Analysis Centre Bounce/Wing Attendance Megathread 2025

[ZoBlitz]

Berry-Ashcroft-Bailey wing setup again with Ah Chee doing some defensive winger work late in quarters again.

Some dominant clearance work out of the centre and just generally around the ground. As mentioned on the coverage, Neale had more clearances in the third quarter than the whole Suns side combined which is fairly ridiculous.

 

[Section 5]

Excellent information as usual.
Thanks for your time in doing this as it is a manual process
Each time i read the wing stats i have to remember to adjust my thinking as i am on the opposite side of the broadcast angle you work off.

Oscar forced with 100% CBA with Day missing.
I suspect they did not want to risk Hippy in that center square part of the ground.
Dunkley back to his usual high CBA with having the job on Rowell.
That resulted on a drop for Will compared to last week, not that it affected his overall game.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Excellent information as usual.
Thanks for your time in doing this as it is a manual process
Each time i read the wing stats i have to remember to adjust my thinking as i am on the opposite side of the broadcast angle you work off.

Oscar forced with 100% CBA with Day missing.
I suspect they did not want to risk Hippy in that center square part of the ground.
Dunkley back to his usual high CBA with having the job on Rowell.
That resulted on a drop for Will compared to last week, not that it affected his overall game.

Interesting to note Oscar's game time was only 87%. Makes me wonder if there were any instances where a goal was kicked while he was taking a break, and we had to "burn" an interchange to get him back out on the ground. Or maybe we just got lucky with the timings of goals etc.

We only used 65 of our 75 quota anyway so we had plenty up our sleeve. Maybe this was partly for that reason.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Interesting one to unpick here. We started with the usual L.Ashcroft-Berry-Bailey wing structure and once Berry was subbed off, Gardiner took over his position on the wing for the second quarter which I'm sure was a new experience for Darcy. After half time we moved Fletcher onto the wing from defence to replace Gardiner who I assume took his role. In the last quarter we shifted Cal onto the wing, beyond his usual defensive wing roles late in quarters. Cal seemed to take Bailey's wing attendances as he got a few CBAs in the last quarter where I assume he was replacing Lachie who spent some time forward.

Happy to be corrected on any of that!

Also found it interesting that Fort took more central ruck contests in the last, perhaps as a reaction to Oscar seeming to struggle with Xerri, not that it helped particularly.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Interesting one to unpick here. We started with the usual L.Ashcroft-Berry-Bailey wing structure and once Berry was subbed off, Gardiner took over his position on the wing for the second quarter which I'm sure was a new experience for Darcy. After half time we moved Fletcher onto the wing from defence to replace Gardiner who I assume took his role. In the last quarter we shifted Cal onto the wing, beyond his usual defensive wing roles late in quarters. Cal seemed to take Bailey's wing attendances as he got a few CBAs in the last quarter where I assume he was replacing Lachie who spent some time forward.

Happy to be corrected on any of that!

Also found it interesting that Fort took more central ruck contests in the last, perhaps as a reaction to Oscar seeming to struggle with Xerri, not that it helped particularly.

View attachment 2312014
View attachment 2312015

These are always great but especially useful insights this week. Cheers!

 

[ZoBlitz]

A little boring this week in comparison to all the changes last week. With Berry missing a week, Jaspa moves up to take his wing role as Kiddy comes in to replace Jaspa in defence. Hippy has his first CBAs of his career, I believe.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Nothing too radical this week, with Gardiner having a couple of defensive wing attendances late in the quarter.

Considering some of our clearances performances this season, I was interested in how our midfield was performing against the rest of the AFL and our four main inside midfielders are all ranked inside the top 20 for total clearances (Josh Dunkley

5

Josh Dunkley

Age

29

Ht

191cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.8

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

11.3

5star

M

4.3

4star

T

5.8

5star

CL

3.2

5star

D

20.7

5star

K

7.0

3star

HB

13.7

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

5.3

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

14.2

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

7.0

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

4.0

5star

CL

1.4

4star

66, Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

32

Ht

177cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.0

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

15.5

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.7

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

28.3

5star

K

13.9

5star

HB

14.4

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

CL

0.4

3star

66, Will Ashcroft 64, Hugh McCluggage

6

Hugh Mccluggage

Age

28

Ht

187cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.3

5star

K

11.4

4star

HB

7.9

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.0

5star

CL

2.2

4star

D

19.0

4star

K

12.0

5star

HB

7.0

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.9

4star

CL

2.0

4star

D

13.2

4star

K

7.8

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

4.2

4star

T

1.8

4star

CL

0.6

3star

63). If you include ruckmen, Carlton are next best with their top four clearances players all ranked in the top 30. And after that it goes back into the 40s for the other sides.

