Media Serial Stats: S30 List Assessment and Posting Stats - Midseason Snapshot

[serial_thrilla]

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Hello and welcome all to the mid-season snapshot of the match thread activity for each of the Sweet FA teams. With WaynesWorld19 having departed us, I have taken on the burden of compiling this data and presenting it to for your pleasure.

With this being only a mid-season snapshot, I am not going to focus on trends compared to last season - but merely comparing teams based on the previous 8 weeks. The follow-up to this analysis at the end of the season will go into a lot more detail...assuming I can get the previous raw data off Wayne (EDIT: Wayne has kindly transferred me the spreadsheets).

The usual caveat applies here, where it's stated that this data is purely a measure of quantity...not quality. These numbers are however a good indicator of the health of the league, and may give us an indication of which clubs are in greater need of new posters going forward for the good of the league.

As a reference, here are the previous articles authored by Wayne and Ant Bear:
Season 24 Analysis
Season 25 Analysis
Season 26 Analysis
Season 27 Analysis
Season 28 Analysis
Season 29 Analysis

So let's get straight into it:





As has been discussed at length this season already, the three most active teams in match threads in S30 so far are the Bombers, Dragons and Bears. There is then a large gap down to the Roys, followed by the Hawk and Royals; and with the six least active teams all reasonably similar.

Looking at the average posters per week, the stand out achievement is the Royals with more average posters than positions on the field! The Dragons, Bears and Roys have benefitted greatly from off-season recruitment, and also have over 18 posters a week. There is some concern about the Warriors, Gumbies and Wonders though: with an average of less than 15 posters per week.

On the bright side though, all teams have managed to have over 20 players post in match threads this season. Even though they're not all posting every week, this is a wonderful indicator of the strength of the league this season.



Not only do these charts reinforce how active the Dragons, Bombers, Bears and Roys have been this season, but those of you will recall that in Season 28 there were teams that failed to post 100 times in a match thread on occasion. Whereas now, teams are generally producing 300+ posts each match thread, with a fair proportion exceeding 600! For those of you with a defensive mindset: the Demons are the only team that have managed to "restrict" the Bombers to less than 900 posts (R8)!



Now this is an interesting data set. It shows the number of posters at each club, broken down into categories of >x number of posts per week. Depending on what you consider to be an acceptable number to be "active" you can rank the clubs, you can put greater emphasis on a particular table. The Dragons top all three tables, and the Warriors are at the bottom - but it is curious to see some movement from some of the other sides. Take for instance the Roys: they have the equal fourth most posters with an average of of 5+ posts per week, but only the ninth most posters with an average of 20+ posts per week - whilst the Bears trend the other way: they only have the eighth most posters with 5+ posts per week, but the fourth most with 20+ per week.



In yellow we have tables that show how dominant teams are in match threads, and the ever contentious "match thread wins" category. Ideally a good match thread sees both sides post in equal amounts throughout the week, as they engage and interact with each other leading up to the Sunday game. However some times teams are forced to chat among themselves if their opponents are inactive or a little inwardly focused. Given that all sides have not played each other yet, there is not a whole lot to take out of this at the midpoint of the season, although there are close similarities already with overall posting numbers. The most intriguing part of these two tables are that the Bombers "lost" a match thread for the first time in many season - during their R3 slogathon against the Dragons.

The third table is a lot more interesting though: it shows percentage of each teams' match thread posts contributed by the top 5 posters at each club. Obviously the lower the number the better for this figure, as it shows less of a reliance on a handful of posters. The huge red flag here are the Warriors: where their top five posters generate over 84% of the Warriors' match thread posts!



The tables in green also give a good indication of the spread of posting numbers across a team's squad. In a perfect word a team will have 20 posters each providing 5% of their team's posts - so the middle table is a very good one to measure club posting health. The Royals (10) are the standout club using this metric, but most of the other clubs have good numbers with 7-9 posters providing 5+% of their team's posts. The only concerns are the Wonders and the Warriors, both with only 5 posters in this category. What is even more concerning is that these same two clubs are also at the bottom of the left table, with only 8-9 posters with over 2% of their teams' overall contribution.


Here's a couple of bonus tables for guero and Barrybran to nerd over.



