Clearance Watch

[Tairy Greene]

Is it the case that that is the quartet which is most effective when played together? If that is so, I think Polks does a lot of work off the ball in terms of both blocking and tackling to give his other midfielders a crack at the pill or to create a second stoppage.

That's the way I read into it. That's why I imagine Lobbe is in there, as he's played less games and probably been playing better than Brogan, his 'percentage' would be higher.

 

[Grimreepah]

If I were to guess, I'd say it's simply best ruckman + 3 best clearance players.

 

[Jorgo]

Nah to me it sounds like they assess the 4 man combinations as a package according to the stats I quoted. Doesn't matter how many games that combination has played by the looks of it when it comes to ranking them.

 

[POBT]

Bump.

We are 15th in terms of differential of clearances between us and our opponent. Our opponent averages 5 more clearances a game than us. Given the 14th placed side (Port) has a differential of -2.8, I think it shows that, across the season, we have been awful in terms of how easily our opponents can dominate the clearances. This is despite us being 5th in average hitouts. Things improve slightly for Centre Bounce Clearances (12th in differential) but we're still closer to the bottom than the top.

But are things looking up? Since the Sydney shellacking, we have recorded the following:


Round 12 v Carlton - Lost clearances by 5, tied CB Clearances

Round 13 v Richmond - Lost clearances by 1, Lost CB Clearances by 3

Round 14 v Freo - Lost clearances by 2, Won CB clearances by 16

Round 15 v Port - Tied both clearances and CB clearances

Round 16 v Hawthorn - Lost clearances by 1, Won CB Clearances by 10.

Round 17 v Geelong - Lost clearances by 11, Lost CB Clearances by 7

Round 18 v North - Won clearances by 7, Lost CB Clearances by 2


Take out the Geelong game and we're now looking competitive at the stoppage situation. A few good wins in this area and, where we've been beaten, it has mostly been marginal. I think this supports what my eyes are telling me - we're improving as a side at the contest which makes us a more competitive unit, even if the 4 points haven't followed.

But, because we're not super-skilled or incredibly quick (or both) we actually need to be better than "break even" in this area. I see no reason why, in the next year or so, we can't be as good at stoppages as a club like Sydney which is leading the league in clearances and is 3rd in terms of average differentials. This, to me, is where we can register the greatest improvement. Guys like Rockliff and Rich aren't going to become Jettas in terms of speed. Players like Redden and Banfield aren't going to start launching 60 metre laser passes. But they all do OK in a contested situation and, with time, I see us taking big steps forward in this area.

The amazing fact is that the Gold Coast is in the top few sides in contested footy stats. Again, this reflects what we see week to week with our own eyes but I find it fascinating that a new side can be this good in an area which is normally dominated by grizzled, experienced onball brigades. I put it down to excellent coaching, natural talent and Ablett!

 

[Last of the Roys]

Yes our clearance work has gotten better over the last 7 weeks. I had thought that myself without even looking at the stats.

However, it could still be significantly improved. We seem to still go through long stretches of the game where we get dominated in that area.

Here is what I think our problems are:
- we too often have all our players flat-footed, with no one trying to run on to the fall of the ball. Time and time again all of the best clearance teams show you must have 1-2 players running through the drop zone (where the ball usually gets tapped down to after the bounce) in order to dominate a clearance situation (think Black, Judd, Cooney, Swallow, Ablett);
- our set ups for the centre-bounce don't appear to be maximising our potential given we have one of the dominant ruckmen in the AFL;
- we are often too concerned about being defensive around clearances when that rarely works - often such players become flat footed and are left behind to be ineffectual in the contest;
- around the ground we more often than not fail to get the same number of players to the clearance contest that the opposition does;
- all around the ground and after the centre contest we fail to get players running for other players for the give-off - so this means we can win the possession but then we often give it straight back;
- we have too many similar paced players in the centre - Black, Power, Rich, Rockliff. I would like to see McGrath and Banfield rotated in there more often.