Toast Tom Stewart - Gun Footballer.

[Baudolino]

duncan never quite made it to elite all australian midfielder level? Why? Cos as good as he was he was always a bit soft when it came to the contest. Not exactly the way a captain played. Been caught shirking a few aerial contests this year too. Great player. but he had one thing that stopped him from reaching the next level and its the thing that made players follow them into battle.

Because there's far fewer positions in the AA side available each year for outside mids/wingers. Traditionally there's been 0-2 of those types of players selected. On-ballers on the other hand have ~8-9 spots available to them, and more often than not they're crammed into the side in place of Duncan-type players.

It's the only reason that guys like Isaac Smith and Mitch Duncan don't have an AA jacket between, despite a decade of being among the league elite in their role.

 

[David the Cat]

Looking at just one game - and it wasn't the only one - if someone like Kolodjashnij had made the mistakes Stewart made in the last quarter versus Fremantle his body would be dangling from one of the stands. Because it's Stewart it's downplayed or completely overlooked once the season is over.

I thought his output matched the team - good in patches, excellent in some games, downright awful in others. I had previously thought that he really is two players in one - a very composed rebound defender who creates excellent drive, and at times a very fumbly and jittery one on one player who can be exposed at ground level. I thought this year saw more of the latter than ever before.

An excellent and absolutely accurate assessment of Stewart IMO...

That said, Stewart is a fine player...elite by foot..great hands and clearly a team player.

He is however, certainly cut a bit more slack than others by this Board.

 

[Lana]

An excellent and absolutely accurate assessment of Stewart IMO...

That said, Stewart is a fine player...elite by foot..great hands and clearly a team player.

He is however, certainly cut a bit more slack than others by this Board.

I'm not sure what is the appropriate level of slack is for a future hall of famer

 

[David the Cat]

I'm not sure what is the appropriate level of slack is for a future hall of famer

That's easy...the same as everybody else.

 

[Vdubs]

I'm not sure what is the appropriate level of slack is for a future hall of famer

That he may be.
I doubt he'll be our next captain though.

 

[Vdubs]

Should of been captain for mine .

Not for mine.
He can play, but on-field mental stability?
Based only on perception- mine- which means zilch.
But we all have our own perceptions.

 

[PhatBoy]

Looking at just one game - and it wasn't the only one - if someone like Kolodjashnij had made the mistakes Stewart made in the last quarter versus Fremantle his body would be dangling from one of the stands. Because it's Stewart it's downplayed or completely overlooked once the season is over.

I thought his output matched the team - good in patches, excellent in some games, downright awful in others. I had previously thought that he really is two players in one - a very composed rebound defender who creates excellent drive, and at times a very fumbly and jittery one on one player who can be exposed at ground level. I thought this year saw more of the latter than ever before.

I don’t disagree but when you build up credits that’s what happens and it applies to all sports.

I love a good cricket analogy: I reckon a guy like Brian Lara probably got out playing outrageously ambitious shots a reasonable amount of times.

When Lara is getting centuries and double centuries with regularity, people aren’t going to pile on even when his ugly dismissals cause defeats.

A spot or two below Lara in his team would often be the much maligned Carl Hooper, a player of not dissimilar talent but vastly different output, and you could almost bet your bottom dollar that if he made a flawless 80 and then got caught aiming an off-drive, there would be calls for his head.

Quite simply beyond a late career renaissance Hooper never got enough credits in the bank to get away with that stuff.

Kolodjashnij or Bews for that matter have been really serviceable, loyal contributors for the cats and they deserve respect accordingly but JK in particular has made enough costly errors that each time it happens, the groans go up and a collective ‘he has to get better or we have to punt him’ goes up.

When Stewart does it, understandably most people will initially react with ‘well that isn’t something you see very often.’

 

[Partridge]

Kolodjashnij or Bews for that matter have been really serviceable, loyal contributors for the cats and they deserve respect accordingly but JK in particular has made enough costly errors that each time it happens, the groans go up and a collective ‘he has to get better or we have to punt him’ goes up.