Over the next two posts I will have a closer look at each club's posting performance over the first eight rounds:

 

[serial_thrilla]

IN: miggs (Royals), Kilroy (rookie), OhhhhhCyril (rookie), MITS (rookie), rocker_oz33 (rookie), SammaGilberto (rookie), kickthething (rookie).

OUT: Norma Lee Ava (Furies), Riviat (Gumbies), Shermy (Hawks) , SC Fish (delisted) , Windows1 (delisted) , I bleed Blue (delisted), WaynesWorld19 (delisted).

*note: Hai_Newman has been added to their list at the commencement of Round 9.


Kicking off for the individual club analysis are the Baghdad Bombers. With 9337 posts over the first eight rounds, the Bombers are once again the team with the most match thread activity. They have an even spread of posters, with eight of them providing over 5% of their total, and thirteen providing over 2% of their total. They generally dominate their match threads, with over 60% of the weekly posts - and have only once been "beaten" in a match thread.

New rookies Kilroy (1273), MITS (470) and kickthething (405) have all been successful additions and are all very active, whilst recruit miggs appears to be reinvigorated at his new home with 203 posts already - compared to 83 for the entirety of last season with the Royals. This appears to have more than offset the losses of Riviat (466 this season), Norma Lee Ava (439) and Shermy (58) over the off-season.

In another positive sign, only two of their players have not posted in a match thread this season: a feat only matched by the Royals.

On the flip side, the big question mark is how they will perform with the loss of their captain WaynesWorld19 - who was averaging 164 posts per week prior to his departure in Round 5. A couple of their rookies (OhhhhhCyril, rocker_oz33) appear to have been failed recruits.

Their activity in Round 8 against the Demons also saw them drop below 1000 match thread posts for the first time this season and only had 13 posters contribute, which is the lowest since Round 14 in S28. This lull appears to have coincided with a drop off in activity from some of their senior players such as KohPhi, Pugsley and TheCoach16. New coach Antonio BlueVein will be hoping to reinvigorate some of his old guard in the back end of the season.

IN: FootyGuy13 (rookie), chelseacarlton (rookie).

OUT: Wooshette (retired), kdavva74 (retired), Square Peg (delisted).

The Warriors. On face value things appear to have taken a turn for the worse for the Warriors this season. But perhaps this was merely a correction to an overperformance in Season 29? Over the last four seasons they have averaged 182 p/w (S27), 160 p/w (S28), 601 p/w (S29) and now 402 p/w (R1-8, S30). And of those 199 posts a week they have lost since last season, half of them can be attributed to retired players Wooshette (67 p/w in S29) and kdavva74 (32 p/w in S29). So not great news for TheInjuryFactory and his LG, but probably not a disaster by any stretch.

They are certainly at the back of the pack for activity though. They've posted 3217 times in match threads over the first eight rounds (12th) with an average of 13.0 posters a week (12th). They produce 41.60% of posts in their match threads (12th) and have a single thread "win" (11th) against the Wonders. They've exceeded 600 posts in a match thread only once (vs. the Bombers).

Despite this, I'd be more concerned about their depth. They are very reliant on their top 5 posters, who contribute 84.08% of their match thread posts (the highest % in the league), and only have nine posters averaging more than 5 (or 10) per week (12th on both counts) plus only six posters averaging more than 20 posts (11th); with one of those being the now-retired kdavva74. More worryingly, even with their low numbers they still only have eight posters with more than 2% of their match thread posts (12th) and five with more than 5% of their match thread posts (11th).

What is painfully clear here is that TIF needs more troops to support the Big Warrior 5 of himself (67.5 p/w), Tonga Bob (102 p/w), NaturalDisaster (78.8 p/w), harry00 (50.3 p/w) and Doctor Colossus (39.5 p/w). They have Dinsdale, BEEG and zackah all chipping in with 10-20 posts each week, but all three are well down on their S29 numbers and there's not much in the shed after that. The disappearance of RelaxMax (36 p/w in S29) and Freofalcon (17 p/w in S29) does not help. The two Warrior rookies chelseacarlton and FootyGuy13 are turning up most weeks, which is promising, but TiF will be wanting a big off-season to keep building his squad. 14 players out of a squad of 26 with less than 10 posts after eight rounds is not a great look.

