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History will be made this weekend when Brent Harvey plays his 427th AFL game, breaking the all-time record for most games played in VFL/AFL history by an individual in the process.
Harvey will break the 25-year record previously held by Michael Tuck, who played the last of his 426 games for Hawthorn in the Hawks’ 1991 grand final victory over the West Coast Eagles.
To mark the record-breaking occasion, North Melbourne players will don a special guernsey with the numbers ‘427’ marked on it when they face St Kilda at Etihad Stadium this Saturday night.
It is a match Brad Scott’s men must win if they are to maintain their place in the eight, especially with the Saints having won seven of their last nine games to close to within two games of the Roos following the end of Round 18.
A win for the eighth-placed Roos (currently with a percentage of 111.9%) would just about lock up the eight for the year, as they will skip clear of the Saints (91.7%) by three games with four rounds still to play after this weekend.
Otherwise, a Saints win would see them close to within a game of the eight, but would still be a huge percentage behind the Roos even if they were to dish out an unlikely thrashing by more than 100 points.
In the Roos’ favour, however, is that they have won their last five meetings against the Saints dating back to 2012. This means the Saints haven’t beaten the Roos since Ross Lyon walked out on the club at the end of the 2011 season.
Having started the season with nine straight victories, the Roos lost six of their last eight matches to drop to its current ladder position of eighth, but did manage to turn things around when they defeated Collingwood by 40 points at Etihad Stadium last Friday night, breaking a five-game losing streak in the process.
The victory was set up by a six-goal opening quarter and while the Pies came charging back in the final quarter, Brad Scott’s men steadied to log their eleventh win for the season but just their second in the past two months.
The Saints, on the other hand, continued their mid-season revival by winning its seventh match in the last nine rounds, outlasting an injury-ravaged Western Bulldogs side by 15 points and keeping them scoreless in the final quarter.
Once again it was ageless captain Nick Riewoldt, and his potential successor as the club’s on-field leader, Jack Steven, who were the masterminds behind the club’s ninth win for the season, with the former kicking four goals to once again haunt the Dogs.
It was their second significant scalp this season, having also upset the Geelong Cats by three points in round fourteen.
But while they will be keen to maintain their mid-season momentum as they charge towards an unlikely finals berth, the occasion of Brent Harvey breaking the all-time games record should inspire the Kangaroos to victory this Saturday night.
Harvey is one of the club’s most decorated players of the modern era, debuting in the final game of the 1996 regular season and going on to play in the club’s 1999 premiership.
Not only is he the last remaining player from the club’s most recent premiership, he is also the last remaining premiership player from the 1990s. As a matter of fact, he is one of two players from pre-2004 sides. Shaun Burgoyne, who featured in Port Adelaide’s premiership win that year, is still playing with Hawthorn today.
Additionally, he has featured in four All-Australian teams (most recently in 2008), won the club’s best-and-fairest five times (most recently in 2010), won the E.J. Whitten Medal in 1999, captained the Kangaroos between 2009 and 2011 and also captained the Australian International Rules side in 2008.
Currently aged 38, there is every chance that Harvey could play his 450th AFL game late next season, and, should he be up for the challenge, could go for the 500th in the 2019 or 2020 season – though he will be 41 or 42 if he were to reach it.
Meanwhile, the schedule for Round 23 has been released, with the Adelaide Crows and West Coast Eagles to kick off proceedings at the Oval on the Friday night.
It will be the first Friday night premiership fixture not to feature a Victorian team since Round 20, 2005, when a Western Derby was played in the AFL’s premium timeslot.
Saturday afternoon will see the Geelong Cats tackle Melbourne at Simonds Stadium on free-to-air, while up the highway Essendon and Carlton will square off at the MCG in what will be the final game of the season for both sides.
The twilight match will see the Sydney Swans host Richmond at the SCG as they look to avenge their heartbreaking post-siren defeat to the Tigers in Round 8.
Saturday night sees North Melbourne host the GWS Giants in the free-to-air match, while, injury permitting, Charlie Dixon will face his old club for the first time when Port Adelaide faces the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium.
The AFL had flagged the North Melbourne versus GWS Giants match to be the Friday night match, but scheduling that match in the league’s premium timeslot would’ve given the Roos a league-high ninth six-day break this season.
It was also of their view that the Giants should be given prime time exposure as they close in on a historic first finals series. It will be just their third free-to-air match this season and first on a Saturday night since mid-2014.
The two Sunday matches in Melbourne will see St Kilda host the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium, while across town Hawthorn will take on Collingwood at the MCG in the Channel Seven match.
The regular season will then conclude with Fremantle hosting the Western Bulldogs at Domain Stadium, with Dockers legend Matthew Pavlich to play his 353rd and final AFL match. He is set to be rested from the club’s away match against the GWS Giants in Round 22.
The E.J. Whitten Legends Game, as well as a women’s match between the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne, will be played in the newly-established bye round between Round 23 and the first week of the finals series.
Round 23
Friday night
Adelaide Crows versus West Coast Eagles, Adelaide Oval, 7:40pm*
Saturday
Geelong Cats versus Melbourne, Simonds Stadium, 1:45pm*
Essendon versus Carlton, MCG, 2:10pm
Sydney Swans versus Richmond, SCG, 4:35pm
Gold Coast Suns versus Port Adelaide, Metricon Stadium, 7:25pm
North Melbourne versus GWS Giants, Etihad Stadium, 7:25pm*
Sunday
St Kilda versus Brisbane Lions, Etihad Stadium, 1:10pm
Hawthorn versus Collingwood, MCG, 3:20pm*
Fremantle versus Western Bulldogs, Domain Stadium, 2:40pm
All times are local, (*) denotes a Channel Seven match.
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