4 minute read
Answer Man
with MARK GENGE
Three years ago, Fremantle started the season with 21 goals against North Melbourne. What is the highest score by a team in an opening round? J. DEJONG, COODANUP, WA
BLUE HEAVEN:
Skipper Wayne Johnston and debutant Warren Ralph (inset) starred in Carlton’s record opening round win in 1984.
MG: Carlton began the 1984 season in dynamic fashion against North Melbourne at Waverley Park, kicking 11.1 in the second quarter on the way to an opening round record of 31.13 (199). The Blues had five debutants, including Tom Alvin and West Australians Wayne Blackwell and Warren Ralph. Wayne Johnston, playing his first game as captain, had 43 disposals and kicked five goals. Ralph kicked 9.4 for his new team, which won by 137 points. In a Grand Final rematch in 1990, Hawthorn started the season with a 115-point win over Geelong, kicking 28.24 (192), also at Waverley Park. The Hawks kicked 19 goals in the second half, with forward Jason Dunstall booting seven in the last quarter for a match tally of 12.4. Former Essendon star Jack Clarke made an impressive coaching debut for the club in the opening round of the 1968 season. At their home ground, Windy Hill, the Bombers kicked 26.16 (172) against Hawthorn, including 10.7 in the final quarter to win by 73 points. Nineteen-year-old Ian Anderson
kicked seven goals and Tasmanian debutant Paul Sproule bagged five. Peter Hudson kicked 10 of the Hawks’ 15 goals. FLYING STARTS HIGHEST SCORES IN AN OPENING ROUND
CAN YOU ASSIST?
CLUB OPPONENT MARGINVENUE SEASON
Geelong 27.21 (183) Melbourne 8.8 (56) 127 MCG
1993
Sydney Swans 26.20 (176) St Kilda 8.18 (66) 110 Moorabbin 1985
Essendon 26.16 (172) Hawthorn 15.9 (99) 73 Windy Hill 1968 u The AFL is seeking the date of birth of the following South Melbourne players. Jim Schellnack played at League level in 1904 after being recruited from Brunswick. He died on May 24, 1968, aged 88. Richard James Casey also played for Brunswick before representing South from 1905 until 1912. He passed away due to illness on April 16, 1919, aged only 37. Bill Hennington played his early football with Leopold, a local club linked to the Swans, before representing South in 1914. Born in either late 1879 or before May, 1880, he died on July 11, 1964. If you can assist, contact Col Hutchinson at col.hutchinson@afl.com.au. u There have been plenty of books written about the history of Australian Football. Some ponderous, others that can be consumed quickly.
At 700 pages, Australia’s Game – The History of Australian Football, looks weighty, but is a snackable tour through the history of the sport from 1858 and even earlier when various forms of ‘foot-ing’ and ‘foot-ball’ existed throughout the fledgling city of Melbourne, right through to the monumental creation of AFLW.
The authors pay as much heed to the on-field evolution of the code as to the off-field forces that shaped it.
The game’s finances, stadia, the media and other socio-economic influences are also examined closely.
And, while the code’s origins lie firmly in Victoria, the way it took hold across the rest of the country is well explained, as are the reasons its development would be stunted for close to a century in northern Australia.
Ahead of some critical decisions, such as parity for the women’s game and expansion of the AFL to Tasmania and perhaps the Northern Territory, Australia’s Game provides a valuable reference if only to understand how the game dealt with similarly big matters in the past. And there have been many of them.
ASHLEY BROWNE Australia’s Game – The History of Australian Football, by Matthew Nicholson, Bob Stewart, Greg
de Moore & Rob Hess. Published by Hardie Grant Books. RRP: $60.
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