OUT: cats2rise (Gumbies), The Jesus (Hawks), Finbar19 (delisted).

IN: Dero (Gumbies), jmoo wan (Gumbies), Toump Ass (rookie).

The Demons this season is an interesting one. They ranked second for activity last season, and for three or four seasons have generally considered to have the most balanced and talented list. Last season they averaged 771.65 posts per week (2nd) from an average of 19.13 posters (1st). This season they are averaging 486.25 p/w (8th) from an average of 16.14 posters (8th). That is a decline in match thread posting by 36%, and with three less posters contributing on average!

In the off-season they lost The Jesus (46 p/w in S29) and cats2rise (8 p/w in S29), and replaced them with Dero (27.1 p/w), jmoo wan (10.5 p/w) and quiet rookie Toump Ass (0.9 p/w) - so a near enough a net breakeven. So which of their existing posters have dropped off the pace then? The biggest reductions are from Proper Gander (from 83 to 20 p/w), Tarkyn_24 (from 89 to 42.5 p/w), Headless (from 61 to 25 p/w), Yakker (from 60 to 25 p/w), skipper manangatang (from 81 to 52 p/w) and Callums_Guns (from 126 to 103 p/w). All six of them were in the top seven posters for the Demons in S29; for the record the one Demon top seven poster to maintain his output was...the ever reliable cooney (from 75 to 76 p/w)! The saving grace from this is that none of these posters have disappeared, but merely reduced to a more moderate level of posting. The concern is that they have no up-and-comers to fill the breach.

So what of the S30 list itself in isolation? It's actually fairly good viewing. 13 posters averaging over ten posts a week (4th) and 10 with over twenty (4th). 13 posters with over 2% of the team's match thread posts (3rd) and 8 with over 5% (4th), whilst their top 5 posters contribute a reasonable 63.63% of their total output (7th lowest). Their only worry would probably be the level of inactivity from the lower half of of the Demons list: with four inactives and another eight with less than ten match thread posts for the season.

So in summary they have had a big drop in posting levels compared to last season, but the Demons still have a well balanced side with a good number of active contributors.

IN: Ashman OG (returning), Matt_352 (returning), Stoods (returning) , T2B_ (rookie), Bradesmaen (rookie), MC Bad Genius (rookie), VandoHawk (rookie), Gosaints12 (rookie).

OUT: Pea Nut (delisted), Bluella (delisted), mistylake (delisted), The Kingslayer (delisted), Scorpus (delisted), Jatz (delisted).

Another of the big improvers of Season 30, the Dragons have the second highest number of posts (8328) of all teams this season and are yet to be "defeated" in a match thread. Like the Roys, they are forecast to surpass their final S29 posting number (8651) in Round 9. They have the second highest number of match thread posters each week (19.29) and have dominated match threads with 56.95% of the posts. In Round 3 they even managed to exceed 2000 match thread posts in the memorable match thread with the Bombers. Their list is also very well balanced, with 20 posters averaging 5+ posts a week (1st), 19 averaging 10+ posts a week (1st) and 14 averaging 20+ posts a week (1st). They are also not too top-heavy, with only three posters contributing more than 10% of their posts (3rd least) and their top 5 posters 59.04% of the team's total (3rd least).

The secret to their success? Their recruits. The six Dragons delisted at the end of S29 had combined for a total of 0 posts, whilst the eight new Dragons this season have so far combined for 3799 posts! Now that's good value. Returning players Matt_352 (1298), Stoods (419) and Ashman OG (249) have been in hot form in the match threads, and the five rookies T2B_ (946), VandoHawk (418), MC Bad Genius (203), Bradesmaen (172) and Gosaints12 (94) would all be considered successes.

Existing players have also been swept up in this resurgence in activity, with serial_thrilla (104 up to 159), AceAndy (81 up to 98), A Swallow (36 up to 65), Blaze Storm (19 up to 52) and Pie 4 Life (0.18 up to 12) all seeing significant increases in match thread activity.

What are their concerns though? Depth outside their playing 20 is non-existent, with a single post between the seven players making up the remainder of the squad (equal 2nd worst). Even more worrying is that one of these players is SFA veteran fumbler, who has not been seen on BigFooty for several months now. These "squad depth" roles are hard to fill though without the incentive on an on-field role, so the only solution may be for an off-season cleanout and/or wait for these players to regain interest.

