MAGICAL MILESTONES
Glenn McFarlane looks at the big AFL moments to look forward to in 2024
Barring injuring, Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury will become the sixth footballer to play 400 VFLAFL games in round 18 against Geelong.
The ageless Pendlebury won his second premiership in 2023 and is set to follow in the footsteps of Michael Tuck, Kevin Bartlett, Dustin Fletcher, Brent Harvey and Shaun Burgoyne in the 400 club.
He’d become the first Pies player to cross the milestone, having long since passed Tony Shaw’s club-high mark of 313 games.
Travis Boak, sitting on 348 games, could reach the 350 mark in round 2 against Richmond, making him the first Power player to reach 350 AFL games.
Geelong spearhead Tom Hawkins is set to hit the same milestone in round 3 against Hawthorn.
Hawkins is on track to not only become the second Geelong player to reach 350 VFL-AFL games but he is also only eight games short of Joel Selwood’s club record of 355.
The big forward could potentially equal the Cats’ record in round 8 and break it at GMHBA Stadium against Port Adelaide in round 9.
We’ve run the rule over who else will pass major milestones in 2024.
350 GAMES
348: Travis Boak (Port Adelaide), scheduled in round 2, v Richmond; 347: Tom Hawkins (Geelong), scheduled in round 3, v Hawthorn.
300 GAMES
295: Callan Ward (GWS Giants/Western Bulldogs); 289: Dustin Martin (Richmond); 283: Luke Parker (Sydney); 281: Luke Breust (Hawthorn); 277: Jack Darling (West Coast); 275: Andrew Gaff (West Coast), would need to play deep into the finals; 274: Mitch Duncan (Geelong), would need to play deep into finals.
250 GAMES
247: Brandon Ellis (Gold Coast/Richmond); 247: Brodie Smith (Adelaide); 246: Mark Blicavs (Geelong); 246: Lachie Neale (Brisbane/Fremantle); 242: Jack Gunston (Hawthorn/Brisbane/ Hawthorn); 236: Cam Guthrie (Geelong); 235: Dyson Heppell (Essendon); 233: Brad Hill (St Kilda/Hawthorn/ Fremantle); 233: Jeremy Howe (Collingwood/Melbourne); 231: Adam Treloar (Western
Bulldogs/Collingwood/GWS Giants); 230: Jack Macrae (Western Bulldogs); 230: Dane Rampe (Sydney); 230: Jeremy Cameron (Geelong/ GWS Giants); 229: Dylan Grimes (Richmond); 228: Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide); 228: Jamie Cripps (West Coast/St Kilda); 226: Jack Crisp (Collingwood/Brisbane), would need to play in the finals; 224: Rory Laird (Adelaide), would need the Crows to play deep into the finals.
GOALS 800 GOALS
781: Tom Hawkins (Geelong), Hawkins could also leap into 11th overall on the VFL-AFL goalkicking tally.
650 GOALS
612: Taylor Walker (Adelaide)
600 GOALS
584: Jeremy Cameron (Geelong/GWS Giants)
550 GOALS
528: Luke Breust (Hawthorn); 510: Jack Darling (West Coast)
500 GOALS
456: Tom Lynch (Richmond/ Gold Coast); 452: Jack Gunston (Hawthorn/ Brisbane)
MOST CONSECUTIVE GAMES
214: Jack Crisp (Collingwood/ Brisbane) is third on the alltime list and is only 13 away from passing second-placed
Adem Yze (226). The late, great Jim Stynes holds the record with 244.
MOST GAMES AS TEAMMATES
Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom have played in the same Collingwood team on 286 occasions. If the pair can play 22 games together for the Magpies in 2024, they will break the VFL-AFL record for most games as teammates.
COACHES 350 GAMES
329: Ross Lyon (St Kilda/ Fremantle)
250 GAMES
249: Ken Hinkley (Port Adelaide); 234: Brad Scott (Essendon/North Melbourne); 226: Adam Simpson (West Coast), would need to make the finals
100 GAMES
84: Justin Longmuir (Fremantle); 83: Matthew Nicks (Adelaide)
50 GAMES
45: Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn); 26: Adam Kingsley (GWS Giants), would need to play deep into the finals
COACHING TALLIES
Alastair Clarkson (North Melbourne/Hawthorn) can leap into the top 10 of VFL-AFL games as a coach by the end of the season. He is currently on 403 games and can reach 426 games if the Kangaroos fail to make the finals.
DISPOSALS RECORD
Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood) already holds the record for the most disposals (9886) in VFL-AFL. This year he needs 114 to become the first player to reach 10,000 disposals.
HITOUTS RECORD
Todd Goldstein (North Melbourne and now Essendon) holds the record for the most hitouts (9835) in the VFL-AFL. This year he needs 165 to become the first player to reach 10,000 hitouts.
MOST PLAYER WINS
Tom Hawkins (Geelong, 244 wins) and Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood, 233 wins) need six and 17 wins respectively to become the fifth and sixth players to record 250 or more wins in a career.
CLUB WINS
Geelong (1397 wins) is only three wins away from becoming the fourth VFL-AFL team to reach 1400 wins. Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon have already reached that figure.
BROWNLOW MEDAL
2024 marks 100 years of the Brownlow Medal, since Geelong’s Edward ‘Carji’ Greeves won the inaugural medal in 1924.