Encouraging Ground Size Stats

[deelusions from afar 1,810]

Ok so keeping some of the positive vibes going, I thought it might be interesting to highlight another positive with this crazy covid season - not playing on the MCG!  (apart from not being able to see us live!)

It's not that we can't win there... but surely it's been harder since Goody took over (eg we go at 40% win at the MCG under Goody but were at 46.2% under Roos in his last year in 2017).  Even in 2018 we only had a win percentage at the MCG of 53.8% but were much higher elsewhere.

I suspect this is mostly due to game style / how we set up our zone etc.  However, our record at most other grounds is pretty good - particularly the skinny grounds.  So if we're staying away from the MCG (and ideally Optus in Perth) then I think this surely can only help us.

The stats below are interesting and even more so when you think of some of the matches there.  Eg we have a poor record in Geelong but when we played them in 2018 we lost by a kick.  Similarly when we played Port in 2018 we were absolutely robbed by the umpires but played well and were unlucky to lose.  Similiarly we're usually in the matches agaisnt North in Tassie despite not beating them there under Goody.  Our worst performances (2019 aside) have come at the MCG, Canberra and Optus which are all bigger grounds.  Probably good not too be playing too much at the Gabba for the moment as well as it is bigger than say Metricon.

 

Managed to find this via the aussportstipping site if someone else wants to play around with the filters

[Pickett2Jackson 3,904]

2 hours ago, deelusions from afar said:

Ok so keeping some of the positive vibes going, I thought it might be interesting to highlight another positive with this crazy covid season - not playing on the MCG!  (apart from not being able to see us live!)

It's not that we can't win there... but surely it's been harder since Goody took over (eg we go at 40% win at the MCG under Goody but were at 46.2% under Roos in his last year in 2017).  Even in 2018 we only had a win percentage at the MCG of 53.8% but were much higher elsewhere.

I suspect this is mostly due to game style / how we set up our zone etc.  However, our record at most other grounds is pretty good - particularly the skinny grounds.  So if we're staying away from the MCG (and ideally Optus in Perth) then I think this surely can only help us.

The stats below are interesting and even more so when you think of some of the matches there.  Eg we have a poor record in Geelong but when we played them in 2018 we lost by a kick.  Similarly when we played Port in 2018 we were absolutely robbed by the umpires but played well and were unlucky to lose.  Similiarly we're usually in the matches agaisnt North in Tassie despite not beating them there under Goody.  Our worst performances (2019 aside) have come at the MCG, Canberra and Optus which are all bigger grounds.  Probably good not too be playing too much at the Gabba for the moment as well as it is bigger than say Metricon.

 

Managed to find this via the aussportstipping site if someone else wants to play around with the filters

Wow, our own home ground is our bogey ground.  Thats incredible.

[John Demonic 5,796]

Positives: we can be 2020 premiers

Negatives: 2021 and beyond we are screwed

[deelusions from afar 1,810]

I feel like the footy department has been well aware of this for some time but have struggled to find the right team balance with players that suit grounds such as the MCG.  You can see what a difference Langdon makes already - I feel like we need another with that skill set

[deanox 9,924]

10 hours ago, deelusions from afar said:

I feel like the footy department has been well aware of this for some time but have struggled to find the right team balance with players that suit grounds such as the MCG.  You can see what a difference Langdon makes already - I feel like we need another with that skill set

It might mean a player like Tomlinson is actually more valuable at the MCG, because his strengths outweigh his deficiencies. 

[Age 485]

I believe our training ground is quite a bit thinner than the MCG. Might explain why teams seem to go around us on the MCG and we always don't seem to spread enough. When you include the lines marked out for running laps etc then this makes the ground even thinner and when we hit the G we can never seem to spread enough. 

[In Harmes Way 7,783]

15 hours ago, John Demonic said:

Positives: we can be 2020 premiers

Negatives: 2021 and beyond we are screwed

We might have to put our hand up to relocate.

[DeeSpencer 25,713]

I’ve long thought the obvious conclusion is to just rope the mcg wings in like they do in cricket.