Even so, this has been a magnificent turnaround by Ace's Dragons, considering where they were merely two seasons ago.

IN: cats2rise (Demons), Tiger God (Bears), omgfridge (rookie), Riviat (Bombers), Spuddd (returning).

OUT: Dero (Demons), jmoo wan (Demons), haydo (Rats), Jack The Godfather (Wonders), Fryer Tuck (delisted).

Barrybran and his Gumbies have been a team to focus on in these sets of data, as they have been struggling activity for many seasons now; the squad depth of teams like the Gumbies has indeed been a key reason to deny expansion. Last season they saw a big jump in posting numbers though, as Barry's recruitment program on top of his own hard work dragged them from averaging 150-170 posts a week in previous seasons up to a respectable 414. This season, they have 3289 match thread posts at an average of 411 a week (11th highest in the league). So a season of maintenance as opposed to growth. They have stood strong in match threads though, with an average of 45.24% of posts, and even a match thread "win" against the Furies in Round 6. However the Gumbies are now the only side not to have exceeded 600 posts in a match thread this season.

Squad depth is still a big issue with the Gumbies, with the top 5 posters contributing 68.71% of their posts (3rd highest) and only ten posters with more than 2% of the Gumbies posts (8th) and more than 10 posts per week (11th).

Their recruits this season have most certainly been pulling their weight, with four of the top six Gumby posters being new. Sole rookie omgfridge (258) has been a success, and recruits Riviat (466), Genghis Tron (436) and cats2rise (324) have all seen very big increases in output compared to what they did in their previous teams last season. GWS Goose (571) has also seen an improvement in his sophomore season. The loss of Dero (217), jmoo wan (84), haydo (43) and Jack The Godfather (136) has been more than offset.

Why have things plateaued though? Taylor's reduction in activity from 90 posts per week to her current 6.4 is a massive loss, as well as TalkingFootyNow1223 not appearing since round 3, whilst there are a disappointing seven posters who have not posted in match threads this season (the worst in the league).

Overall, Barrybran is probably satisfied that he has consolidated his gains in S29 and that his recruits are all firing. The challenge will be keeping them whilst building on his team leading into S31.

IN: Bipolarbear (returning), CarterS (returning), guero (rookie), I Dont Care (Roys), Millky95 (returning), Muddiemoose (rookie), tony (rookie), U2tigers (WCW), vanders (returning), xenxen (returning).

OUT: caloschwaby (delisted), Farm Boy (delisted), Hawks1994 (delisted), kelpie_X (delisted), Magruder (retired), MKMatty (retired), tgrs (retired), Uncle_Leo (WCW), Yatmax (delisted).

The Las Vegas Bears, or Spambears as some have called them recently, were one of the big winners of the off-season. After a rather thorough cleanout of eight inactive players and the loss of Uncle_Leo to the Wonders (28 posts in S29) Test Tickle, MWPP and the LG brought in a huge influx of new posters. The superb rookie trio of Muddiemoose (123 p/w), guero (102 p/w) and tony (28.8 p/w) were joined by club-jumpers I Dont Care (50.8 p/w) and U2tigers (28 p/w) as well as returning players Millky95 (127 p/w), xenxen (12 p/w) and Bipolarbear (6.9 p/w). The returns of CarterS (3 posts) and vanders (2 posts) seem to have been failures - but you can't win them all. Even so, they're about 478 posts per week better off purely from their recruiting.

This season the Bears have posted 8145 times in match threads over the first eight rounds (3rd), with an average of 18.71 posters per week (4th). This works out at an average of 1018 posts per week, near enough doubling the 518 posts per week they averaged last season! The recruits explain most of this, as senior posters like Testy, MWPP, Western Stand Warrior and Matera92 have maintained similar numbers to last season. But then there is also the pugnacious Metalcrusher, who has increased his output (from 151 p/w to 226 p/w) despite spending so much time in other match threads... On the back of this, the Bears have been all over the match threads, posting 900+ posts four times (2nd), contributing 56.48% of their match threads (3rd) and "winning" 7/8 of them.

