AFL Teaser #1
What do Brent Harvey, Bernie Quinlan, Adam Treloar, Martin Pike, and Adrian Fletcher have in common?
Brent Harvey, Bernie Quinlan, Adam Treloar, Martin Pike, and Adrian Fletcher are all members of a special club who have played the highest number (but not necessarily the most) games for a specific number of teams.
Boomer played 432 games for North Melbourne over 21 seasons, although Scott Pendlebury has the chance to take the record from Boomer if he plays in 2025. No one in the history of the V/AFL has played more games overall, or more games for a single club.
Shaun Burgoyne has played the most games for someone who has played for only two clubs (407; 157 for Port Adelaide and 250 for Hawthorn), but Bernie Quinlan (366) played a greater number of games (at least 177) for each team: 177 with Footscray, and 189 for Fitzroy.
Quinlan sits just ahead of Lance Franklin (172+ games for two clubs), who played 182 for Hawthorn and 172 for Sydney.
Nineteen players have played more games across three clubs than Adam Treloar (240 games), but Treloar holds the record, playing at least 67 games for each team: 79 for GWS, 94 for Collingwood, and 67 (and counting) for the Western Bulldogs.
Martin Pike played 247 games in his career (the fifth most among players who played for four different clubs) but played at least 24 games for each of his four clubs: 36 for Fitzroy, 24 for Melbourne, 81 for North Melbourne, and 106 for the Brisbane Lions.
If you wanted to argue playing for both Fitzroy and the Brisbane Lions shouldn’t count, then we have to go back to Frank Kelly, who played from 116 games between 1930 and 1944 but played at least 21 games for four different teams: 34 for Collingwood, 31 for Melbourne, 30 for Essendon, and 21 for St Kilda.
And finally, Adrian Fletcher played 21 or more games for five different clubs across his 231-game career: 23 for Geelong, 22 for St Kilda, 86 for the Brisbane Bears, 21 for the Brisbane Lions, and 79 for Fremantle.
Again, if you wanted to argue playing for the two Brisbane teams doesn’t count (and there’s potentially a stronger case for this in Fletcher’s career compared to Pike’s, as Pike played for two other clubs between playing for Fitzroy and the Brisbane Lions), then Dale Kickett takes the record , having played at least two games for five different clubs: 15 for Fitzroy, 2 for West Coast, 21 for St Kilda, 8 for Essendon, and 135 for Fremantle.
The timeframe of this stat is limited based on what data are freely/easily available and/or accessible. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you spot any errors in what I have presented.