So basically what are some more notable events of when a prelim was a lot better than the Grand Final and (realistically) ultimately decided the premiership.

Most recent case of this is definitely Geelong vs Brisbane in 2024. What a beauty of a game of footy that was. As a Cats fan, it makes me even more pissy as the GF was a certified walkover like in 2022....

Anyone got predictions for the OR and round 1 games. These are mine:

OR Thursday Brisbane vs Essendon 7:30 Gabba 7 Friday GWS vs Geelong 7:40 SCG 7 Saturday Sydney vs Collingwood 4:20 SCG FOX Gold Coast vs Carlton 7:30 People's First 7

Round 1 Thursday Richmond vs Carlton 7:30 MCG 7 Friday Brisbane vs Sydney 7:40 Gabba 7 Saturday Western Bulldogs vs Port Adelaide 1:10 Marvel FOX St Kilda vs North Melbourne 4:30 Marvel FOX Collingwood vs Geelong 7:30 MCG 7 West Coast vs Gold Coast 8:10 Optus FOX Sunday Essendon vs Fremantle 1:00 MCG FOX GWS vs Adelaide 3:20 Engie 7 Hawthorn vs Melbourne 6:20 Marvel FOX

On my opinion. Port Adelaide is gonna be one of the most loudest AFL crowd when it comes to never tear us apart before the game starts.

Date | Sunday, 10th November, 2024

Time | 2:35pm ACDT

Ground | Alberton Oval

Statistics | AFLW Match Centre

Reddit Stream | Stream

TV | AFL Broadcast Guide Avaliable Here

Final teams available from the AFLW Match Centre.

A REMINDER: This is NOT a sledging thread. Please keep discussion civil. Thank you.

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Date | Sunday, 10th November, 2024

Time | 1:05pm AEDT

Ground | IKON Park

Statistics | AFLW Match Centre

Reddit Stream | Stream

TV | AFL Broadcast Guide Avaliable Here

Final teams available from the AFLW Match Centre.

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There seems to mostly be a consensus that either Brisbane 01/02/03 or West Coast 2006 or Geelong 07/09 were the best midfield teams our game has seen.

I don’t see as much as discussion around forwards and backs though, so I’d love to know what you guys thought

Where can gloves with grip for Australian Rules Football be bought from?

I see that Rebel Sport and JD Sports only appear to stick and sell gloves for soccer, and Intersport has for netball.

At least we're consistent. This club is cursed

Date | Saturday, 9th November, 2024

Time | 4:00pm AWST

Ground | Fremantle Oval

Statistics | AFLW Match Centre

Reddit Stream | Stream

TV | AFL Broadcast Guide Avaliable Here

Final teams available from the AFLW Match Centre.

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Inspired by the seemingly endless appetite for recruiting players named Jack by St Kilda, I have set out to determine once and for all which club has had the most players known by the first name "Jack" to play for them in the VFL/AFL.

RULES

- NO JACKSONS

- Also no Jackies (there was only one, if you're curious)

- Only players who played at least one game. I didn't include any players who are currently on a list but are yet to debut.

- Also not including players who have moved clubs since the end of 2024 season, so Jacks Macrae and Carrol won't be included in St Kilda's total, for example.

Adelaide: 1
Gunston

Brisbane: 5
Redden, Payne, Gunston, Crisp, Frost

Brisbane Bears: 0

Carlton: 50
Baquie, Bavin, Bennet, Bristow, Cahill, Carney, Carroll, Cashman, Conley, Cooper, Cooper, Douglas, Ellis, Frost, Gardiner, Gilbert, Grant, Green, Greenhill, Hale, Hammond, Hardy, Hosking, Howell, Keily, Kidd, King, Loughnan, Lowe, Martin, Massey, McElroy, Mills, Morrissey, Newnes, Reekie, Roberts, Scobie, Silvagni, Skinner, Stephenson, Sullivan, Todd, Vale, Way, Wells, Williamson, Woolley, Wrout, Young

Collingwood: 46
Arnott, Benson, Beveridge, Burns, Bytel, Carmody, Carroll, Crisp, Denning, Farrell, Finck, Frost, Galbally, Geddes, George, Ginnivan, Green, Green, Green, Hamilton, Hickey, Incoll, Jobson, Knight, Lowe, Lyngcoln, Madgen, Monohan, Monohan, Murphy, Nilson, O’Connor, Paine, Parker, Pimm, Power, Purdon, Ramsay, Regan, Ross, Sales, Sheehan, Shorten, Synon, Thompson, Twyford,