When it’s our home ground why can’t we set the boundary?

Otherwise the extra training at Casey this year even before the covid changes seemed like a plan to correct this problem

[Red and Blue realist 2,051]

19 hours ago, deelusions from afar said:

Ok so keeping some of the positive vibes going, I thought it might be interesting to highlight another positive with this crazy covid season - not playing on the MCG!  (apart from not being able to see us live!)

It's not that we can't win there... but surely it's been harder since Goody took over (eg we go at 40% win at the MCG under Goody but were at 46.2% under Roos in his last year in 2017).  Even in 2018 we only had a win percentage at the MCG of 53.8% but were much higher elsewhere.

I suspect this is mostly due to game style / how we set up our zone etc.  However, our record at most other grounds is pretty good - particularly the skinny grounds.  So if we're staying away from the MCG (and ideally Optus in Perth) then I think this surely can only help us.

Just to expand on your initial thoughts DFA, below is a list of the ground sizes (from last year so some names have changed):

AFL BOUNDARY DIMENSIONS

Ground - length - width

UTAS Stadium - 175m - 145m

TIO Stadium - 175m - 135m

GMHBA Stadium - 170m - 116m

TIO Traeger Park - 168m - 132m

Adelaide Oval - 167m - 123m

Cazaly’s Stadium - 165m - 135m

Optus Stadium - 165m - 130m

Spotless Stadium - 164m - 128m

UNSW Canberra Oval - 162.5m - 138m

MCG - 161m - 138m

Jiangwan Stadium - 160m - 136m

Etihad Stadium - 160m - 129m

Mars Stadium - 160m - 129m

Blundstone Arena - 160m - 124m

Metricon Stadium - 158m - 134m

Gabba - 156m - 138m

SCG - 155m - 136m

[Wunders 397]

AFL Player Ratings @AFLPlayerRating Jul 22

 

Just saw on Twitter and thought it would be a good place to post here in this stats thread. Biggest relative rise in Overall Standing this season: https://twitter.com/AFLPlayerRating/status/1285778184928063488/photo/1

Viney in 2 and Petracca in 8

[Waltham33 475]

Zones are exposed the wider the field.  It stands to reason the less width of a stadium, the better the zone will work and the quicker teams are hurt on the turnover.   Whilst we play zone, im happy to never play at the MCG again

 

[old55 23,590]

1 hour ago, Red and Blue realist said:

Just to expand on your initial thoughts DFA, below is a list of the ground sizes (from last year so some names have changed):

AFL BOUNDARY DIMENSIONS

Ground - length - width

UTAS Stadium - 175m - 145m

TIO Stadium - 175m - 135m

GMHBA Stadium - 170m - 116m

TIO Traeger Park - 168m - 132m

Adelaide Oval - 167m - 123m

Cazaly’s Stadium - 165m - 135m

Optus Stadium - 165m - 130m

Spotless Stadium - 164m - 128m

UNSW Canberra Oval - 162.5m - 138m

MCG - 161m - 138m

Jiangwan Stadium - 160m - 136m

Etihad Stadium - 160m - 129m

Mars Stadium - 160m - 129m

Blundstone Arena - 160m - 124m

Metricon Stadium - 158m - 134m

Gabba - 156m - 138m

SCG - 155m - 136m

Nice work R&BR.

I've thought for a number of years that our zone works far better on narrower grounds and it's why we've generally been better at Etihad than the MCG.  We've generally played well at Geelong recently apart from last year's debacle and we were good at Spotless the last two weeks.  There's an obvious criticism available that we play a style that doesn't suit our home ground.

Looking forward we're up against it on this basis against 1st and 2nd at the wider Gabba and Metricon, but better suited to Adelaide and Blundstone - where incidentally we've been much more competitive against North than most teams without winning.

