Review 2022 Vs 2023 - Have we improved?

[Psicosis]

Posted this in the Viney thread, but thought it deserved it's own & added some additional data points.

It's obviously been a disastrous year... Clarkson situation, injuries to key players, Clarksons having to change his system, Tarryn off-field issues.

Yet, we sit here with confidence that we have improved. It's not the spike we hoped for, but there are some tangible signs of improvement.

2023:

3 Wins
Percentage increase of 15.7% (Highest our percentage has been since 2019)
Larkey 3rd in Coleman with 71 goals
Larkey All Australian
Sheezel Rising Star
Three Rising Star Nominations in Sheezel, Wardlaw & Ford


2022:

2 Wins
Percentage in the 50's
Larkey & Zurhaar our two highest goal kickers with 38 & 34 respectively, Ziebell & Goldstein our next closest in the teens
Zero All Australians
Zero Rising Star Nominations

Year	100+ Points Losses	50+ Points Losses	45-50 Point Losses	10 & Under Point Losses
2023	0	5	1	5
2022	2	11	4	1

 

[Ashley B]

Yes we have , believe it or not.

 

[apollo_creed]

Inside 50s for and against comparison?

 

[Gasometer]

OOB on the full stats?

 

[toepoker]

For the most part it felt almost equally torturous, but we have undoubtedly improved. Somehow. A bit.

 

[Its a Process]

Agree with AC, to the eye it's looked as though we have improved on other key metrics:

• Inside 50 differential
• Quarters won
• Tackles (felt like this got better as the season wore on)
• Pressure indicators

Clearly an improvement and it could have easily been a 5-6 game winning season which is where i probably had us finishing up.

A full pre-season into - George, LDU, Jy, Powelly and Will could have us bouncing up the ladder next year.

 

[Mav]

Inside 50s for and against comparison?

I50 For have gone up from 43.5 to 46.8

 

[Only Forwards]

Our improvement is undeniable. It is just also incremental.

While it has not been the 6 wins I wanted at the start of the year I have little to no doubt that we are actually through the worst of the dark period.

even with 2 issues being dealt with through the year we handled them better than I think we have handled others and the results of both was positive, Clarko back in the big chair and Thomas playing some of his best footy.

We go to the trade table and to the draft in a position of we're through the worst of it and there are better days ahead.

 

[DuckYeah]

Agree with AC, to the eye it's looked as though we have improved on other key metrics:

• Inside 50 differential
• Quarters won
• Tackles (felt like this got better as the season wore on)
• Pressure indicators

Clearly an improvement and it could have easily been a 5-6 game winning season which is where i probably had us finishing up.

A full pre-season into - George, LDU, Jy, Powelly and Will could have us bouncing up the ladder next year.

Flag?

 

[Its a Process]

Flag?

haha - we can dream.......

Beating Essendon twice would be a nice start....

 

[Fruity33]

Our improvement is undeniable. It is just also incremental.

While it has not been the 6 wins I wanted at the start of the year I have little to no doubt that we are actually through the worst of the dark period.

even with 2 issues being dealt with through the year we handled them better than I think we have handled others and the results of both was positive, Clarko back in the big chair and Thomas playing some of his best footy.

We go to the trade table and to the draft in a position of we're through the worst of it and there are better days ahead.

Almost on the mark there had we not crapped the bed twice against Essendon, the interchange infringement against the Swans, and the loss to the Eagles.

Overall though, agree an incremental improvement.

 

[apollo_creed]

I50 For have gone up from 43.5 to 46.8

Yep, just for a three year comparison:

2021 - For 47.31 - Against 54.81
2022 - For 43.54 - Against 62.68
2023 - For 46.82 - Against 58.39

(ignoring 2020 because of the shortened quarters but in 2019 we actually finished with a positive differential of +19)

So definitely an improvement on last season - and getting back to 2021 levels from an attacking perspective which was generally a positive season despite the finishing position. For all Noble's focus on defense the obvious thing there (and there was improvement after he left so the numbers are slightly skewed) was that we were inviting much more pressure with the way we were playing and as such getting smashed.

They are simple statistics, but they are important ones. Get the ball inside 50 more and you give yourself more opportunities, prevent the ball going inside your inside 50 more and the opposition has less opportunities.

The other thing I perceived throughout the year was that our scoring and inside 50's were much better in the first half that the second. At a guess I'd say at about a ratio of between 55-60 in the first half vs 35-40 in the second half. Fitness is definitely an issue and when we can start running out games better than these numbers will naturally improve.

 

[Liam Boy]

Yes, massively. Out of sight. We could easily have gone winless last year if not for West Coast's black plague outbreak forcing them to field a WAFL side, and Richmond shitting themselves in front of goal vs. individual brilliance from Paul Curtis and Cam Zurhaar. Do not let yourself forget how ******* bad we were under Noble.

There were a few blowout losses, the worst of which was 90 points against Melbourne in a dismal night where everything that could conceivably have gone wrong did go wrong. Compare that to 2022 where we lost 2 games by over 100, and 9 more by over 50. This could easily have been a 5-9 win season for us if a few things had gone differently. Even putting aside the bees dick margins in the Essendon and Sydney games, we were right in the Carlton, St. Kilda, West Coast, and 2nd Essendon games.

The run of 20 losses was worse on paper than any losing streak in 2021 or 2022, but the nature of the losses was totally different and anyone watching closely would have been able to see that, it was more of an anomaly + maybe a between the ears issue late in games.