Despite this (and probably due to Crushy's huge numbers), they rely on their top five posters for 66.86% of their output (4th). They also only have 13 posters with more than 5 posts a week (8th), and 10 of them with over 2% of the Bears' posts (8th). Their top end and middle-tier posters are strong though, with twelve posters averaging over 10 posts a week (5th) and ten averaging over 20 (4th).

A negative for the Bears is the apparent loss of promising S29 rookie Lemon Boi (18 p/w in S29), who is one of three Bears yet to appear in match threads this season. Recruit Millky95 also seems to have hit a wall, with only 6 posts in R8 and 15 posts midway through R9; a huge drop in his early season output.

Even so, this has been a great start to the season for the Bears.

 

[serial_thrilla]

IN: tigland (returning), Elton Johns Wig (Wonders), Norma Lee Ava (Bombers), Sterge (returning), Mister M (rookie).

OUT: TheMidRunner (retired), Strebi3 (delisted), PieLebo87 (delisted), Michaels (delisted).

Next up we have the Furies, who have posted 3888 times (7th) in match threads over the first eight rounds with an average of 15 posters per week (9th). They generally haven't been dominating many match threads, with only 43.73% match thread presence (10th) and with only the one match thread "win" (Swamprats, R2). What makes the Furies outfit intriguing is their ability to go hard when given the right target. Whereas the Gumbies, Wonders and Warriors are generally steady with their numbers each week, the Furies have exceeded 800 posts twice (vs. Bears & Bombers) and even gone as low as 280 once (vs. Royals). Such variability! Even looking at some of the individual poster numbers its all over the shop: TJASTA goes from 1 post in R4 to 95 posts in R5; Ned_Flanders goes from 1 post in R7 to 50 posts in R8; Elton Johns Wig goes from 154 posts in R1 to 35 posts in R2. These guys are as volatile as their reputation precedes.

Beyond all that, they have seen a slight decline in activity this season (from 597 posts/week to 486). This is despite gaining EJW (344), Norma Lee Ava ( 439), Sterge (122) and rookie Mister M (560) - all extremely good additions to the squad. Even the returning tigland has chipped in with 42 posts. They didn't lose anyone in the off-season, and several posters have increased their output significantly: Bastyy (611) from 1.76 posts/week in S29 to 76.4 posts/week, and The Half Back (262) from 5.47 posts/week to 32.8 posts/week the best examples.

So despite all these great improvements, what has pulled them back? The obvious one is that Rioli8217 hasn't graced us with a 805 post week (yet) this season, which skewed their S29 results substantially. On top of that, skipper Tigerturbulance's increased focus on media has seen his match thread output drop from 61 to 42 posts/week, and resident garbage bin owner Ned_Flanders has dropped from 59 to 23 posts per week. Another thing that seems to have escaped notice is that Carson Dial has disappeared after a single post in Round 1, quite a loss for the Furies.

This accentuates a rather long tail to the back end of their list, with six player not having posted in match threads this season, and thirteen of them still having match thread post numbers in the single figures!

So this list presents quite the challenge for Turbo going forward. His additions have worked wonderfully, but some of the old guard has dropped off and there is clearly a need to inspire his troops to perform more consistently. The Furies never fit the mold it seems.

IN: PMBangers (rookie), 11kgm (rookie), NinjaSwan (returning), The Jesus (Demons), Shermy (Bombers).

OUT: SunshineTiger (delisted), Agechamp (delisted), Le Grille (delisted), Karnezis_13 (delisted).

Next up we have the East Side Hawks. With the fifth most overall posts (4742), an average of 17+ posters a week, and all but three of their squad having appeared in match threads this season - the Hawks are another side who is ticking the boxes. They contribute nearly exactly 50% of the posts in their match threads, and have "won" exactly half of their match threads; perfectly balanced in every way. Their only concern could be that they are slightly reliant on their top 5 posters (61.75%, 7th highest) and are only getting menial contributions from the lower half of their list; there are only 13 Hawks average more than 5 posts a week.

