SA Footy

Hey Spelly,

With Yves Sibenaler retiring with 6 SANFL flags from just 132 games, I was wondering if you had some info on players who have played the fewest games for their SANFL flag(s).

I'm sure there are players who have won a single flag after playing just a handful of games, but how does the games-per-flag record stack up for multiple flag winners?

Thanks

A flag for every 22 games played. That will be very hard to beat!

The variable that arises when comparing games played now with the Port players of the 80s and 90s and to a lesser extent the Sturt players of the 60s and 70s along with the Port players of the 50s and 60s is of course the night series matches.

Scott Hodges I am going to say would be right up there. 183 matches for 8 flags equals 22.88 matches per flag, but that will come down once the night series matches are taken out. I can gurarantee 11 matches were night series ones; which reduces the matches per flag to 21.5.

Tony Hannan who played for Port in the late 1970s didn't play many games, but played in a couple of flags. Port used to bring him down from Whyalla just for the finals. Stick Dolan played in two flags for Port at that time but would't have played many league games.

I may have a winner here, or certainly a contender.

Malcolm Hill played 41 games for Sturt from 1963 to 1969 and played in 3 premierships, thats less than 14 games per flag. An interesting fact is his final 4 games for the club resulted in 3 flags (1966 GF, 1968 GF, 1969 2S, 1969 GF).

He also played 22 games for 1 flag with Hawthorn (1961) in the VFL, so this brings his tally to 63 games, 4 flags. Not a bad economy rate of 15.75

Adelaide Hawk wrote:I may have a winner here, or certainly a contender.

Malcolm Hill played 41 games for Sturt from 1963 to 1969 and played in 3 premierships, thats less than 14 games per flag. An interesting fact is his final 4 games for the club resulted in 3 flags (1966 GF, 1968 GF, 1969 2S, 1969 GF).

He also played 22 games for 1 flag with Hawthorn (1961) in the VFL, so this brings his tally to 63 games, 4 flags. Not a bad economy rate of 15.75

Not that it matters, but I don't reckon that he actually played a minute of the last two premierships. Certainly in one of them he didn't get a run. He and Tony Burgan are pictured carrying the trophy in their tracksuit pants.

I am always reminded of Richard Hill, who was a premiership player for Sturt before he had actually ever ventured on to the ground during a league game. In 1976 he and Phil Heinrich sat on the bench and never got a run in the game. No matter how big the margin was, Oatey wouldn't use his reserves unless he absolutely had to.

I digress agai, but I reckon that it cost him the 1978 premiership, by which time the interchange rule was in, but he still wouldn't use Tony Lloyd even though to of his half backs were being soundly beaten

Brent Guerra played in 3 premierships for Centrals in about 44-45 matches