I love a good AFL stat – so much so that I started making up my own at points. Just weird little compilations of certain stats and the only blokes to have achieved them.
Yeah, maybe I like weird stats because I’m weird… I get it.
Anyway, I often find myself delving into sites and taking a look at record holders for certain things, and because I like them, I figure you might, as well.
So, with that in mind, here are a few that have been taking my interest lately.
It’s no secret that Gary Ablett Junior was the most prolific gatherer of disposals in the modern game. He holds the record for games with 30+ disposals, with 126. However, Scott Pendlebury is now just ten behind him, on 116. Does the old Magpie have it in him to muster ten more 30+ disposal games and catch The Little Master? He has only managed it once this season.
The more likely scenario is that Lachie Neale (103 times) sneaks up and takes the lead. He has done it three times this year, but seems to find the footy more often than Pendles at this stage.
Patrick Cripps is the current leader in terms of games with ten or more clearances. The Carlton skipper has done this 43 times, with Neale in pursuit, with 37, and Libba Jr (36) on his tail, as well.
Looking at defence, Tom Stewart and Luke Ryan are arguably two of the best rebounders the game has seen. They have 49 and 43 games, respectively, where they have managed eight or more rebound 50 disposals. The all-time leader is Dustin Fletcher, who amassed 83 games with 8+ R50s. Considering R50s weren’t counted for the first five years of Fletcher’s career, I’d kind of like to see him retain the record. He loved a run, didn’t he?
Dustin Martin is the leader amongst current players for games where he’s recorded 20+ kicks. He has a long way to go to catch the all-time leader, Kevin Bartlett. There is a very good reason KB copped flak for never handballing. He has 282 games where he recorded 20+ kicks.
Bob Skilton is the only man in the history of the V/AFL to record an entire season where he averaged over 30 disposals and two goals per game. The last person to average 20 disposals and two goals was 12 years ago – Stevie Johnson did it in back-to-back seasons, but no-one has got close to Skilton. His 1968 season (one of his three Brownlow seasons) was something else – 32.0 disposals and 2.06 goals per game. We will never see anything like that again.
Having 30 disposals and kicking five goals in a game sounds like a decent day out, huh? I might have done that over three games, if I was lucky. Kevin Bartlett managed it four times in his career. Other blokes have done it twice, and there are a dozen or so that have done it once…
… and then there is Leigh Matthews, who did it the lazy 11 times.
Lethal did it five times in the 1977 season alone, and even had one game where he had 41 disposals and 11 goals. Some people now, with no knowledge of him playing the game, call him a thug. Thugs don’t do what Matthews did with the footy. He was a magician.
In a complete surprise, Mitch Duncan leads current players with the most games recorded with ten or more marks. Yep… shocked me, as well. He’s done it 40 times. Jeremy Howe is second, with 39.
Both of them are miles behind the all-time leader, Nick Riewoldt, who did it 143 times.
Wayne Carey is the only man to ever have ten contested marks in a game. He actually did it twice, but the other one was before they started counting contested marks, and it is a damn shame, because that game may have been counted as one of his finest, as his opposition that day is one of the best defenders of his era – Glen Jakovich. You can read my review of this game HERE.
Sam Collins has now recorded 116 games without kicking a goal. The all-time record goes to Collingwood’s Ted Potter, who played 182 games without bothering the goal umpire.
Tom Hawkins has 56 finals goals and is currently ranked 16th, all-time. He needs six more to crack the top ten, but will never get near the overall leader, Gordon Coventry, who has 111 to his name. Interestingly, Buddy Franklin ended up on 74 – third place behind Jason Dunstall, on 78.
Charlie Curnow is now at 59-straight games with at least a goal. The all-time record holder is Collingwood’s (and Carlton’s LOL) Peter McKenna, who notched the lazy 121 games straight.
Only one man has ever kicked double-figure goals on debut. There is a reason John Coleman is idolised, but who are the blokes who have got close?
Warren Ralph kicked nine for the Blues in game number one, whilst John Georgiades and Scott Cummings kicked eight apiece the first time they trotted out onto the main stage.
The all-time leader for tackles in a single season is Scott Selwood back in 2011. He is the only man to ever record 200+ tackles in a season.
And here comes James Rowbottom to upset that. After 11 games, Rowbottom has 103 tackles to his name and will be looking at becoming the best single-season tackler in the history of the game this season. You’d think the Swans will play at least two finals this year… i reckon he gets there. Keep an eye on how he goes against the Cats this weekend.
No player has ever recorded 100 tackles and 50 goals in the game season. The closest to ever accomplishing this was Luke Breust in 2018, when he kicked 54 goals and laid 99 tackles. Can’t see a small forward who could be the first to do this, at the moment.
Kicking 100 goals and taking 150 marks in a season has been accomplished 18 times. Jason Dunstall holds the record, with four times, but one of those sets a bar that may never be cleared.
Dunstall is the only man in history to record 100+ goals and 200+ marks in a season. That year was 1989.
Jack Macrae holds the record for most consecutive games with 20 or more disposals. That ended in Round 22, 2023. Now, Caleb Serong looks to be the danger. His consecutive game count is at 63 – he should get him this season, the way he’s going.
And one more to finish up on for today. We love Dusty, but he is the clanger king of the AFL, with 105 games where he has recorded five or more clangers. Next best is Buddy, who reached the ton, as well, with 100.
I have a heap more of these, so if you like this stuff, let me know and I’ll keep pumping them out. Cheers – HB
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