Of their additions this season, they have hit the jackpot with rookie PMBangers, who has pumped out 597 posts in the first eight rounds to sit second on their posting chart. Their other rookie, 11kgm, has been more of a slow burn (22 posts) - but has shown up on most weeks. Recruit Shermy hasn't set the world on fire, but his 58 posts already exceed the 51 he produced last season for the Bombers. NinjaSwan returned to the league this season, and has been reasonable active with 171 posts.

Question marks still stand over their star (returning) recruit The Jesus though, with his output of 100 posts over eight round a big reduction on his 786 posts at the Demons last season. Only two posts over the last two rounds is a cause for concern, and hopefully it is just IRL getting in the way as opposed to the dreaded SFA fatigue. The Hawks will be hoping that he comes home in the back end of the season with a wet sail. Experienced Hawks Biggie (13.1 down to 0.8) and Drunkgoliath (31.9 down to 5.9) have also seen reduced output this season.

Generally though, there is not much else to say about this nice, consistent list. Chipmunk seems to be carrying the load as the lynchpin of their posting unit, and Agent93 and his LG will be glad that the Vampire bid won't be stealing him away any time soon.

IN: nahnah (returning).

OUT: miggs (Bombers).

Much has been made of the Royals posting output this season, and I must say it makes for attractive viewing. 4517 match thread posts (6th) is produced by an average of 20.57 posters per week (1st). They contribute a nicely balanced 50.80% of their match threads, and have been "victors" in 6/8 of them; their 2nd round thread against the Roys was the only major blip, where they only authored 38% of the posts. Incredibly they have only exceeded 600 posts once (their 1446 post effort against the Bears in Round 4), showing steady progress with the ability to really dial it up when challenged. Their top five posters only produce 47.35% of their posts, showing minimal reliance on their more prolific posters. 15 posters (2nd) are putting out over 10 posts a week, and 13 of those (2nd) average over 20. But what really shows the balance is that 15 of them (1st) contribute over 2% of their match thread posts, and 10 of those (1st) contribute over 5%. Only one Royal (co-captain The Filth Wizard) is responsible for over 10% of their posts (the least in the league).

The squad is also rather stable, with only a couple of changes over the off-season. nahnah has returned with a solid 281 posts over 8 rounds, whilst they lost miggs to the Bombers (only 4.88 posts a week for them last season).

On top of this stability is an increase in output compared to last season: from 361 posts/week in S29 to 564 posts/week this season. A lot of this can be explained by that big week against the Bears, but even ignoring that they are at 438 posts/week. This has been supported by increases in output by Filthy (61 to 76), @Noobzor (15 to 54), CakeEater (34 to 43), Blacky (13 to 36), brahj (14 to 29) and Ulahoopski (1 to 27).

Having more average posters per week than positions on the field is a tremendous effort though, but it will be challenging for Filthy and Kennedy Parker to encourage the likes of Cesoir and HawkPatrol to be active without the possibility of getting a gig. Cesoir (19 p/w last season, 1.4 p/w this season) has been one of the only Royal rookies over the last few seasons, so it would be a shame to lose him. Only two players on the Royals list haven't appeared in match threads this season (equal lowest).

The Royals LG should be very content where their list is sitting right now, but it will be interesting to see whether that Bears match was a blip, or if they have the ability to turn up the heat once again if required.

IN: Dingster (Wonders), BLUEALLTHRU (rookie), RobR (rookie), Supersuns (rookie).

OUT: I Dont Care (Bears), George (delisted), Azarole (delisted), Klim (delisted).

*note: the Roys added I bleed Blue (returning) at the commencement of Round 9.

The sleeping giant has re-awoken! This once mighty club clearly decided to take an afternoon nap in S29, as they are once again back up at the top of the posting charts this season. So much so, that they should surpass their overall S29 total of 6128 posts THIS WEEK! With 5553 posts so far, the Roys are the 4th most active club in SFA match threads this season, and have on average a very respectable 18.1 posters per week. They've dominated match threads too, with 55.27% of posts in their match threads (4th highest) and 6/8 match thread "wins", with their only hurdles being the very active Bombers and Dragons. Their only week below the 600 post mark was against the Coney Island Warriors.

They also have a reasonably balanced list...to a point, with the top five posters only contributing 65.66% of their posts (5th) and 14 posters putting in over five posts a week (4th highest). The concern though is that they only have eight posters averaging over 20 posts a week (9th highest), and have five posters who have not appeared in match threads this season.

