SANDRINGHAM's thrilling Smithy's VFL victory over Carlton last Sunday was the first time the Zebras had knocked off the Blues in 22 years and announced themselves as a team to watch this season.
The Zebras conceded the first four goals to the Blues before hauling in the deficit and hanging on in a thrilling finish to break a three-match losing streak.
Williamstown joined Port Melbourne the week before in playing its 500th match in the VFL era in its narrow loss to the Lions in the Brisbane rain and GWS played its 50th match at Giants Stadium in its big loss to Werribee in the other two milestones to take place in Round 9.
It's going to be much bigger in Round 10.
Clubs will be marking significant milestones across two states this weekend, with the biggest day being at Skybus Stadium on Sunday.
Frankston will celebrate star midfielder Will Fordham’s 100th VFL match when it takes on undefeated ladder leader Casey Demons, but the rest of the club is also marking a big day, with the Dolphins to run out onto Skybus Stadium for the 500th time in their VFA/VFL history.
The Demons aren’t without their own celebration, being set to play their 350th away match since joining the competition, while full-forward Sam Weideman needs one goal to bring up 100 majors at the State league level.
Earlier on Sunday, it is a big day for the visitors at Windy Hill, with Coburg to play its 850th VFA/VFL away match when it takes on Essendon, but the Bombers will be hoping to spoil the party by landing their 150th home victory and their 50th VFL-era triumph at their traditional home on the same day.
And on Friday afternoon, Sydney will play its 250th home match across its VFA (South Melbourne), NEAFL and VFL history when it plays Richmond at Lakeside Oval.
FROSTY MILLER MEDAL LEADING GOALKICKER
20 Ben Crocker (Car) 1
19 Sam Day (GC) 4
19 Fergus Greene (Box) bye
17 Mitch Brown (Cas) bye
16 Chris Burgess (GC) 2
16 Shannon Neale (Gee) 5
16 Jacob Townsend (Sou) dnp
15 Joel Amartey (Syd) 4
15 Ben Cavarra (Box) bye
15 Sam Fowler (Col) bye
15 Jacob Van Rooyen (Cas) bye
SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 9 PLAYER MILESTONES
- Mike Manteit (Southport/Sydney Uni/Sydney/Collingwood) 100 NEAFL-VFL matches (in Round 2)/90 goals.
- Daniel Capiron (Geelong/Frankston) 50 VFL matches/12 goals
- Nick Hayes (Werribee/Brisbane Lions) 50 NEAFL-VFL matches/23 goals
- Sam Lowson (Coburg) 50 VFL matches/71 goals
- Tom Fields (Southport/Labrador) 50 NEAFL-VFL goals/70 matches
- Oliver Hanrahan (Werribee/Box Hill Hawks) 50 VFL goals/52 matches
SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 9 CLUB MILESTONES
- Williamstown played its 500th match in the VFL era (307-185-8)
- GWS played its 50th NEAFL/VFL match at Giants Stadium (29-21)
- Sandringham defeated Carlton for the first time since August 28, 2000 (3 losses)
- Brisbane Lions v Williamstown happened for the first time (1-0)
- Coburg v Sydney happened for the first time (0-1)
- Essendon squared its win-loss record in the VFL era (108-108-1)
- Geelong took head-to-head leads v Northern Bullants overall (15-14), away (9-8) and at Preston City Oval (5-4)
- Gold Coast defeated Footscray for the first time (1-1)
- GWS v Werribee happened in Sydney for the first time (0-1)
- Port Melbourne v Southport happened for the first time (0-1)
- Richmond v Essendon happened for the first time at a neutral venue (1-0)
- Sandringham defeated Carlton at Princes Park for the first time (1-1)
