Century quarter aggregates

In V/AFL football, there have been 37 quarters during which 100 points have been scored. Such a feat, by any standards, represent exceptionally high scoring.

The first was when South Melbourne kicked 17.4 to nil against St. Kilda, the second in the opening round of 1934 between Essendon (8 goals 2 behinds) and Footscray (8 goals 7 behinds) in the first quarter at Windy Hill. Seven weeks later, Essendon kicked ten goals two to North Melbourne’s six goals two in a match that even The Age noted for its record aggregate score. The next century aggregate for a quarter was in the first quarter of the famous Melbourne/Geelong game of 1940, with the Demons kicking nine goals six and Geelong seven goals two.

With scores declining after 1942, it was 1970 before another century quarter aggregate was reached. It was the first second quarter to reach the century:

Richmond	2.4 (16)	13.7 (85)	16.11 (107)	23.13 (151)
Essendon	2.1 (13)	7.2 (44)	9.5 (59)	11.11 (77)

In 1975, Essendon and Carlton played the first 110-point quarter and the first quarter to exceed South Melbourne’s record team tally, at Windy Hill:

Essendon	5.1 (31)	9.2 (56)	13.3 (81)	15.5 (95)
Carlton	1.4 (10)	15.5 (95)	22.9 (141)	27.13 (175)

The first third quarter to reach the century occurred in Round 15 of 1979:

Melbourne	5.3 (33)	9.11 (65)	17.17 (119)	24.23 (167)
South Melbourne	4.5 (29)	10.5 (65)	18.8 (116)	24.10 (154)

Note that the Demons’ score is the highest by a team leading with fewer goals at three-quarter time - in a year where no match was won by a team scoring fewer goals! The Demons were to have five weeks of quite remarkable scorelines beginning with this match, in the middle of which was their record 190-point loss to Fitzroy.

The first and only quarter to exceed 120 points was in Round 17 of 1983:

Fitzroy	2.4 (16)	14.10 (94)	16.12 (108)	20.18 (138)
St. Kilda	7.6 (48)	14.7 (91)	19.14 (128)	22.17 (149)

Notable facts about the thirty-seven century-aggregate quarters are:

1. The most in one season is four in 1989 and 1991
2. The only other years with more than one are 1934, 1979, 1982, 1983 (three), 1984, 1988 and 1992
3. The most recent was in Round 16 of 2007 in the first quarter between Richmond (seven goals four) and Port Adelaide (nine goals three)
4. The most by one club in a season is three by North Melbourne in 1991. More than that, all were among only eight 110-point aggregate quarters, viz:

   Round 5, 1991, MCG
   Melbourne	9.1 (55)	15.7 (97)	20.12 (132)	28.14 (182)
   North Melbourne	9.1 (55)	12.6 (78)	13.7 (85)	17.10 (112)
   Round 6, 1991, MCG
   North Melbourne	5.7 (37)	13.12 (90)	19.18 (132)	27.26 (188)
   Sydney	9.3 (57)	19.6 (120)	21.8 (134)	21.8 (134)
   Round 22, 1991, Princes Park
   Fitzroy	7.5 (47)	14.9 (93)	17.14 (116)	22.16 (148)
   North Melbourne	4.2 (26)	14.6 (90)	16.12 (108)	21.21 (147)

5. The club which has played most century-aggregate quarters is North Melbourne with twelve, followed by Carlton, Geelong and Hawthorn with seven each.
6. Collingwood and Adelaide have played no century-aggregate quarters. Their highest quarter aggregate scores are:

   Round 11, 1983, Moorabbin Oval
   St. Kilda	6.6 (42)	11.8 (74)	19.12 (126)	21.18 (144)
   Collingwood	5.4 (34)	11.9 (75)	18.14 (122)	24.16 (160)
   Round 21, 1995, MCG
   Melbourne	7.1 (43)	11.1 (67)	14.4 (88)	18.7 (115)
   Adelaide	4.1 (25)	15.4 (94)	22.5 (137)	23.8 (146)

7. Footscray has played only three century-aggregate quarters; West Coast, Fremantle and Port Adelaide one apiece.
8. The round on which most century-aggregate quarters have been played is Round 5, with four
9. Of these four three were played by North Melbourne in four years - in 1988 against Hawthorn, 1989 against Richmond and in 1991 (above)
10. The Kangaroos also played century-aggregate (third) quarters in Round 11 of both 1983 and 1984
    
11. There has never been a century-aggregate quarter in a finals match
12. Round 2 is the only one of the 22 home-and-away rounds constantly played since 1970 that has seen no quarter produce 100 points or more
13. Of the 37 quarters with a total of over 100 points scored, five have been first quarters, nine second quarters, eight third quarters, and fifteen final quarters. (This is probably because it becomes easier to score when players are tired and less able to challenge an opponent with the ball)
14. No round has produced more than one century quarter aggregate, though in Round 11 of 1983, the third quarter of the Melbourne versus North Melbourne game produced 103 points and the same quarter of the St. Kilda v Collingwood match was Collingwood’s highest scoring quarter on record with 99 points (above).
15. Apart from South’s 1919 game with St. Kilda, the lowest-scoring match where one quarter had an aggregate score of 100 points occurred in Round 3 of 1984:

    Carlton	2.1 (13)	9.3 (57)	12.7 (79)	15.7 (97)
    Geelong	2.3 (15)	11.6 (72)	16.9 (105)	19.12 (126)

16. Apart from St. Kilda’s failure to score in 1919, the lowest score by a team in a century-aggregate quarter occurred in Round 7 of 1983:

    Sydney	7.4 (46)	10.6 (66)	15.6 (96)	18.10 (118)
    Carlton	1.3 (9)	14.7 (91)	15.12 (102)	22.17 (149)

17. The four century quarter aggregates in 1989 and 1991 occurred on the same quartet of rounds, viz. Rounds 5, 6, 15 and 22
18. Five of the eight highest (110 points or more) aggregate quarters occurred in Rounds 5, 6 or 7; vis-à-vis eight of the ten highest-scoring home-and-away games. (Most likely this tendency is a natural result of the climate rather than an accident, for even when scores of this magnitude have never occurred the highest aggregates have still occurred at the same time of year. An example is Carlton’s game with Footscray in 1954 where the Blues’ losing score was the sixth-highest of the season)