Their top seven posters are the key to their rise this season, and four of those seven are new to the club in S30. Rookies RobR (698), BLUEALLTHRU (927) and Supersuns (742) have been extremely prominent in match threads this season, and recruit Dingster (596) is having his most prolific season on record, with his 74.5 posts per week higher than all his seasons at the Wonders. Skipper TedDougChris has maintained his own number this season (despite a quiet one against the Bombers), and good ol' Mobbs has discovered his inner spammer with what I assume is a career high 72.4 posts per week. Rounding out the big seven is fitzroybowiedog who has seen a return to his S27 activity levels with over 40 posts a week.

Hidden behind this though are a few Roys that have slowed down this season. S29 Rising Star winner PurpleGreenRed (38) hasn't been seen since round 3, and Beandip (26) has been rarely sighted. There are also five Roys who haven't posted in match threads this season.

Even so, TDC and his LG would be very happy with how things are tracking at the Roys in Season 30.

IN: MannumPower (returning), projectv (rookie), Mr39 (rookie), haydo (Gumbies), Plugger35 (returning), Ant Bear (Wonders), Wojcinski (Wonders).

OUT: dosser (delisted), Greasyrhys (delisted), rickety (delisted), sportsmaniac89 (delisted), TheMase (delisted), Mr39 (retired), haydo (Wonders).

*note: Gameova_ (returning) added to the squad at the conclusion of Round 8.

With 3650 (9th) match thread posts and an average of 18.0 (6th) posters per week, the Swamprats are another team in the middle of the pack. They only contribute 46.95% of match threads with a couple of match thread "wins" against the lowly Warriors and Wonders. What the Swamprats have going for themselves though is a very nice spread of posters. Their top five posters contribute 57.12% of their total posts (2nd lowest), and have 9 posters contributing more than 5% of their match thread content (2nd). Only two Swamprats contribute more than 10% of the club's output (11th, philreich and SarahSmiles).

They had some mixed results with their new players this season: MannumPower (241 posts) has been very active early on, although his interest seems to be wavering over the last few weeks. SFA admin Ant Bear (263) has been reinvigorated back at his old club, and his average posts per week has climbed from 15.9 in S29 to 32.9 right now. Rookie projectv (33) is a slow burn, but appears most weeks. However Plugger35 (0) and, Mr39 (3, now delisted) were outright failures, and haydo's (32) stay at the Rats was unremarkable and brief. His mid-season trade with Wojcinski (7) could potentially be a win-win for the Rats and Wonders.

The addition of MannumPower and Ant Bear, plus improvements from GremioPower (18.4 to 33), jackster83 (30.8 to 41.3) and Sparkle (17.9 to 40) has meant that they have improved on last season (328 posts per week up to 456), but they could do with a couple more big name posters to support Phil and SarahSmiles in the 50+ post range; someone like Firestarter has the potential to do this, with a big return to the match threads after being absent early on.

With only three posters (including club legend Far Kern) not having appeared in match threads, the Swamprats depth is solid, and Phil + his LG will be quite happy with how things are tracking.

IN: Uncle_Leo (Bears), Jack The Godfather (Gumbies), Elmer_Judd (rookie), AngryRanga (returning), J_Chadwick (rookie), haydo (midseason trade, Rats).

OUT: U2tigers (Bears), Elton Johns Wig (Furies), Ant Bear (Rats), Dingster (Roys) Broken (delisted) Kangaroos4eva (retired), Wojcinski (midseason trade, Rats).

Due to the number of key players lost in the off-season, the performance of the Wonders in Season 30 match threads is quite the point of interest. Last season they average 506 posts a week, and their top four posters included Dingster (61 p/w), Elton Johns Wig (67 p/w) and U2tigers (50 p/w): all three of whom are no longer Wonders. When combined with the loss of Ant Bear (16 p/w), that's 38% of their match thread posting lost!

This season the Wonders have posted 3528 times in match threads (10th), which averages out at 441 posts per week: a 13% reduction on last season. When you consider what they lost, is not as terrible as it could have been. Their average number of posters per week is down from 15.81 to 14.14, but several of their existing posters have increased their output to help offset the losses alongside their new recruits (ClarkeM, SweetD and SSwans2011 in particular). The Wonders have only represented 43.20% of match threads (11th), but have still managed two match thread "victories" against the Gumbies and Furies. It was only against the Bombers and Bears where they were overwhelmed in the match thread.