 

[Section 5]

Only 5 CBAs for Eric and 6 the week before.
Eric attended 13 ruck contests v Hawks.

However, his short stints in the ruck have affected his forward performance in my opinion.

Dunkley (4), Morris (3) and Gardiner (2) did some around the ground ruck contests.
Maybe they could do some CBAs. It looks like 1 each would help reduce Erics time around the ground as ruck
Seeing we have lots of midfielders Dunkley would be my choice for a definite increase.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Nothing too different this week. Very boring!

 

[Grasshopper17]

Nothing too different this week. Very boring!

View attachment 2328845
View attachment 2328846

Interesting how we used Gardiner as the end-of-quarter spare man against Hawthorn but reverted to Ah Chee against Essendon.

I must say I think on balance I probably prefer Ah Chee in that role.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Most interesting thing this week is Darcy Fort

32

Darcy Fort

Age

32

Ht

204cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

8.6

2star

K

5.8

2star

HB

2.9

3star

CL

2.9

4star

HO

17.8

5star

D

9.2

2star

K

6.0

2star

HB

3.2

2star

CL

3.6

4star

HO

21.2

5star

D

7.6

2star

K

5.4

2star

HB

2.2

2star

CL

2.2

4star

HO

15.6

5star

powering through with all but one of the central ruck contests. Darcy Fort

32

Darcy Fort

Age

32

Ht

204cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

8.6

2star

K

5.8

2star

HB

2.9

3star

CL

2.9

4star

HO

17.8

5star

D

9.2

2star

K

6.0

2star

HB

3.2

2star

CL

3.6

4star

HO

21.2

5star

D

7.6

2star

K

5.4

2star

HB

2.2

2star

CL

2.2

4star

HO

15.6

5star

's 89% time on ground was his highest percentage since he played against us for Geelong in 2020 (90%). And with the shorter quarters it would have worked out to be less time in absolute terms.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Well that was more annoying then it needed to be due to the goal-to-goal shots and I've made an educated guess on a couple.

Starcevich's return has pushed Fletcher back into the wing and Berry back forward with some occasional CBAs. Starcevich celebrated his return by having a wing attendance, his first since a random one off against the Bulldogs back in early 2023. I'm assuming confusion after Payne's injury led to Zorko taking a wing attendance as well.

Sam Day

14

Sam Day

Age

33

Ht

196cm

Wt

106kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.8

2star

K

5.2

2star

HB

4.6

3star

M

3.5

4star

T

1.8

4star

G

0.7

4star

D

8.0

2star

K

3.6

1star

HB

4.4

3star

M

1.9

2star

T

1.5

2star

G

0.9

4star

D

8.6

3star

K

3.2

2star

HB

5.4

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

0.8

3star

G

0.2

3star

came in as a the chop-out ruck and apart from Bailey getting a little more time in the middle, the other interesting changes were reduced time in the middle for Dunkley after the first quarter and Berry getting a couple of CBAs in the last quarter.

 

[Elitek]

Well that was more annoying then it needed to be due to the goal-to-goal shots and I've made an educated guess on a couple.

Starcevich's return has pushed Fletcher back into the wing and Berry back forward with some occasional CBAs. Starcevich celebrated his return by having a wing attendance, his first since a random one off against the Bulldogs back in early 2023. I'm assuming confusion after Payne's injury led to Zorko taking a wing attendance as well.

Sam Day came in as a the chop-out ruck and apart from Bailey getting a little more time in the middle, the other interesting changes were reduced time in the middle for Dunkley after the first quarter and Berry getting a couple of CBAs in the last quarter.

View attachment 2345178
View attachment 2345179

Payne's injury caused the shift in CBAs for Dunkley & Berry. Hipwood moved back so Dunks was pushed fwd to keep their key fwds more accountable, Berry went in late to curtail Green & Callaghan who were destroying us in that last qtr.

