It was a different time, but in the 1973 Victorian Football League season Kevin “Hungry” Bartlett had 672 possessions. Just 38 of them were handballs — less than six per cent.
Last season Kayne Pettifer was the only player in the Goulburn Valley League’s senior competition to have more than 100 kicks and less than 20 handballs (109 kicks/16 handballs — a disposal by hand ratio of less than 15 per cent).
Seymour star Michael Hartley had a 103/24 kick-to-handball ratio last season from his nine games, while Rochester key defender Hamish Hooppell stacked up 117 kicks and 28 handballs from 13 games.
Goalkickers usually are a little scared to lay a fist on the football, but Mooroopna’s Christopher Neild handballed 31 per cent of the time (205 kicks/65 handballs). Echuca’s top goalkicker, Ruory Kirkby, was a little less inclined to handball.
He finished the season with a 236-41 return (handballing just 17.3 per cent of the time).
This season the former Richmond AFL star and renowned Bombers goalkicker of the past decade has had 39 kicks and just seven handballs.
His statisitcal data still pales against the extraordinary figures that the one-time VFL games record-holder produced in 400-plus games.
During that 1973 VFL season Kevin Bartlett averaged a touch under 30 possessions a game that season, but less than two of those were handballs.
Even as disposal by hand became more popular his statistics remained “kick heavy”, in fact, in his last season (1983) only 31 of his 235 possessions were hand balls (13 per cent).
He finished his career credited with 9151 disposals, only 858 of those handballs (less than 10 per cent). He finished with an average career disposal count of 22.7, but only 2.12 handballs a game.
Bartlett, who played 403 games and finished as a 36-year-old, had 1556 shots on goal, finishing with 778 goals and only one less behind (777).
Kyabram goalkicking legend Pettifer is closing in on 500 goals for the club, so his teammates should expect his declining handball count to continue as the Goulburn Valley league season continues.
He has kicked 478 goals from 125 games with the Bombers, since returning to Kyabram in 2010 and then playing the last seven seasons in the Goulburn Valley league.
THE PETTIFER FILE
Age: 41
Drafted with pick 9 by Richmond in 2000.
AFL Games: 113. Goals: 132. Win/loss record: 41-71.
Statistics: 1156 kicks and 353 hand balls.
GVL Games: 125. Goals: 478, including 106 in 2018 from 20 games
2022 Statistics: 109 kicks and 16 handballs.
2023 Statistics: 39 kicks and 7 handballs.
In 2010 he kicked 83 goals for Kyabram from 22 games.
Short stints with Montrose, East Perth and Montmercy were followed by three seasons with Yarrawonga in the Ovens and Murray where he kicked 190 goals in 50 games, including 2013 when he averaged almost seven goals a game.
Petifer kicked 84 with Kyabram in 19 games during the 2016 season, then better that count by nine goals from 21 games in 2017 before finally cracking the ton with 106 goals from a 20 games 2018 season.
He kicked 62 goals in 2019, then post COVID-19 has kicked 23 (9 games) and 22 last season (from 12 games).
He has five goals from four games to start this season.
The 41-year-old played 113 games and kicked 132 goals for Richmond after he was taken at number nine in the 2000 national draft.
His AFL statistics reflect a more significant interest in disposing of the ball by hand, although his last season contributed to the increase in that percentage.
He finished with 1156 kicks and 353 handballs (1509 disposals and a handball percentage of 23), having a career-best season in front of goals with 37 in 2007. That was after a 31 goals 2006 season.
Pettifer’s career at Kyabram has been in contrast to his time in the AFL, where at one point he played in 14 successive losing games for the Tigers — from round nine in 2003 to round 18 in 2004.
He played in another run of 10 successive losing games in 2004.
In arguably his best season with the Tigers, in 2007, he played in a draw in round 10 against the Lions and a win against Melbourne two weeks later, but surrounding those matches were 15 defeats.
He finished with 41 wins and 71 losses (and a draw), but didn’t play a final.
That is in contrast to his time at Kyabram where in a four season stint he played in more than 60 successive wins.
His last game was round 11 in 2009 and in his last four games he had 86 disposals — interestingly 30 of those (or 34 per cent) were handballs.
