By Peter Blucher
Bailey Scott is nothing if not resilient. He’s had to be. Because on Sunday the North Melbourne wingman will complete the toughest first 100 AFL games by a Queensland football product in history.
The one-time Broadbeach junior and Gold Coast Suns Academy captain will go into his milestone game against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium with 12 wins and a draw from 99 games – or a win ratio of 12.2%.
And while win ratio is a statistic that reflects team success not individual performance, in a sport in which team success is the ultimate goal it is a pointer to overall satisfaction.
So on that basis, Scott, who will be the 57th Queenslander to 100 games, might consider himself the least satisfied. And by a long way because his win ratio is not even half that of the player who has done it toughest among the 56 ahead of him.
That dubious distinction is held by Fremantle turned Gold Coast utility Lachie Weller, who was 25-1-74 in his first 100 games.
There will be people at the Gold Coast and Geelong saying “it didn’t have to be this way” after Scott, son of 245-game Geelong and North Melbourne player Robert Scott, joined North as a father/son choice via pick #49 in 2018 National Draft.
Having captained the Allies side and won All-Australian selection at the 2018 National Championships, he had earlier knocked back the chance to go to the Suns as an Academy product, or Geelong as a father/son choice.
He chose the club where his father was a 1996 premiership player after having played in losing grand finals with Geelong in 1989-92 and before shared in a QAFL premiership with Mt.Gravatt in 2002 after the family moved to Queensland.
It won’t please Scott to learn that since he joined North in 2019 Geelong have enjoyed a 94-1-47 record, played 13 finals and won the 2022 flag, and Gold Coast have gone 44-1-82.
Scott, born in Geelong and a Queenslander from age nine, had played junior football at Broadbeach and later at St.Andrews Lutheran College at Tallebudgera, which also counts among its past students current Suns AFLW star Jamie Stanton and 2024 Suns AFL debutant Ethan Read.
Having chosen to join North after they’d finished 4th-8th-15th-9th from 2015-18, he debuted under coach Brad Scott in Round 1 2019 as Ben Brown played his 100th AFL game and ex-Sun Aaron Hall was among four ‘imports’ to debut with the Kangaroos.
It was a mixed start – North lost by 82 points to Fremantle in Perth but Scott, who had 21 possessions and kicked two goals, won a Rising Star nomination.
He started with four losses in Rounds 1-2-3-5, and after six weeks in the VFL a broken foot ended his first AFL campaign as North finished 12th with a 10-12 record.
And then it got really tough. In the last four years North have finished 17th-18th-18th-17th, and are 17th going into Scott’s 100th game this weekend, needing one win from their last two games against the Bulldogs and Hawthorn to definitely avoid the wooden-spoon.
Scott had his first AFL win in his 5th game, went 2-11 through 2020, 2-1-14 in 2021, 2-19 in 2022, 3-20 last year and is 3-18 this year. He had a 15-game losing streak in 2021, lost 13 on the trot in 2022, and in 2023 endured a confidence-sapping 20-game losing streak after two wins to open the season and before one win to close it.
In 99 games he’s played under six coaches – Brad Scott, Rhyce Shaw, David Noble, Leigh Adams, Brett Ratten and Alastair Clarkson.
He’ll be happy his 100th game is at Marvel – he’s had six of his 12 wins there – but not so happy to post his ton against the Dogs, having gone 0-5 against them. And for the “it didn’t have to be that way” people, he’s 2-6 against the Suns and 0-7 against the Cats.
But amid the tough times at North Scott has put together a more than respectable career.
Wearing the #8 jumper which his father wore through most of his AFL career after starting in #30, Scott has finished third in the North best & fairest in 2022-23.
He’ll be the 15th player from his draft to 100 game and is 30 games behind an unlikely leader from the Class of 2018 – St.Kilda’s Callum Wilkie. Taken with pick #3 in the rookie draft that year, Wilkie has never missed a game.
Port captain Connor Rozee, pick #5, is second on the games list at 125, with Geelong rookie pick #11 Tom Atkins and Sydney pick #10 Nick Blakey next at 123 games.
The top three picks are next on the list – Carlton pick #1 Sam Walsh and Gold Coast #3 Izak Rankine, now at Adelaide, have played 116 games, and Jack Lukosius, Gold Coast pick #2, is at 115.
Port #12 Zak Butters (114) and Sydney #25 James Rowbottom (112) head Collingwood mid-season rookie pick John Noble (110) and Collingwood #13 Izaac Quaynor (106). At 103 games is Port #18 Xavier Duursma, now at Essendon, and having posted his 100th game last week, Geelong #15 Jordan Clark, now at Fremantle.
Scott, who turned 24 last month, will be the 10th youngest among the Queensland 100-gamers and, with 20 possessions against the Dogs on Sunday, will slot into 10th spot on the possession list, displacing Collingwood 1990 premiership player Gavin Crosisca.
Regardless of the individual numbers, it is an achievement in itself to get to 100 games. After all, 81.11% of all AFL players fall short, with Scott to become the 2489th 100-gamer among 13,169 AFL players.
The list 100-gamers is like a Who’s Who of Queensland football.
It’s a list that began in June 1976 with the most unlikely XXX – a Sherwood junior who played rugby union at Brisbane Grammar and at Under 19 represented Queensland in rugby and Australian rules.
Keen to pursue offers from the then VFL, his path was blocked by an Australian National Football Council rule who blocked the transfer of young players in Queensland and NSW believing an open passing would diminish the local talent pool too heavily.
Instead, Smith switched to rugby league. He was an immediate success, representing Brisbane in the 1970 Bulimba Cup, playing a key role in Valleys’ extra time grand final win, and lost the Player of the Year Award on a countback.