 

[Section 5]

Well that was more annoying then it needed to be due to the goal-to-goal shots and I've made an educated guess on a couple.

Starcevich's return has pushed Fletcher back into the wing and Berry back forward with some occasional CBAs. Starcevich celebrated his return by having a wing attendance, his first since a random one off against the Bulldogs back in early 2023. I'm assuming confusion after Payne's injury led to Zorko taking a wing attendance as well.

Sam Day came in as a the chop-out ruck and apart from Bailey getting a little more time in the middle, the other interesting changes were reduced time in the middle for Dunkley after the first quarter and Berry getting a couple of CBAs in the last quarter.

View attachment 2345178
View attachment 2345179

This is why you are paid the big bucks. Thanks again for the work.
One injury to a key back and things change a lot.

Day had a very good return especially structure wise but i wonder if he missed one more week, we would have been better off v GWS.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Nice simple one this week. Jaspa moves back with Gardiner being a late out and Bailey moves back onto the wing.

 

[HereIGoAgain]

So nearly all of Rayner's CBA's were in the first half. I wonder if early involvement flicked the switch with him last night.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Usual wing setup and with Dunkley spending more time forward, Hugh and Will had some more time in the middle.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Usual wing setup and with Dunkley spending more time forward, Hugh and Will had some more time in the middle.

View attachment 2361494
View attachment 2361495

A column at the end with season average would be interesting

 

[Section 5]

Not bad from Rayner. 8 CBAs for 3 center and 2 stoppage.

That's one more center clearance than Neale and 1 less than McCluggage.

 

[ZoBlitz]

A column at the end with season average would be interesting

Good idea, I might do up a new table for this when I get a chance for the wing attendances.

If anyone is interested in the averages for CBAs, they have been done by others here.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Similar routine as previous weeks with the addition of a 63/37 split in the ruck between McInerney/Fort.

 

[Section 5]

Good idea, I might do up a new table for this when I get a chance for the wing attendances.

If anyone is interested in the averages for CBAs, they have been done by others here.

I used to use this site regularly for CBAs and other things.
From round 1 this year my antivirus warned me not to proceed and blocked it.
I retried every few weeks to see if it was okay.
This is the first time my antivirus did not give a warning so that's good.

I liked their player heat maps but fanfooty now has them for easy looking during the game and after.
Just place your curser over the player and heat map appears

Our Blues game link for those that have not used fanfooty before

Matchcentre

www.fanfooty.com.au

 

[briztoon]

I used to use this site regularly for CBAs and other things.
From round 1 this year my antivirus warned me not to proceed and blocked it.
I retried every few weeks to see if it was okay.
This is the first time my antivirus did not give a warning so that's good.

I liked their player heat maps but fanfooty now has them for easy looking during the game and after.
Just place your curser over the player and heat map appears

Our Blues game link for those that have not used fanfooty before

Matchcentre

www.fanfooty.com.au

What type of virus would be hidden in such a site?

 

[ZoBlitz]

I was going to write up a post about possible wing changes with Bailey out before the game but when I saw the team sheet I thought the change would just be Marshall or Reville replacing Bailey with the other one being the sub. I didn't have as much of a problem with Reville starting over Marshall as some seemed to, although I think Marshall showed enough to have first dibs on a wing role next time (and I think he'll end up being the sub this week with Bailey's return).

One interesting thing I found with the wingers this week was that the Bulldogs were usually playing one of theirs off the defensive square (as far as I could tell at least) rather than playing man-on-man. Not sure whether that influenced their movement at all.

Also big props to the director this week who completely missed at least two or three centre bounces by going too long on replays and got close a few other times.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Well, it's definitely quicker to do this when you're not enjoying your own team's goals.

So with Conor McKenna getting subbed out (and who was playing forward), Sam Marshall came on and basically played the whole time on the wing. For the third quarter Marshall took Berry's role as he played inside (I assume he was tagging someone but I can't be bothered going back and check). Berry took some CBAs from McCluggage and Dunkley who I guess had more time forward.

In the fourth quarter Levi gets a run in the middle, maybe in the sense that as we weren't going to win, we might as well use the opportunity to give Levi some experience on the inside. Berry goes back on the wing to replace Levi.

This would have been an interesting investigation if we weren't getting belted...