Essendon: 52
Allister, Baggott, Blencowe, Borthwick, Boyd, Caesar, Cassin, Clarke, Clarkson, Cockburn, Collins, Crane, Cross, Deas, Dolan, Garden, Geggie, Godby, Harrington, Harrison, Henry, Hiskins, Hubbert, Hunter, Johnson, Jones, Keddie, Kidd, Kirby, Knowles, Lyons, McGarity, McIntyre, McKenzie, McKenzie, Megson, Mihocek, Moriarty, O’Brien, O’Brien, O’Halloran, Simpson, Stenhouse, Sullivan, Symons, Trehell, Vinall, Vosti, Way, Williamson, Wood, Woolley,

Fitzroy: 40
Austin, Buckley, Cashman, Clancy, Cleary, Collins, Cooper, Dalton, Dawson, Deas, Edgley, Furness, Gaffney, Gervasoni, Grant, Harrow, Holt, Kidd, Lancaster, Lean, Loughnan, MacGregor, McArthur, McDonough, Millen, Moriarty, Mulcahy, Newton, Norman, O’Brien, O’Rourke, Rocchi, Scales, Sexton, Streader, Symons, Toohey, Trehey, Vale, Wegner, Williams

Fremantle: 1
Hannath

Geelong: 55
Allen, Arbrew, Audsley, Baker, Baker, Blencowe, Bowes, Butcher, Carney, Chambers, Collins, Condon, Conway, Davey, Dore, Dunstone, Evans, Gaudion, Grant, Gray, Green, Hardiman, Hassett, Hawkins, Henry, Holden, Knell, Lee, Lynch, Lyons, McGrath, Metherell, Morgan, Muller, Murrell, O’Loughlin, Parkin, Paterson, Pender, Plunkett, Quinn, Ross, Ross, Sharkey, Sheridan, Sing, Steven, Stevens, Tuohill, Walker, Watt, Whitten, Wighton, Williams, Wright

Gold Coast: 7
Bowes, Hombsch, Hutchins, Leslie, Lukosius, Martin, Scrimshaw

GWS: 3
Buckley, Hombsch, Steele

Hawthorn: 41
Aitchison, Barker, Blackman, Boothman, Brain, Burke, Carmody, Cleary, Clements, Douglas, Drake, Fisher, Fitzpatrick, Flanigan, Francis, Gill, Green, Ginnivan, Gunston, Hartigan, Hester, Jobson, King, MacDonald, Marr, Mathisen, McLeod, Mitchell, O’Brien, O’Keefe, Pickford, Price, Ryan, Saunders, Scrimshaw, Sharpley, Shea, Stenhouse, Taylor, White, Zander

Melbourne: 63
Atkins, Baquie, Bennett, Billings, Brake, Bristow, Cannan, Carr, Collins, Compton, Connole, Coolahan, Davidson, Doherty, Donaldson, Dorgan, Doubleday, Egan, Evans, Fitzpatrick, Foster, Furniss, Gardiner, Geggie, Godby, Graham, Grimes, Hammond, Harrison, Haw, Heal, Hiscock, House, Huntington, Johnson, Leith, Maher, McIntosh, McKenzie, Minnis, Mitchell, Mueller, Nicholson, O’Keefe, Pickford, Power, Purse, Quinn, Richardson, Robertson, Robertson, Sambell, Smith, Stock, Strong, Thomson, Trengove, Viney, Watt, Watts, West, Woolley, Young

North Melbourne: 41
Allister, Anderson, Bennett, Boldiston, Clark, Crane, Cuffe, Diprose, Doherty, Donovan, Edwards, Eudey, Gaudion, Harrison, Haskett, Hedley, Huggard, Hunter, Kenny, Lawrence, Lock, Lynch, Lyons, Mahony, Mathews, Moran, Morrissey, Nolan, Norris, O’Halloran, O’Sullivan, Parker, Patterson, Ryan, Sanders, Sexton, Smith, Webb, Welsh, Wrout, Ziebell

