You know I am always chugging away in the background, right?
Others who cover the game are busy rehashing the opinion of others, compiling hot takes, or totally blowing things out of proportion, and here I am… quietly doing the work that you love.
Or that I love.
I hope you love it too.
It’s been four years since I undertook the responsibility to catalogue the best ‘Get out of Jail’ marks in the league, and the last time I did this, my wife almost killed me.
But I am a brave man, and decided that it’s been four years – she’s probably forgotten by now – time to roll it back and go again.
Going back to just over four years ago, I was watching some older games for research on an article that I never ended up writing – maybe I’ll do it after this season. Anyway, in one of the games, Wayne Carey flew at a footy and clunked a big mark on the wing. At that point of the game, Essendon had really locked North in their own defensive half and had multiple repeat inside 50s as a result. Once Carey hit this pack and clunked the mark, North were able to slingshot forward and kick a goal against the flow.
Not much was made of that mark from Carey – I mean, it was something he was doing on a weekly basis in the mid-nineties, wasn’t it? However, in retrospect, seeing him take that mark broke the Essendon zone defence and allowed North to run hard forward as a result – it was a Pagan’s Paddock-type setup, but this time it was Carey initiating it as opposed to being isolated inside 50, running back to goal.
I stopped and watched the passage again to see if there were any other players responsible for the play – nope. It was Carey taking a mark from a pressured kick, beating two opponents in the process, and it was his action that broke the game open. I remember thinking “he dragged them out of jail” with that mark.
Thus, the “Get out of Jail” mark, or GooJ mark was born. Cool story, huh?
Okay, so thanks for the completely unnecessary nostalgia, HB… how about you dial it back a bit and give us the results?
All in good time, other side of my personality… all in good time.
First, how about I break down what a GooJ Mark is?
Okay, let’s do it.
- It has to occur between the arcs, so no marks inside either attacking or defensive 50 count.
- It cannot be a kick to a leading player. That is not getting out of jail – that is hitting up someone.
- It does not have to be a contested mark. If someone is under pressure and kicks a long, high ball out of defence and you mark it, you’ve pulled your team out of the fire – that’s a GooJ mark.
- It is usually the result of a slow play when the easy short kicks have dried up, and you need someone to fly for a grab.
Coming into the 2022 season, I decided to apply the GooJ mark criteria to the games I was reviewing. Only, that wasn’t really fair, was it – I kind of had to see every game in order to get a complete picture as to who was best in the league at it.
And so, in a move that has caused quite a few moments of consternation at Casa Del Mongrel, I made the decision to watch every game and record every GooJ mark in order to make this accurate.
Yes, Mrs Mongrel has reminded me of my stupidity several times since.
Despite the dirty looks and sometimes dirty comments – bum chika wow wow – I persevered and glued my eyes to the TV to cover every game.
What.
An.
Idiot.
The end result was a comprehensive list of the players that bailed their team out of trouble and provided the best marking targets to aid in breaking down defensive set ups. I have to say the results surprised me.
The Top Ten from the 2022 Season ended up looking like this. Total GooJ marks in parentheses.
1 – Jesse Hogan (29)
=2 – Dan McStay (26)
=2 – Max Gawn (26)
=2 – Max King (26)
=2 – Harry McKay (26)
6 – Charlie Curnow (25)
7 – Aaron Naughton (24)
=8 -Will Hayward (22)
=8 – Tom Lynch (22)
10 – Taylor Walker (21)
Yep, the big boys come out to play for this one.
So, what’s changed? Who is now topping the leaderboard, as HB risks his marriage to provide you with these insights? That’s what I do for our members – see below.
This is just the introduction – the remainder of this article is for our members. They support me, and I provide for them. It’s a good deal.
Oh… a Mongrel paywall… the worst of all paywalls. We’re all in on the 2026 AFL season. Player articles, stats, awards, game coverage. Dump the mainstream lip service and dive into articles like this – you will never look back. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I consider it your loss as we get into the grind of the season, and you’re stuck with the stuff that’s frustrated you for years.
