
I have done a statistical analysis of 2015. I have cherry picked the key stats and it seems we have one major problem we have to fix if we are to improve in 2016. Here's my work.
Getting The Ball- Average to Good
The first important part of footy is getting the ball. We did this well- 3rd in Centre Clearances Average and 2nd in General Clearances. This may be a little skewed because our games had more stoppages than others. We were 7th in Contested Possession Average but our opposition had more contested possessions than us over the course of the season by a small margin.
Marking-Average
Football has two major skills- kicking and catching. Marking stats can be deceptive if you look at total numbers because short kicks to an unmarked player in the back pocket count as much as a pack mark hanger 10 meters out from goal. The key stats are Contested Marks (9th) and Marks Inside 50 (11th). Respectable.
Defensive Actions- Excellent
Key stats here are 1%ers (3rd) and Tackles (2nd). All good here.
Keeping The Ball- Very Poor
After you get the ball, you have to move the ball. Our Disposal Efficiency ranked 15th (no surprise Hawthorn were first by a couple percent). Our stats here are even worse when you consider there was an emphasis on this last pre-season and when you consider our defenders mostly had above average Disposal Efficiency when compared to defenders at other clubs. This probably means two things:
1. Our defenders played it too safe and did not move the ball on quickly enough and
2. Our forwards and midfielders can't kick or at least were close to the worst kicks in the comp in 2015.
What To Do
We have tried to fix our disposal efficiency by putting our best kicks (Hartlett and Krakauer) in the backlines. But this is in fact the area of the ground where these players are getting less value for their kicks. It's time to move our elite kicks further up the ground as more attacking options. I know I've said this before but how many great kicks can you recall from Hartlett in the back half of the ground. Up forward its a different thing.
Getting The Ball- Average to Good
The first important part of footy is getting the ball. We did this well- 3rd in Centre Clearances Average and 2nd in General Clearances. This may be a little skewed because our games had more stoppages than others. We were 7th in Contested Possession Average but our opposition had more contested possessions than us over the course of the season by a small margin.
Marking-Average
Football has two major skills- kicking and catching. Marking stats can be deceptive if you look at total numbers because short kicks to an unmarked player in the back pocket count as much as a pack mark hanger 10 meters out from goal. The key stats are Contested Marks (9th) and Marks Inside 50 (11th). Respectable.
Defensive Actions- Excellent
Key stats here are 1%ers (3rd) and Tackles (2nd). All good here.
Keeping The Ball- Very Poor
After you get the ball, you have to move the ball. Our Disposal Efficiency ranked 15th (no surprise Hawthorn were first by a couple percent). Our stats here are even worse when you consider there was an emphasis on this last pre-season and when you consider our defenders mostly had above average Disposal Efficiency when compared to defenders at other clubs. This probably means two things:
1. Our defenders played it too safe and did not move the ball on quickly enough and
2. Our forwards and midfielders can't kick or at least were close to the worst kicks in the comp in 2015.
What To Do
We have tried to fix our disposal efficiency by putting our best kicks (Hartlett and Krakauer) in the backlines. But this is in fact the area of the ground where these players are getting less value for their kicks. It's time to move our elite kicks further up the ground as more attacking options. I know I've said this before but how many great kicks can you recall from Hartlett in the back half of the ground. Up forward its a different thing.