Round 5 Rewind: Nathan Bock sets all-time bounce record against the Demons in 2009
You won’t find many highlights of Adelaide’s win over Melbourne in Round 5, 2009 and rightly so. But the game will be remembered for Nathan Bock’s extraordinary individual feat. That and more in our Round 5 rewind.
You won’t find many highlights of Adelaide’s win over Melbourne in Round 5, 2009 and rightly so.
But the game will be remembered for one extraordinary individual feat.
On a cold, blustery Sunday afternoon at the MCG, with this side winning an error-riddled, dour affair by 17 points in front of just 14,129 fans, Nathan Bock set the all-time record for running bounces.
The Crows may have only had 16 scoring shots, for seven goals, but the rebounding defender bounced the ball on the deck 20 times.
And, in an astonishing stat, 15 of those were recorded in the first quarter, with Bock, Simon Goodwin and Andy Otten amassing 31 disposals between them across halfback in the opening term.
Melbourne, through Aaron Davey (5), Brent Moloney (3), Clint Bartram (2) and Colin Sylvia (1), had just 11 for the match.
And there was 28 players on the ground that day who had less than 20 disposals, let alone enough time with the ball in their hand to have 20 bounces.
The former Woodville-West Torrens junior finished with 26 touches, 24 uncontested possessions, 12 marks and 116 SuperCoach points on the record-breaking day.
Bock, who left West Lakes to become an inaugural Gold Coast Sun at the end of 2010, had 54 bounces in total from 14 games in 2009.
He had 66 in his All-Australian and Club Champion year of 2008 and 254 across his 140-game career.
But he only reached double figures on three occasions, with his next-highest tally of 12 coming against the Crows in his first year at the Suns in 2011.
The record stayed with Bock as he headed north, too, with the Suns’ vice-captain hosting his own weekly video segment on the club’s website titled “Bocky’s Bounce”.
Sure, running bounces might not be a match-defining – or career-defining – stat, but, with Giant Heath Shaw in the twilight of his career, it looks likely to be a record Bock holds for a while longer yet.
ROUND 5 SUPERCOACH REWIND
The best individual performances from each fixture of the original Round 5 AFL fixture.
Adelaide v Essendon
Ben Howlett – 165 points
Round 1, 2013
Disposals: 25
Uncontested Possessions: 16
Score Involvements: 10
Goals: 4
Tackles: 6
West Coast v Richmond
Jack Riewoldt – 198 points
Round 12, 2010
Disposals: 19
Marks: 9
Contested Marks: 7
Score Involvements: 13
Goals: 10
Collingwood v Port Adelaide
Dayne Beams – 178 points
Round 20, 2011
Disposals: 32
Uncontested Possessions: 19
Clearances: 5
Score Involvements: 13
Goals: 3
Gold Coast v Melbourne
Harley Bennell – 193 points
Round 19, 2012
Disposals: 38
Uncontested Possessions: 24
Clearances: 4
Score Involvements: 10
Goals: 4
Western Bulldogs v Brisbane
Adam Cooney – 173 points
Round 12, 2008
Disposals: 37
Contested Possessions: 17
Clearances: 7
Score Involvements: 10
Tackles: 7
Sydney v GWS
Heath Shaw – 165 points
Round 21, 2015
Disposals: 32
Uncontested Possessions: 14
Marks: 5
Intercept Possessions: 15
Intercept Marks: 4
North Melbourne v Fremantle
Nat Fyfe – 163 points
Round 10, 2018
Disposals: 31
Contested Possessions: 24
Clearances : 8
Score Involvements: 9
Tackles: 8
Hawthorn v Carlton
Tom Mitchell – 192 points
Round 18, 2018
Disposals: 46
Contested Possessions: 16
Clearances: 6
Score Involvements: 12
Tackles: 9
Geelong v St Kilda
Lenny Hayes – 173 points
Round 14, 2009
Disposals: 32
Disposal Efficiency: 81%
Contested Possessions: 17
Clearances: 13
Tackles: 8
Originally published as Round 5 Rewind: Nathan Bock sets all-time bounce record against the Demons in 2009