Round Nine Milestones

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Longest Gap Between Matches Against an Opponent: Kevin Sheedy (GWS) met Essendon for the first time since he was a player for Richmond in Round 17, 1978, on July 29. This gap of 33 years and 302 days is the longest gap in League history for any person between matches against one club. Fitzroy's Paddy Noonan played against Geelong in 1898, then coached North Melbourne against Geelong in 1929, a gap of 30 years, 355 days.

Most Venues Coached At: Kevin Sheedy, with the Round Nine game at Skoda Stadium, has now coached matches at 25 different grounds. Behind him are Allan Jeans (St Kilda/Hawthorn/Richmond), David Parkin (Hawthorn, Carlton, Fitzroy) and Leigh Matthews (Collingwood, Brisbane Lions), each of whom coached at 21 different grounds.

As a side note, AFL historian Col Hutchinson came up with a few other details: Sheedy's 34 wins against Collingwood is his most against a single club. His 80% winning record against St Kilda, 33 victories from 41 games is the best record. When Sheedy began coaching in 1981, fellow coaches Nathan Buckley, Damien Hardwick, James Hird, John Longmire, Mark Neeld, Matthew Primus, Brett Ratten, Brenton Sanderson, Brad Scott, Chris Scott and Michael Voss were all in grade school. Attendance at games in which Sheedy has been involved in as a coach stands at a total of 25,890,885 through Round Eight. Attendance for games in which Sheedy played is 8,598,404, all with Richmond.

Club Record Games Coached: John Worsfold (WCE) coached game number 244 in Round Nine, breaking Mick Malthouse's record.

250 games: Lenny Hayes (StK)
200 games: Martin Mattner (SYD)
150 games: Farren Ray (StK)
100 games: Alipate Carlile (PA)

Source: Patrick Keane, AFL Media Release