When Stewart does it, understandably most people will initially react with ‘well that isn’t something you see very often.’

That's the point though, at times this year it was a lot more often than people want to admit.

 

[PhatBoy]

That's the point though, at times this year it was a lot more often than people want to admit.

Yes and no.
Probably more often than previous years, still less frequently than anyone else in our back end and still the exception rather than the rule

 

[Mr Meow]

That's the point though, at times this year it was a lot more often than people want to admit.

He averaged 1.1 less clangers per game this season than in 2022.

He did average more turnovers: a whopping 0.2 more per game.

So Stewart ceded possession to the opposition around 4 more times this season but had around 20 less errors in general (including errant disposals, dropped marks/fumbles, free kicks against and "no pressure" errors) that gave opponents an advantage.

Not my opinion. Facts.

 

[Mr Meow]

Yes and no.
Probably more often than previous years, still less frequently than anyone else in our back end and still the exception rather than the rule

Pretty much. Stewart's disposal efficiency declined by 2.1% this season.

J.Henry: -5%
Kolo: -3.4%
SDK: -5.5%
Z.Guthrie: -0.5%
Bews: -3.4%
Tuohy: -7.7%

No permanent defender from 2022 improved in this area and all but one had a comfortably bigger decline than Stewart.

It makes sense, they were under the pump more and there also weren't as many clear options presenting up the field.

 

[Seeds]

Pretty much. Stewart's disposal efficiency declined by 2.1% this season.

J.Henry: -5%
Kolo: -3.4%
SDK: -5.5%
Z.Guthrie: -0.5%
Bews: -3.4%
Tuohy: -7.7%

No permanent defender from 2022 improved in this area and all but one had a comfortably bigger decline than Stewart.

It makes sense, they were under the pump more and there also weren't as many clear options presenting up the field.

Do you have their overall disposal efficiencies?

 

[Mr Meow]

Do you have their overall disposal efficiencies?

I think for defenders these 3 metrics are a useful combination to assess ball use, as it takes into account degree of difficulty (you can be very inefficient if you take riskier kicks that are more likely to result in a scoring chain)

Disposal efficiency

1. Stewart: 81.9%
2. Kolo: 80.1%
3. J.Henry: 79.0%
4. SDK: 77.5%
5. Z.Guthrie: 72.1%
6. Tuohy: 65.3%
7. Bews: 60.8%

Effective kicks

1. Stewart: 15.2 per game
2. Tuohy: 8.1
3. Z.Guthrie: 7.9
4. J.Henry: 5.8
5. Kolo: 5.7
6. SDK: 5.3
7. Bews: 3.2

Score involvements

1. Tuohy: 3.8 per game
2. Stewart: 3.4
3. Z.Guthrie: 3.1
4. J.Henry: 2.3
5. Kolo: 1.9
6. SDK: 1.7
7. Bews: 1.1

 

[Wojcinski]

I think for defenders these 3 metrics are a useful combination to assess ball use, as it takes into account degree of difficulty (you can be very inefficient if you take riskier kicks that are more likely to result in a scoring chain)

Disposal efficiency

1. Stewart: 81.9%
2. Kolo: 80.1%
3. J.Henry: 79.0%
4. SDK: 77.5%
5. Z.Guthrie: 72.1%
6. Tuohy: 65.3%
7. Bews: 60.8%

Effective kicks

1. Stewart: 15.2 per game
2. Tuohy: 8.1
3. Z.Guthrie: 7.9
4. J.Henry: 5.8
5. Kolo: 5.7
6. SDK: 5.3
7. Bews: 3.2

Score involvements

1. Tuohy: 3.8 per game
2. Stewart: 3.4
3. Z.Guthrie: 3.1
4. J.Henry: 2.3
5. Kolo: 1.9
6. SDK: 1.7
7. Bews: 1.1

oh Bews.. for a guy that gets so few possessions you'd hope he'd make the most of them

 

[Mr Meow]

oh Bews.. for a guy that gets so few possessions you'd hope he'd make the most of them

Yep Bews disposals, especially this season, rarely resulted in anything good.