We're still bad but we've gone from contender for the worst team ever to a regular bottom 4 outfit with a lot of upside. We've made important personnel changes, with Eddie Ford, Miller Bergman, Jackson Archer and Josh Goater going from mostly unproven to game-ready senior performers. We're gotten off relying on over-30s like Aaron Hall

43

Aaron Hall

Age

33

Ht

185cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.0

5star

K

11.8

4star

HB

7.2

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

3.3

5star

MG

268.3

4star

D

14.9

4star

K

8.9

4star

HB

6.0

3star

M

2.3

2star

T

2.6

4star

MG

268.3

4star

D

13.2

4star

K

8.0

3star

HB

5.2

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

3.6

5star

and Jack Ziebell

7

Jack Ziebell

Age

33

Ht

188cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.1

5star

K

12.8

5star

HB

6.3

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

4.6

5star

MG

369.5

5star

D

8.0

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

3.0

2star

M

3.2

3star

T

1.6

3star

MG

125.8

2star

D

16.2

4star

K

11.4

4star

HB

4.8

4star

M

5.2

5star

T

3.0

5star

, and new additions Sheezel, Wardlaw and Logue became locks, with Tucker, Shiels and arguably Howe also being important at times.

 

[Horace]

Well, on wins alone, we have improved by 50%. Three this year versus two last year.

Seriously though, I think there has been some upturn. I think the 20 losses on the trot, after our first two wins, created for me at least, a feeling that I might never see us win another game. Hence the win on Saturday was a joyous event, especially when so many of the young boys who have come in to the team in last year or two, showed some real signs. I think now we have some hope for better times ahead.

20 losses in a row is a horrible situation, however the NMFC have suffered longer losing streaks in the past, as did my old mob Fitzroy.

Of course University heads the list at 51 on the trot. Thank god we never got near that territory!

 

[King Corey]

Good thread Psicosis. It's not worth the analysis time but I'd have been curious how season 2023 compared to 2nd half season 2021.

2022 was a write-off, wheels feel off an almost wheel-less wagon and there was no continuity.

How 2023 compared to our last period of somewhat acceptable form (the aforementioned 2nd half 2021) would've been interesting to know.

 

[Ardent Roo]

I think the reason why we're perhaps a little despondent on 2023 is the anticipation of late 2022 when we had Clarko (pre Hawthorn mess) and Sheezel and Wardlaw signed on. I think after 3yrs of purgatory we felt the wheel was finally going to turn and then the two early wins (by a net 6 points) sort of franked that belief.

But then clearly things have dropped off, primarily due to...

• The form of the senior players, esp. McDonald, Hall, etc.
• Clarko's absence;
• Tarryn's absence;
• The delays to get Wardlaw right;
• Xerri playing 15mins into the first quarter of the first game; and
• Comben's injury.

So I think we've become a bit disillusioned from those heady (for us!) days of late 2022 where there was cause for optimism. But on most objective measures, we have improved for sure in terms of 2023 vs 2022 - no doubt. We were in games for longer during 2023 and with some even luck could have beaten Sydney and * on the way through, and I think 5 wins or so I would have been happy with.

More work to do, I still believe player DEVELOPMENT is as much an issue as is list management. Would like to see as much change (on a % basis) in the coaching group as is to come on the list itself.

 

[Only Forwards]

Good thread Psicosis. It's not worth the analysis time but I'd have been curious how season 2023 compared to 2nd half season 2021.

2022 was a write-off, wheels feel off an almost wheel-less wagon and there was no continuity.

How 2023 compared to our last period of somewhat acceptable form (the aforementioned 2nd half 2021) would've been interesting to know.

the last 11 games of both seasons:

21
W3 L7 D1

Average loss 25 points
average win 19 points (9,10,39)
no 10 goal losses

23
W1 L10

Average loss 28 points
win 35 points
2 10 goal losses

I am not digging any further than that for specific stats like i50s.

Actually the other thing that sticks out is our main ball winner in 21 was Hall, our main ball winner in 23 is Sheez. they were playing probably about the same role.

 

[King Corey]

the last 11 games of both seasons:

21
W3 L7 D1

Average loss 25 points
average win 19 points (9,10,39)
no 10 goal losses

23
W1 L10

Average loss 28 points
win 35 points
2 10 goal losses

I am not digging any further than that for specific stats like i50s.

Actually the other thing that sticks out is our main ball winner in 21 was Hall, our main ball winner in 23 is Sheez. they were playing probably about the same role.

Thanks kind of validates that Noble had somewhat steadied the ship during that period.

There were arguments early 2022 about whether we should approach Clarkson, such was the trust Noble had started to build.

I'm still a bit confused how Noble went from a promising coach (his age was immaterial, he was a rookie coach) end of 2021, carrying a fair bit of positive sentiment as above, to all washed out and finished a few months later.

 

[Only Forwards]

I'm still a bit confused how Noble went from a promising coach (his age was immaterial, he was a rookie coach) end of 2021, carrying a fair bit of positive sentiment as above, to all washed out and finished a few months later

Roos had a hand on the wheel in 21, he was phoning it in in 22.

It was the major thing that changed.

 

[Cyber_punk]

Only missed finals by 8.5 wins

 

[Forever North]

Not quite sure of the exact number but we did cover 'line' on several occasions this season. We played some decent footy and looked more organised than in the previous 3-4 seasons. Looking at 6-7 minimum wins next year.

 

[The acurate one]

Huge improvement and why some folk are s**t scared we’re building a formidable side.

Hopefully our last early bunch of draft picks for sometime.

I see no reason we can’t push the teams outside of the 8 in 2024.

Heck we pushed two finalists.

 

[danj]

Yes

 

[Zondor]

Sure there was a marginal improvement from last season but if truth be told we are still a little behind of where we were at at the end of 2021. :stern look

 

[danj]

Sure there was a marginal improvement from last season but if truth be told we are still a little behind of where we were at at the end of 2021. :stern look

Which truth?