A Six-Pack Of IPA (Interesting Points, Allegedly): Winless Greg Clark, Eagles’ amazing quarter-time run & more

Love-fifteen Spare a thought for Greg Clark, who is venturing into unwanted historical territory while searching for his first AFL win. Having come to the club on the back of three WAFL premierships as a key part of Subiaco’s juggernaut side, the Eagles midfielder is now on the other side of the ledger after 15 losses in as many matches at the top level. Only two players in the AFL era have played more games before finally getting the chance to sing the club song: Josh Caddy, who lost his first 16 games with Gold Coast, and Adam Tomlinson, who suffered a gut-wrenching 21 straight defeats before eventually tasting success at GWS. …And the Eagles love fifteen It’s a sight that we may never see again in our lifetime: A club sitting on the exact same score at quarter time for five – yes, five – consecutive weeks. West Coast have registered precisely 2.3 (15) in their past five opening terms, and were a solitary behind away from making it six straight after kicking 2.2 in the first quarter against Melbourne in round four. It’s the first time in AFL/VFL history that a team has sat on the same score at a break for five games on end. Tons of fun Fremantle snapped a near seven-year drought in the win over Sydney after breaking through for back-to-back scores of 100+. It’s the first time they’ve done it since the Matthew Pavlich era, with the last instance surprisingly coming in the midst of their horror four-win campaign in the Hall of Famer’s final campaign. Until last weekend, the most recent case of Freo kicking consecutive triple-figure scores without Pavlich being involved was in the first two rounds of the 2000 season, helped by Tony Modra booting bags of five and four. Awesome foursome Justin Longmuir has tightened his centre-bounce rotation to an unprecedented level after beefing up Jaeger O’Meara’s involvement at the coalface. For the first time in Longmuir’s four seasons in charge, four players attended more than 75 per cent of centre bounces in the win over Sydney: Sean Darcy (90%), Caleb Serong (84%), Andrew Brayshaw (77%) and O’Meara (77%). The big question now is how tight this remains when Nat Fyfe returns to full match fitness. The two-time Brownlow medallist attended six of the eight centre bounces in the final quarter in a clue to just how much he may be called upon in there when he relinquishes the sub role. Taking down the champs Fremantle have produced some famous victories over reigning premiers in their history – think ending Carlton’s 18-game winning streak in 1996, and taking down Geelong amid Matthew Scarlett’s hit on Hayden Ballantyne in 2012. And after wins over Richmond in 2021 and Melbourne last season, the Dockers this weekend have a chance for three straight seasons off knocking off the reigning premier when they host the Cats. Only Collingwood has achieved that feat, with Brisbane also getting an opportunity when they take on Geelong in round 19. G wiz Scott Pendlebury and the MCG has long been a winning combination – and now, it’s the most winning combination in AFL/VFL history. With Collingwood’s win over GWS, Pendlebury snared his 139th victory at the Magpies’ home ground, surpassing Kevin Bartlett’s 138 triumphs there for the most at a venue. Pavlich sits third on the list with 120 wins at Subiaco, having played all bar three of his WA games at that ground.