Aussie Rules Trivia

On Sunday the 22nd of July 2001, Essendon defeated the Kandgaroos in, what most people are saying, was the greatest game played in Aussie Rules' history. The game created history in many ways. Not only was it the greatest comeback by a team, but it was also a game in which the most number of goals were scored (52 in total). The final score was:

Essendon 27.9 (171) to Kangaroos 25.9 (159).

After the Kangaroos scored a 12 goal to Essendon's 2 in the first quarter, the scene was set for a major upset. The Kangaroos sneaked out to a 69 point lead 10 minutes into the second quarter, and most people thought it was all over. The Kangaroos were going to win, it was just a matter of by how much. However, in a stunning turn around, Essendon kicked 10 second quarter goals to narrow the Kangaroos lead to only 21 points.

The second half was Aussie Rules at it's best. Both teams fighting it out. Essendon finally overtook the Kangaroos to win by 12 points. They had the self-belief to overcome the mammoth 69 point deficit, and in doing so, completed the greatest comeback in the AFL's history. The previous best was by Hawthorn in 1999. Hawthorn was trailing St Kilda by 63 points 5 minutes into the second quarter, eventually winning by 13 points.

This memorable game prompted me to look up other memorable Aussie Rules moments. For example, when Brisbane played the Fremantle Dockers in round 5 this year, Brisbane were 15 points down half way through the final quarter. Then something happened. The Dockers gave up playing and the Lions kicked 11 goals in the last 20 minutes of the match to win by 49 points. Another memorable game for this season.

A look on the AFL's official web site (http://www.afl.com.au), in the "History" section also gives up some interesting facts. Like in 1992, Geelong had 13 individual goal scorers in their match against Brisbane. This match is memorable for not only Geelong having the highest number of individual goal scorers, but Geelong also scored the greatest number of goals in one match. Geelong kicked a total of 37 goals and 17 points for a final score of 239. This record still stands today.

Then there is Arthur Best. He played for Melbourne back in 1914. In one game against South Melbourne (now Sydney Swans), Melbourne kicked a total of 5 goals and 5 points. They lost that game, but Arthur Best has the dubious honour of being Melbourne's only goal scorer of the game. He managed to kick all of Melbourne's 5 goals in the match. The only recent player to do this was Brad Hardie in 1989. Brad kicked all of Brisbane's three goals in their loss to Richmond.

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