What I was impressed by was Zuthrie. I still think anecdotally he sprays more than he should, especially when heading inside 50. But his numbers showed he gets a solid amount of rebound and rebound that ends up in scores. But with Tuohy on the decline/exit we need O'Connor to be getting Zuthrie numbers, and Zuthrie to take another step up again. Potentially a reshuffle to get Duncan back there too, as long as we have nimble feet around him.

 

[Generalissimo]

we need O'Connor to be getting Zuthrie numbers

Agreed. He is a very good kick of the footy; it's a shame he doesn't get more possessions.

 

[Seeds]

I think for defenders these 3 metrics are a useful combination to assess ball use, as it takes into account degree of difficulty (you can be very inefficient if you take riskier kicks that are more likely to result in a scoring chain)

Disposal efficiency

1. Stewart: 81.9%
2. Kolo: 80.1%
3. J.Henry: 79.0%
4. SDK: 77.5%
5. Z.Guthrie: 72.1%
6. Tuohy: 65.3%
7. Bews: 60.8%

Effective kicks

1. Stewart: 15.2 per game
2. Tuohy: 8.1
3. Z.Guthrie: 7.9
4. J.Henry: 5.8
5. Kolo: 5.7
6. SDK: 5.3
7. Bews: 3.2

Score involvements

1. Tuohy: 3.8 per game
2. Stewart: 3.4
3. Z.Guthrie: 3.1
4. J.Henry: 2.3
5. Kolo: 1.9
6. SDK: 1.7
7. Bews: 1.1

For defenders you also have to add in metres gained because there are an awful lot of defenders that play it safe and chip kick it sideways to a fellow defender on their own.

 

[Seeds]

Agreed. He is a very good kick of the footy; it's a shame he doesn't get more possessions.

Im assuming this is sarcasm?

 

[Generalissimo]

Im assuming this is sarcasm?

DE 80% compared to a team average of 70%.

He's a good kick of the footy.

 

[Chinacats]

Congratulations to Tommy Stewart on the B & F win! He is our best player now….
Atkins 2nd & Zuthrie 4th a bit surprising…

 

[Generalissimo]

I thought Stewart would just pip Miers TBH. Gryan had a really good season.

 

[Boxhead_31]

Its time for Tom to take the Skippers arm band from Patrick

 

[Vdubs]

I think for defenders these 3 metrics are a useful combination to assess ball use, as it takes into account degree of difficulty (you can be very inefficient if you take riskier kicks that are more likely to result in a scoring chain)

Disposal efficiency

1. Stewart: 81.9%
2. Kolo: 80.1%
3. J.Henry: 79.0%
4. SDK: 77.5%
5. Z.Guthrie: 72.1%
6. Tuohy: 65.3%
7. Bews: 60.8%

Effective kicks

1. Stewart: 15.2 per game
2. Tuohy: 8.1
3. Z.Guthrie: 7.9
4. J.Henry: 5.8
5. Kolo: 5.7
6. SDK: 5.3
7. Bews: 3.2

Score involvements

1. Tuohy: 3.8 per game
2. Stewart: 3.4
3. Z.Guthrie: 3.1
4. J.Henry: 2.3
5. Kolo: 1.9
6. SDK: 1.7
7. Bews: 1.1

Sav?
Not gone yet

 

[Vdubs]

Its time for Tom to take the Skippers arm band from Patrick

Hope not.

 

[Baudolino]

How many defenders other than Stewart have been selected in 5 or more All Australian teams? From the top of my head, the only players I can think of include:

Scarlett - 6
Enright - 6
Silvagni - 5
Wanganeen - 5
Rance - 5

Am I missing anyone?