With a bit more effort, more forward entries, kicking straighter, and giving Pav some respite... and Zac Dawson in we could've won the game.
And then this little stat would never have been dug up and would be used to show how well the team used the ball or how great the disposal under pressure was or how well we lead, ran, and found targets.
Redundant stat.
It probably is a redundant stat, yes - the thought occurred to me.
I'm not saying run and carry is necessary to win - I'm saying it's gone missing from our game and I'm hoping that's a deliberate decision by the brains trust.
As a general rule of thumb I believe the more predictable we are, the easier we are to play against. I also believe that the aspects of your game that you don't pay attention to, are often the same ones that bite you in the arse later on.
There's been a lot of talk on the boards about Freo's turnovers and people are advocating dropping otherwise-promising young players due to their clanger count / poor disposal. If you can run and carry for 30 - 50 meters then handpass/chip kick, then that's a higher percentage disposal. It also means that you're creating holes in the opponents zone; sometimes a lack of carry and bounce is an indicator of their being a lack of space to run through, which can indicate a ball movement/ positioning problem, or it can mean that the opposition is spreading their presence across the field better than you, forcing you into longer kicks which is often a lower percentage option over the course of the game - especially when the other team has high closing speed all over the ground like Port do.
Maybe we are carrying the ball less as a strategic decision to accommodate the amount of transitional running the whole team does. If so, then fine - but if it's an unintentional habit that's crept into our game that might potentially hurt us over time, or if it might be a symptom of a bigger problem, then it should be brought front and centre and dealt with.