- Sandringham squared its win-loss record v Carlton (3-3)
SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 9 RECORDS
(Figures in brackets are the previous record)
- 9.11 65 Carlton's lowest score v Sandringham (10.13 73 all venues, 2002; 17.6 108, Princes Park, 2001)
- 11.6 72 Footscray's lowest score v Gold Coast (16.13 109, 2021)
- 14.13 97 Gold Coast's highest score v Footscray (6.6 42, 2021)
- 9.15 69 Sandringham's lowest score v Carlton at Princes Park (13.7 85, 2021)
SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 9 DEBUTS
(Round 9 total: 12. Season total: 209. NEAFL games counted)
- Brisbane Lions (5): Riley Greene, Patrick McCarthy
- Carlton (5): Zane Barzen, Harvey Gallagher
- Footscray (13): Hugo Bromell
- Geelong (17): Toby Conway, Oscar Faulkhead, Flynn Kroeger
- Gold Coast (13): Jared Eckersley
- Northern Bullants (7): Ryan Gardner
- Sandringham (12): Ben Mansfield
- Williamstown (9): Michael Ktona
SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 9 FIRST GOALS
(Round 9 total: 11. Season total: 157. NEAFL goals counted)
- Brisbane Lions (6): Patrick McCarthy (debut)
- Essendon (16): Maclyn Hallows (3rd)
- Footscray (10): Charlie Cormack (15th)
- Geelong (9): Toby Conway (debut), Oscar Faulkhead (debut)
- GWS (13): Ethan Grace (2nd)
- Northern Bullants (5): Andrew Courtney (5th), Matt Gundry (17th), Will Mitchell (8th)
- Werribee (6): Jack Driscoll (3rd)
- Williamstown (6): Kallan Dawson (12th)
SMITHY’S VFL ROUND 10 MILESTONES
- 850 VFA/VFL away matches: Coburg (390-449-10)
- 500 VFA/VFL home matches: Frankston (272-220-7)
- 350 VFA/VFL away matches: Casey Demons (185-163-1)
- 250 VFA/VFL/NEAFL home matches: Sydney/South Melbourne (183-45-21)
SMITHY’S VFL POSSIBLE ROUND 10 MILESTONES
- 100 VFL matches: Will Fordham (Frankston/North Melbourne)/53 goals
- 450 VFA/VFL away defeats: Coburg (390-449-10)
- 150 VFA/VFL home wins: Essendon (149-72-26)
- 50 VFL wins at Windy Hill: Essendon (49-31)
- 50 VFL defeats: Footscray (89-49-1)
- 50 VFL matches: Corey Ellis (Coburg/Richmond)/24 goals, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (Essendon)/1 goal
- 50 NEAFL/VFL matches: Brayden Crossley (Southport/Gold Coast)/49 goals
- 100 VFL goals: Sam Weideman (Casey Demons) needs 1; Ben Crocker (Carlton/Collingwood) needs 2; Wylie Buzza (Brisbane Lions/Werribee/Geelong) needs 5; Corey Rich (Williamstown/Frankston) needs 10
- 100 NEAFL/VFL goals: Wylie Buzza (Brisbane Lions/Werribee/Geelong) needs 1 – 95 VFL/4 NEAFL; Billy Murphy (Northern Bullants/Aspley/Box Hill Hawks) needs 4 – 39 NEAFL/57 VFL; Mike Manteit (Southport/Sydney Uni/Sydney/Collingwood) needs 10 – 80 NEAFL/10 VFL
- 50 VFL goals: Jed Anderson (North Melbourne/Box Hill Hawks) needs 1; Tom Gribble (Werribee/Geelong) needs 1; Josh Corbett (Gold Coast/Werribee) needs 2; Joe Maishman (Werribee) needs 2; Shaun Mannagh (Werribee/Richmond) 2
- 50 NEAFL/VFL goals: Brayden Crossley (Southport/Gold Coast) needs 1 – 32 NEAFL/17 VFL; Sam Day (Gold Coast) needs 5 – 25 NEAFL/20 VFL; Reuben William (Werribee) needs 6 – 32 VFL/12 NEAFL
Twitter: @BRhodesVFL
All Smithy’s VFL matches in 2022 are live streamed free. The match of the round is screened on Channel 7 and 7Plus, while all other matches are live and available on demand via afl.com.au and the AFL Live Official App. Radio station 3WBC 94.1 also broadcasts Box Hill Hawks matches.
To access live scores, results, ladder, stats and to link to live streams/replays, download the VFL/W Official App from the Apple or Google Play app stores.