I scraped the age data from footywire to do the 3 player swap comparison you created (The difference comes down to decimals versus whole numbers). It was a quick, low-effort demonstration that showed how the team went from older to younger using the changes you listed.
Yes, I know Faull and Armstrong are the same age. That is the point. It took swapping just two players of different ages to move our average age from higher than ports to lower. That is exactly why average age is a terrible metric. It is too easily skewed by outliers like Boak and tells you nothing meaningful about a list.
And thank you for pointing out that players get a year older each year. That applies equally to every side, so it adds zero.
We have not even made delistings yet. Port’s delistings are skewed old, and they will still carry more 27+ players than we will next season.
Kane wasn’t picked start of season because of a preseason injury, and then he didn’t play after another about 2-3 weeks into vfl season when he got injured again and delayed him being picked.
Yes, our B&F finishes skew older because our current best players are in the 25 to 30 bracket. But our best potential players are under 20 and have been cursed by injury. Port’s best players, the likes of Rozee, Butters, Georgiades and JHF, are already 22 to 25. That’s why they’ll skew younger.
So the bottom line average age is a lazy number that collapses under the weight of basic statistical reasoning. If you want to talk about list profiles properly, you need more than birthdays and a calendar.
Anyway to borrow from Lacustrus I’m done responding. Feel free to get the last word in.