The problem for the Wonders is that they are extremely reliant on their top 5 posters, with 76.98% of their match thread posts coming from ClarkeM (111 p/w), SSwans2011 (77.5 p/w), Grand Uncle Horace (69.9 p/w), SweetD (51.8 p/w) and Bonz (29.4 p/w). No-one outside those five have contributed more than 5% of the team's posts (11th), and only another four have contributed more than 2% (11th).

New recruits Jack The Godfather (136 posts) and AngryRanga (96) have been moderately successful, and rookies elmer Judd (113) and J_Chadwick (14 in his first week) are showing promise. But Uncle_Leo was a bust, and hasn't been seen since Round 3. The Wonders will be hoping that mid-season signing haydo will be able to rediscover his passion from before his expansion bid.

So not as bad as it could have been for the Wonders, but they have a lot of work ahead of them to once more have a healthy list. Skipper Sab22 will be wanting to replace some of those six inactive posters (the equal second most in the league) with some new blood at the end of the season, whilst maintaining the energy from his current engine room.

 

[serial_thrilla]

Oh boy - it's later than I realised. I'll continue the analysis tomorrow and commentary.

Feel free to pick apart what I have presented so far!

 

[Marlowe]

As far as I can tell, this makes the Royals look good. So, great job!

 

[serial_thrilla]

As far as I can tell, this makes the Royals look good. So, great job!

Only 19 posters this week. You better tell The acurate one to stop slacking off!

 

[Marlowe]

Only 19 posters this week. You better tell The acurate one to stop slacking off!

I'd like to, but I walked in on him slacking off and I can't really look him in the eye for the moment.

 

[Bastyy]

I think I’ve outdone last season

 

[Santoz]

ClarkeM is perhaps the most consistent poster in this place.

Quality I'm talking about.

Consistently crap

 

[Headless]

Can't help but admire the effort that has gone into this.

 

[ClarkeM]

TIL there's more than one Coney Island.

 

[Santoz]

Outstanding work serial_thrilla

 

[guero]

I have very little idea what any of this means, but I agree with Headless - the effort is impressive.

Also (commentary to be added)

 

[Agent93]

As far as I can tell, this makes the Royals look good. So, great job!

Big fan of the Gold Coast Royals.

 

[Marlowe]

Retracting all my likes from this thread until the typo is corrected.

 

[ClarkeM]

Big fan of the Gold Coast Royals.

And the Coney Islands, looks lovely!

 

[nahnah]

Royals with a perfectly balanced 20+ deep list

 

[Headless]

Royals with a perfectly balanced 20+ deep list

Was genuinely just thinking like two minutes how balanced that list looks. The Royals have the best posting unit based on these stats IMO.

 

[Agent93]

Royals with a perfectly balanced 20+ deep list

Weird that they'd oppose expansion so hard.

 

[Kilroy]

F*cking hell!!

Crushy, Pugster, Matty, then me? I gotta slow down on the coffee.

Nice job serial_thrilla

Can confirm.

 

[SweetD]

ClarkeM what the **** man

 

[ClarkeM]

ClarkeM what the fu** man

Can't believe it either.

 

[Barrybran]

Royals with a perfectly balanced 20+ deep list

Was genuinely just thinking like two minutes how balanced that list looks. The Royals have the best posting unit based on these stats IMO.

Yep. #1 for mine. I'd rather have 20 people posting 20 times a week than 1 person posting 400 times. Speaking of which...

F*cking hell!!

Crushy, Pugster, Matty, then me? I gotta slow down on the coffee.

Nice job serial_thrilla

Can confirm.

Yep. Not a good list to be a part of, friend.

 

[Barrybran]

Weird that they'd oppose expansion so hard.

Yes because The Filth Wizard knew he was going to have 20 posters a week this season

 

[Kilroy]

Yep. Not a good list to be a part of, friend.

That may well be Barry, but I notice not only are you talking to me now, but I'm your friend too.

Oh boy!