Port Adelaide: 3
Hombsch, Trengove, Watts

Richmond: 44
Anderson, Arbrew, Atkinson, Baggott, Barnett, Bisset, Bristow, Broadstock, Burgmann, Coles, Cotter, Crane, Cronk, Culhane, Currie, Dyer, Dyer, Eames, Fincher, Gale, Giles, Graham, Hardiman, Higgins, Huggard, James, McCormack, Megson, O’Rourke, Pemberton, Quinn, Riewoldt, Roberts, Ross, Scott, Sheehan, Stenhouse, Sullivan, Symons, Titus, Turner, Twyford, Uwins, Watson

St Kilda: 78
Anderson, Armstrong, Austin, Bidgood, Billings, Booth, Bray, Brenchley, Brown, Bytel, Cliff, Connally, Connell, Connelly, Cuffe, Davis, Dowding, Drinan, Evans, Fidler, Forty, George, Grant Gravell, Hannagan, Hansen, Hartigan, Hayes, Higgins, Holden, Howe, Indian, James, Jennings, Julian Kelly, King, Knight, Lake, Loes, Lonie, Lowry, McCarthy, McCoy, McDonald, McLeod, Meehan, Mohr, Mulrooney, Newnes, O’Loughlin, O’Rourke, Palmer, Peris, Perkins, Purse, Roberts, Rogers, Ryan, Scanlon, Shelley, Shelton, Shelton, Showell, Sinclair, Smith, Steele, Steven, Suttie, Todd, Toohey, Walker, Watt, Wells, White, Whitehead, Whittle, Wilkinson

Sydney: 61
Adamson, Barnes, Bisset, Brennan, Bruce, Buller, Butcher, Cockbill, Cotter, Danckert, Davidson, Deas, Dempsey, Elchhorn, Fergeus, Ferguson, Fleming, Freeman, Garrick, George, Graham, Greenwood, Hacker, Hamilton, Harris, Hassett, Hiscox, Howell, Hudson, Incoll, Jones, Lucas, Lugg, Main, McDonough, Meagher, Mullane, Mulligan, Oatey, O’Brien, O’Brien, O’Connell, O’Hara, O’Keefe, Patterson, Petchell, Quinn, Richardson, Richardson, Scobie, Sheedy, Shelton, Southern, Stephens, Sweet, Todd, Turnbull, Twyford, Wade, Walsh, Williams

University: 6
Brake, Doubleday, Gray, Jones, Nicholson, West

West Coast: 5
Darling, Hutchinson, Petruccelle, Redden, Williams

Western Bulldogs: 43
Borlase, Bridgfoot, Collins, Coolahan, Dennington, Dinatale, Donovan, Edwards, Fincher, Gibby, Gray, Greenwood, Hansen, Hayes, Keane, King, Law, Logan, Macmillan, Macrae, Malone, Malone, McDonagh, Meuleman, Nuttall, O’Brien, O’Halloran, Redpath, Robertson, Ryan, Sands, Sharpley, Sherman, Slattery, Somerville, Storey, Sutton, Wosti, Watt, Webb, Welsh, Wunhym, Zimmerman 

As you might have expected, St Kilda come out on top by a fair way here with a whopping 78 Jacks. No real surprises in the rest of the list, with the original VFL clubs minus University all having orders of magnitude more Jacks than the later expansion clubs.

Where this gets interesting is when you divide the number of Jacks by the number of players each club has had to determine which club is the most Jack overall.

University comes out on top! Congratulations to the Students for winning their first AFL award in more than 100 years.

Moving on to teams that have actually played a double-digit number of years in the competition, St Kilda's high player turnover comes back to bite it in the arse, with Geelong pipping them for second place despite having more than 20 less Jacks. Gold Coast are a surprise fourth place with 4.7% of their players being Jacks - more than double that of their fellow expansion club GWS. Other interesting results include Hawthorn having 0.45% more Jacks than North Melbourne despite having the same number of Jacks, and Fitzroy being much lower on the list than expected.

So what conclusions can be drawn from this data? Not many and trying to do so may be a more pointless exercise than gathering the data in the first place. Clearly having more Jacks isn't much of a recipe for success, as proved by the 3 teams with the most Jacks having won a grand total of 4 flags between them in the last 60 years. Gold Coast's high Jack percentage doesn't seem to be helping them either. Maybe the ultimate Jack, Ough, will be the one to break this curse and lead St Kilda's team of 22 Jacks to a glorious flag.