He was seen as a good chance of inclusion in the 1971 Australian team before announcing a shock decision to join Essendon in the then VFL, having by-passed the ANFC rules by playing rugby league.
Older brother of Bruce and Tony Smith, later QAFL premiership players under Norm Dare at Kedron in 1980, Smith debuted in Round 7 1971 and after 11 games in his first season he played 91 consecutive games from Round 15 1972.
This included a mid-season switch of clubs in 1975. After playing the first 12 rounds with Essendon he joined Melbourne mid-week and playing the last 10 games of ’76 with Melbourne. In his third game with the Demons he played against his former teammates at the Bombers.
The 89th game of his streak against Footscray at Western Oval in Round 13 1976 was his 100th game. Melbourne, coached by Bob Skilton, won by 52 points. After 104 AFL games he joined the VFA as captain-coach at Camberwell in 1977-78 before winning a flag with Brunswick in 1980.
The first 10 Queenslanders to play 100 AFL games were:-
1 – Ray Smith (Ess/Melb) – 1976
2 – Richard Murrie (Foots/Geel/Rich) 1982
3 – Warren Jones (Carl/StK) 1986
4 – Frank Dunell (Ess) 1986
5 – Jason Dunstall (Haw) 1989
6 – Scott McIvor (Fitz/Bris) 1990
7 – Gavin Crosisca (Coll) 1992
8 – Dean McRae (NM/Syd) 1994
9 – Marcus Ashcroft (Bris) 1994
10 – Matthew Kennedy (Bris) 1994
Michael Voss, the 11th member of the Queensland 100 Club, was Queensland’s youngest 100-gamer and polled most Brownlow Medal vote in his first 100 games, having won the 1996 Brownlow Medal at 21 before hitting the ‘ton’ in 1998.
Jason Dunstall topped the 100-game goal-listing among Queenslanders with 419 – more than double second-placed Kurt Tippett (182) – and had the best 100-game win ratio. Dayne Beams topped the 100-game possession list from Scott McIvor, Dayne Zorko and Voss.
Top 10 in each category are:-
Most Possessions at 100 Games
1 – Dayne Beams (Coll) 2162
2 – Scott McIvor (Fitz/Bris) 2125
3 – Dayne Zorko (Bris) 2058
4 – Michael Voss (Bris) 2045
5 – Ben Keays (Bris/Adel) 2019
6 – Marcus Ashcroft (Bris) 1900
7 – Jarrod Harbrow (WB/GC) 1867
8 – Lachie Weller (Frem/GC) 1851
9 – Sam Gilbert (StK) 1784
10 – Gavin Crosisca (Coll) 1747
Most Goals at 100 Games
1 – Jason Dunstall (Haw) 419
2 – Kurt Tippett (Adel) 182
3 – Nick Riewoldt (StK) 181
4 – Eric Hipwood (Bris) 151
5 – Che Cockatoo-Collins (Ess/Port) 137
5 – Charlie Cameron (Adel/Bris) 137
7 – Jesse White (Syd/Coll) 111
8 – Dayne Beams (Coll) 108
9 – Dayne Zorko (Bris) 100
10 – Jason Akermanis (Bris) 95
Most Brownlow Votes at 100 Games
1 – Michael Voss (Bris) 43
2 – Jason Dunstall (Haw) 41
2 – Nick Riewoldt (StK) 41
4 – Dayne Beams (Coll) 36
5 – Dayne Zorko (Bris) 27
6 – Jarrod Harbrow (WB/GC) 23
6 – Ben Keays (Bris/Adel) 23
8 – David Armitage (StK) 21
9 – Jason Akermanis (Bris) 20
10 – Scott McIvor (Fitz/Bris) 19
Best Win Ratio at 100 Games
1 – Jason Dunstall (Haw) 82.0%
2 – Dayne Beams (Coll) 73.5%
3 – Frank Dunell (Ess) 72.0%
4 – Clark Keating (Bris) 68.4%
5 – Robert Copeland (Bris) 66.0%
6 – Brendan Whitecross (Haw) 65.7%
7 – Sam Gilbert (StK) 65.6%
8 – Josh Thomas (Coll) 64.3%
9 – Gavin Crosisca (63.9%
10 – Ben Hudson (Adel/WB) 62.6%
Youngest 100-Gamer
1 – Michael Voss (Bris) 22 years 286 days
2- Marcus Ashcroft (Bris) 22 years 308 days
3 – Jason Akermanis (Bris) 23 years 44 days
4 – Harris Andrews (Bris) 23 years 192 days
5 – Nick Riewoldt (StK) 23 years 223 days
5 – Eric Hipwood (Bris) 23 years 223 days
7 – Scott McIvor (Fitz/Bris) 23 years 234 days
8 – Gavin Crosisca (Coll) 23 years 267 days
9 – Jarrod Harbrow (WB/GC) 24 years 10 days
10 – Bailey Scott (NM) 24 years 40 days
Oldest 100-Gamer
1 – Lachie Keeffe (Coll/GWS) 33 years 58 days
2 – Warren Jones (Carl/StK) 32 years 210 days
3 – Sam Reid (WB/GWS) 31 years 218 days
4 – Ben Hudson (Adel/WB) 30 years 193 days
5 – Tom Hickey (GC/StK/WC) 29 years 16 days
6 – Josh Thomas (Coll) 28 years 349 days
7 – Frank Dunell (Ess) 28 years 173 days
8 – Aliir Aliir (Syd/Port) 27 years 301 days
9 – Ray Smith (Melb/Ess) 27 years 277 days
10 – Dayne Zorko (Bris) 27 years 194 days
