ANSWER MAN

My Blues returned to good form against the Eagles in round seven, inspired by key forward Charlie Curnow. Remarkably, he outscored the entire West Coast team by 13 points. How long had it been since a Carlton player had previously kicked more points than the opposing club?

TYLER SIMMONDS, TORQUAY, VIC CH: We have to look back 28 years to find the previous case. Stephen Kernahan captained the Blues against the Bulldogs at the MCG in round three, 1995. He booted 10 goals from 17 scoring shots to outscore the opposition by seven points. Stephen Silvagni and Tony Liberatore, fathers of Jack and Tom respectively, played in the same game. Of the 18 current AFL clubs, Melbourne has the oldest most recent case of a player registering a higher score than the combined tally of a rival team. Demon goalsneak Allen Jakovich enjoyed a day out against Brisbane early in the 1994 season. Four parents of current players played in that one-sided contest – Todd Viney, father of Jack, was his teammate, and Andrew Bews, Adrian Fletcher and Darryl White, fathers of Jed (Geelong), Jaspa and Darryl jnr (both now on the Lions’ list), were members of the losing team.

CAN YOU ASSIST?

u Bill Gleeson, grandfather of Saint Jack Sinclair, wore the same colours in 1955-56 after being recruited from Mentone. He was selected in the senior team 14 times, wearing guernsey No. 24. Leo Merrett represented Richmond with distinction from 1940 until 1949. He won two club best and fairest awards and was a member of the 1943 premiership team. His great grandson is skilful Bulldog Bailey Smith.

If you know of other examples of recent AFL players who have ancestors with a different surname who also played League football, please contact col.hutchinson@afl.com.au.

ROUND 9, 2022

OFF THEIR OWN BOOT PLAYERS WHO HAVE OUTSCORED THE OPPOSITION: MOST RECENT CASES

u There were some lopsided contests, with seven of the nine games decided by 30 points or more. The closest result was St Kilda’s 10-point win over Geelong – the Saints’ first victory over the Cats since 2016. The Saints were 21 points down during the third term, but piled on six unanswered goals with Paddy Ryder (three goals for the game) and Jade Gresham (30 disposals) leading the charge. The Western Bulldogs hit back with a 48-point win over Collingwood. Bulldogs midfielders Bailey Smith (41 disposals), Jack Macrae (37), Adam Treloar (35) and Tom Liberatore (31) ran riot, while Aaron Naughton, Josh Dunkley and Buku Khamis each kicked three goals. Gold Coast scored another upset win, this time ending Fremantle’s six-game winning streak, with ex-Tiger Mabior Chol booting four goals in difficult conditions at Heritage Bank Stadium. Questions were raised over Essendon’s lack of intensity in its 58-point loss to Sydney when the Bombers laid just 30 tackles. There was no fairytale farewell for retiring GWS coach Leon Cameron as the Giants went down to Carlton by 30 points.