Review Round 19 - Sydney Swans vs Essendon - Match Discussion Thread

[swansfan51]

I am a bit confused as to what constitutes an efficient disposal in the eyes of the stats people.

<40m with player retaining possession, >40m to a 50/50 contest or better

 

[MF]

I am a bit confused as to what constitutes an efficient disposal in the eyes of the stats people. Often a player gets a high efficiency rating and he sprayed the ball all over the place and his handball gives have been poor but somehow mopped up by team-mates. Last week Mal got a pretty good rating and I thought his delivery was quite poor. He gave away three goals due to poor kick ins. I think the stats on efficiency are subjective and the person who does the stats might not necessarily know a hell of a lot about the game. They just get paid to do stats. Years ago all the stats people were fans and had good background in Aussie Rules. Today it is a job and probably more about how efficient they are on computer.

It's a very clearly defined system that isn't really open to the interpretation of the statistician with the possible exception of distances.

Whether the system is sound or not is another story.

 

[Tuco]

I thought Pyke played very well so don't take this as a knock on him..

Firstly Im not really a stat person and I do know my footy a little bit, but I have been getting into stats a bit this year, more just out of interest and watching how they work its interesting and you would have to be very naive to think they don't help especially when you read them in context backed with a little football knowledge.

I say this because I got bagged by a few on here by those saying "I don't need stats I know my football"..

Sure that's fine me neither but don't dismiss stats altogether as they can be totally relevant and interesting on a football discussion forum.

As for your post above that I did enjoy..

Pyke 49 hit outs.

Bellchambers, Ryder, Goddard, Myers, Hocking 45 hit outs.

Well firstly, Bellchambers and Ryder had 41 between them Pyke and Tippett had 51 so a couple of other Swans had a couple too.

But its the hits to advantage that Pyke usually does very well in and he did again last night with 49 (29% to adv)
Tippett had 3 (0% to adv) our team had a total 54 (26% to adv)

Essendon had 45 (40% to adv) Ryder 28(32% to adv) Bellchambers 13 (62% to adv)

Now reading other stats, we were beaten in the clearences 47-40, , beaten in the tackles, beaten in pressure acts..

Sorry for long rant but just putting a little perspective in your ruck stats can we relate them to being beaten in the clearance stats or is it more as Wolftone suggests above, the set ups?

Im sure you wont take it the wrong way, yes we got the win and that's what matters the most but it was far from convincing.

Interesting question, Baja.

Quality midfielders adapt very quickly to opposition ruckmen. Hawks were devastating in this area. And the bombers were no slouches. Not sure how many Heppell had, but I saw him reading Pyke very well and he sharked first touch quite a few times.

But a key factor which gets missed in the clearance stats is the blocking off the ball at the centre - which is all about the setups. Clearances often come from those inches of room the mids create around the ball. Dons did that very well at times and those hitout to advantage stats certainly ring true from my read watching in the stands. Teams with designated ball users usually are excellent in that area. And the bombers have had plenty of practice finding avenues for Watson and co.

I think Ruckmen cop abuse for not controlling the centre. But clearances are a shared stat weighted a little harshly against the big men. Often it's the midfielders to blame for not clearing the ball. What I saw all night was Pyke doing excellent body work, taking front position to negate Ryder's athleticism etc. But our mids didn't do as well as they might have on capitalising.

 

[The King!]

Michael hurley and that s**t fecking hair cut on game day

 

[Tuco]

This is a bit of a tangent, but I think the midfield has been a bit down overall since the Port game (not talking about centre clearances specifically, but just possession numbers and goal output in general), I don't know if it's the second half of 2013 revisited, but my gut feeling is that our midfield, while still strong, has come back to the pack a bit since 2012 when we relied a lot on our midfielders to kick goals. I always felt it was going to be difficult for them to replicate what they did in 2012, hence the need to strengthen our forward line with Tippett and Buddy. I still rate our midfield as they can still mix it with the best, I know they won't give up in their quest to win another flag.

Hannas.