The unbelievable coincidence between 1964 and 2018 Demons

Channel 7’s footy stats man Josh Kay has unearthed an insane stat to celebrate Melbourne’s drought-breaking finals appearance.

The Demons went to Perth and defeated West Coast to all but secure a spot in the eight for the first time since 2006.

The AFL’s longest finals drought will be over and now Melbourne can really give themselves the chance to end the league’s longest premiership drought.

The club hasn’t won a flag since 1964 – and the number had extra relevance this weekend.

As Kay noted on Monday morning, the 22 players who took the field in the red and the blue have tallied up 1964 games in the AFL.

While it doesn’t quite guarantee anything – let alone a flag – for the Dees, it’s another one of those unexpected and heartwarming coincidences that sport likes to throw up.

It would have taken nothing more than 71-game forward Jesse Hogan trying to get through one more match on his sore foot for the 22 to tip over the 1964 mark.

One punter likened it to cricket’s 1977 Centenary Test between Australia and England that was played to mark the 100th anniversary of the first Test match.

The first match was played at the MCG in 1877 and Australia won by 45 runs.

The Centenary Test was played at the MCG in 1977… and Australia won by 45 runs.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin described the win as putting “12 years of misery” behind them.

The Demons will secure a home final if they can beat GWS at the MCG next Sunday, and they could even snare a top-four spot if Collingwood suffer a shock loss to Fremantle.

“Obviously not playing finals for 12 years as a club, we carry a lot of those expectations as a team,” Goodwin said.

“It’s a big step for our football club; a really important one and one (the players) should be proud of.

“I am so happy for our supporters right now.

“They have had 12 years of misery, but now they have a team they can really get in behind and support and build some momentum from here.”

with AAP