
North park
Team Captain
- Mar 2, 2015
- 360
- 578
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
The Geelong v North Melbourne game in Round 11 of 1972 was the first one I thought of too.After a very brief check, I believe you are correct. The closest I can find is when Geelong and North Melbourne played each other in round 11, 1972. Both teams went in to battle with 11-game losing streaks.
There was also the North Melbourne v South Melbourne clash in Round 17 of the same year. North entered the game with a 0-16 record. South had won its opening game of 1972 with a win over Geelong and had also beaten North in its Round 6 clash but had not won since. So, going into round 17, South was on a 10-game losing streak and had lost 14 of its previous 15 games. North came from behind at three-quarter time to record a 9-point win - its only win of the year.
Neither team won again for the year, with North finishing last at 1-21 and South second last at 2-20.
North went out over the summer and secured Ron Barassi as coach (as well as players via the 10-year rule) which resulted in a great improvement in 1973, a Grand Final appearance in 1974 and the club's first Premiership in 1975.
South ended 1972 on a 16-game losing streak and continued to lose its first 13 games in 1973 before beating Geelong in Round 14. South's 29 game losing streak is the 5th longest in V/AFL history but has not been beaten since. Fitzroy (1995-1996), Gold Coast (2011-2012) and GWS (2012-2013) all got to 21 consecutive losses.