100 points. Shows how big the streak really is.

Essendon: Round 4, 2019
Melbourne: Round 4, 2019
Brisbane: Round 3, 2019
GWS: Round 3, 2019
Western Bulldogs: Round 2, 2019
West Coast: Round 2, 2019
Geelong: Round 2, 2019
Collingwood: Round 2, 2019
Fremantle: Round 1, 2019
North Melbourne: Round 23, 2018
Adelaide: Round 23, 2018
Richmond: Round 21, 2018
Hawthorn: Round 20, 2018
Sydney: Round 17, 2018
St Kilda: Round 17, 2018
Port Adelaide: Round 13, 2018
Gold Coast: Round 2, 2018
Carlton: Round 11, 2016
 
The last time a team scored 100 points outside their home state:

Melbourne: R4, 2019 (NSW)
Brisbane: R2, 2019 (VIC)
--------------------------------------
Adelaide: R23, 2018 (VIC)
Essendon: R23, 2018 (SA)
Richmond: R21, 2018 (QLD)
GWS: R20, 2018 (VIC)
North Melb: R20, 2018 (QLD)
Hawthorn: R19, 2018 (WA)
Sydney: R17, 2018 (VIC)
West Coast: R17, 2018 (VIC)
Fremantle: R13, 2018 (VIC)
Geelong: R11, 2018 (QLD)
Collingwood: R7, 2018 (QLD)
Port Adelaide: R6, 2018 (VIC)
Gold Coast: R2, 2018 (VIC)
--------------------------------------
Western Bulldogs: R20, 2017 (QLD)
St Kilda: R6, 2017 (TAS)
--------------------------------------
* Carlton: R18, 2013 (QLD)

* NB: Carlton though did score 18.13-121 in R4, 2015 at Wellington (NZL)
 
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The last time Carlton scored > 100 points:
- in VIC: R11, 2016
- in NZL: R4, 2015
- in SA: R23, 2013
- in QLD: R18, 2013
- in WA: R21, 2011
--------------------------------------
- in NSW: R7, 1993
 
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The biggest crowd at the Adelaide Oval is 53,817.

There have been 25 crowds there between 48,000 and 51000, none of those lower than 49,000.

47000-47999: 6
48000-48999: 0 (rather odd)
49000-49999: 11
50000-50999: 14
51000-51999: 2
52000-52999: 4
53000-53999: 4
54000-54999: 0
 
Shocking night for Brisbane in front of a big crowd. I had a feeling that as far as big home losses go in front of a big home crowd, tonight might be quite rare.

Criteria: 10-Goal Loss by Non-Victorian team @ home v non-local team, crowd >90% their maximum at venue

2019-04-18, R5: Brisbane 61 lost to Collingwood 123 @ GABBA (crowd 34017/37724 = 90.17%)
2012-04-15, R3: GWS 69 lost to West Coast 150 @ Blacktown (crowd 6875/6875 = 100%)
2011-04-02, R2: Gold Coast 52 lost to Carlton 171 @ GABBA (crowd 27914/27914 = 100%)
1989-07-15, R15: Brisbane 77 lost to Geelong 151 @ Carrara (crowd 18198/18198 = 100%)

The losses for GWS and Gold Coast were their very first home games against a non-local opponent.
 
Third-last time scored >100 points
2019, R3 - Essendon
2015, R13 - Carlton

Third-last time scored >110 points
2019, R3 - Essendon
2016, R14 - Carlton

Last time won three consecutive games scoring >110 points
2019, R5 - Essendon
2012, R3 - Carlton
 
INTERESTING WOODEN SPOON STATISTICS:

After the three new teams Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Footscray were admitted in 1925, Hawthorn and North claimed all wooden spoons for eight years, with the Kangaroos finishing last in 1926, 1929, 1930 and 1931 and the Hawks last in 1925, 1927, 1928 and 1932. The streak was broken when Essendon finished on the bottom of the ladder in 1933. Interestingly Footscray would not finish last until 1959.

From 1941 to 1955 inclusive with the exception of 1944 and 1951 where Geelong and Melbourne respectively finished last, all wooden spoons were won by either Hawthorn or St. Kilda. Hawthorn finished 1941, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1950 and 1953 in last position, while St. Kilda were last in 1943, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954 and 1955.

The three 'Melbourne' teams had a firm hold on the wooden spoon from 1968-1975 inclusive. Melbourne were last in 1969 and 1974, North Melbourne took out the 1968, 1970 and 1972 wooden spoons and South Melbourne finished on the bottom of the ladder in 1971, 1973 and 1975.

The mid-late 1980s saw just two wooden spoon teams, with St. Kilda finishing bottom in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1988 and Richmond last in 1987 and 1989.

The structure of the AFL/VFL has changed over the years due to teams being added or leaving or sides going into recess during the First and Second World Wars. This is a list of wooden spoons by ladder position - please note that there has never been a competition of 5, 7 or 13 teams so these numbers are not included.

4TH 1916 - Fitzroy (also Premiers)

6TH 1917 - Richmond

8TH 1897-1907, 1918: St Kilda 7 (1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1904), Melbourne 2 (1905, 1906), Essendon 2 (1907, 1918), South Melbourne 1(1903)

9TH 1915, 1919-1924: St. Kilda 2 (1920, 1924), Melbourne 2 (1919, 1923), Geelong 1 (1915), Essendon 1 (1921), South Melbourne 1 (1922)

10TH 1908-1914: University 4 (1911, 1912, 1913, 1914), St Kilda 2 (1909, 1910), Geelong 1 (1908)

11TH 1942-1943: Hawthorn 1 (1942), St Kilda 1 (1943)

12TH 1925-1941, 1944-1986: North Melbourne 13 (1926, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1940, 1956, 1961, 1968, 1970, 1972); St. Kilda 12 (1945, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986); Hawthorn 11 (1925, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1941, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1965); South Melbourne 6 (1938, 1939, 1962, 1971, 1973, 1975); Melbourne 5 (1951, 1969, 1974, 1978, 1981); Fitzroy 5 (1936, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1980); Geelong 3 (1944, 1957, 1958); Footscray/WB 3 (1959, 1967, 1982); Collingwood 1 (1976); Essendon 1 (1933); Richmond 1 (1960)

14TH 1987-1990: Richmond 2 (1987, 1989); St. Kilda 1 (1988); Brisbane Bears 1 (1990)

15TH 1991-1994: Sydney Swans/SM 3 (1992, 1993, 1994); Brisbane Bears 1 (1991)

16TH 1995-2010: Carlton 3 (2002, 2005, 2006); Melbourne 3 (1997, 2008, 2009); Richmond 2 (2004, 2007); Fitzroy 2 (1995, 1996); Brisbane Lions 1 (1998), Collingwood 1 (1999), St. Kilda (2000), Fremantle 1 (2001), WB/Footscray 1 (2003), West Coast Eagles 1 (2010)

17TH 2011 - Gold Coast

18TH 2012-: GWS Giants 2 (2012, 2013), Carlton 2 (2015, 2018); St. Kilda 1 (2014), Essendon 1 (2016), Brisbane Lions 1 (2017)
 

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