Edited July 23, 2020 by Pollyanna

[deelusions from afar 1,810]

1 minute ago, Waltham33 said:

Zones are exposed the wider the field.  It stands to reason the less width of a stadium, the better the zone will work and the quicker teams are hurt on the turnover.   Whilst we play zone, im happy to never play at the MCG again

 

Agree - but don't most teams play a zone defence.  Teams like Richmond and Collingwood and Hawthorn tend to play the G so much better than us.  Is it all in leg speed?  We're not as slow as we used to be.

[deelusions from afar 1,810]

Looks like we won't be playing at Blundstone afterall - which despite the dimensions is probably not a bad thing.  North seem to play the windy conditions pretty well and we almost always lose in a close one.

 

https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/afl-fixture-thrown-into-more-chaos-after-tasmania-refuses-to-open-border-to-qld-c-1190794?fbclid=IwAR0yo-Hv7IBKzBUYX2f9TZbIJTNzxyFKg2muVQhQIcMeFtLk7FRsD3VbiQE

 

Hopefully this is not transferred to Canberra!

Edited July 24, 2020 by deelusions from afar

[deelusions from afar 1,810]

There's obviously other factors at play... but our win-loss record since I first posted this continues to fit the pattern.

I.e. the grounds with a width of less than 135m we play well at (eg Metricon and Adelaide) whereas the grounds with a width greater than 135m eg The Gabba we play poorly at.

Clearly this was not the reason we lost to port - we were smashed everywhere - and we weren't convincing against Adelaide in the 1st half.  But based on how we've gone while Goody has been coaching, I expect our game will suit the narrower grounds such as Adelaide and Metricon more than say the Gabba or Optus in WA.

Looking ahead, we play:

- North @ Adelaide.  Since Goody has been coaching we have an 80% record there from 5 matches.  North have lost the 3 games they have played there

- Collingwood at the Gabba.  In Goody's time we have won 2 of the 4 games at the Gabba.  In the same time, Collingwood has won both their matches at the gabba.

- Western Bulldogs at Metricon.  In Goody's time we have won 1 of two games at Metricon.  In the same time the Bullies have won two and lost two.

Small sample sizes and lots of other variables but will be interesting to keep an eye on.

 

 

[deelusions from afar 1,810]

On 7/23/2020 at 1:42 PM, Pollyanna said:

Nice work R&BR.

I've thought for a number of years that our zone works far better on narrower grounds and it's why we've generally been better at Etihad than the MCG.  We've generally played well at Geelong recently apart from last year's debacle and we were good at Spotless the last two weeks.  There's an obvious criticism available that we play a style that doesn't suit our home ground.

Looking forward we're up against it on this basis against 1st and 2nd at the wider Gabba and Metricon, but better suited to Adelaide and Blundstone - where incidentally we've been much more competitive against North than most teams without winning.

I think it's also about there being more ball ups and throw ins so other teams that base their game around the stoppages also like the grounds that will maximise the chances of this occurring.

 

[deelusions from afar 1,810]

On 7/23/2020 at 12:42 PM, Red and Blue realist said:

Just to expand on your initial thoughts DFA, below is a list of the ground sizes (from last year so some names have changed):

AFL BOUNDARY DIMENSIONS

Ground - length - width

UTAS Stadium - 175m - 145m

TIO Stadium - 175m - 135m

GMHBA Stadium - 170m - 116m

TIO Traeger Park - 168m - 132m

Adelaide Oval - 167m - 123m

Cazaly’s Stadium - 165m - 135m

Optus Stadium - 165m - 130m

Spotless Stadium - 164m - 128m

UNSW Canberra Oval - 162.5m - 138m

MCG - 161m - 138m

Jiangwan Stadium - 160m - 136m

Etihad Stadium - 160m - 129m

Mars Stadium - 160m - 129m

Blundstone Arena - 160m - 124m

Metricon Stadium - 158m - 134m

Gabba - 156m - 138m

SCG - 155m - 136m

Well with the rest of the fixture, I hope my theory of our game plan not stacking up on the wider grounds is proven wrong - The Gabba, Cazaly Stadium and TIO are 3 of the widest grounds going around outside of the MCG.