Gawndy the Great

Yep their data analysis is still pretty rudimentary. It needs more sophisticated modelling which does more than just capture a raw stat such as a kick or mark. Things like time in game, pressure rating at that point, who was leading, etc etc all add context and value to the raw stat. The other thing is there are really no penalty stats other than frees against. Which makes the statistical analysis more attack bias. This is why Williams and Saad can be categorised as elite defenders because they rebound well. But if you could factor in stats that measure scores against those individuals and deduct that from their overall value, you will quickly realise what everyone in the industry knows - they are not elite defenders. There also has to be a factor of secondary and tertiary positions so the versatile players like Gawn can be measured appropriately given he probably spend 30-40% of the season not playing in his preferred position. End of the day I don’t think you can place much value in individual stats like they do in American Sports. Team stats on the other hand are essential.

I’m just a social member now following a lot of back injuries in the past 2 years but sounds like a plan when I’m healthy again.

Small world!

It will be interesting to see how the players respond to a possible hub situation for the 3rd year straight. It may just show how determined sides are. Those contending for a flag maybe willing to go the extra mile and hub to ensure that the best 22 are on the park every week. Where as those rebuilding or middle table, may have a different attitude all together and hence be more susceptible to having large chunks of the team missing. It does appear that most athletes are generally back on their feet within a week of contracting the virus. Not so dissimilar to other viruses contracted during the season. Given the lax environment right now, where negative RAT tests gives a healthcare worker the all clear to return to work, I cannot see how the AFL will not give similar guidelines to the players when an outbreak within a team occurs.

I don’t think it’s about competitiveness tbh, he wouldn’t make it this far if it was lacking. It’s probably a combination of factors that are just a bit off. Footy smarts ie body positioning, when to lead and when not to, where to lead and where not to, reading the play, adjusting personal game plan to create opportunity for other forwards . I’ve also said in the past that it was a bit of mongrel and grit too but that’s hard to judge from afar. I personally don’t have much expectation of Weeds - not everyone that should make it does and we just have to accept that. With the many other options we have i think the expectation of having him in the starting 22 will be put to bed (if it hasn’t been already). If he matures and has a break out year then great for us and great for him, but we should look to developing Van Rooyan as our future CHF, FF ahead of Weeds from this point forward.

Did Viney just hit a target inside forward 50 against our AA, premiership defence? Surely this video has been doctored :)

I like LJ I really do. The kid has not put 50 games together and we are already getting our knickers in a knot. He is learning his craft with an all time 5X AA ruckman. He ain’t going anywhere in the next few years. After that and a few more premierships I’ll happily exchange him for 2 top 10 draft picks that Meth coke will offer us ala Tim Kelly style. And we can rebuild once more. We will have Mac Andrew’s and Jeff whites Xbox by then anyway 😂😂to cover our ruck stocks.

Would be better if we could have something like Unforced Clangers vs Forced Clangers. Probably extends to disposal efficiency as well. You just cannot infer anything useful from some of these stats as the 'pressure' element isn't factored in. Having said that, both Trac and Clayton do their best work in close to the contest and are primed for quick release football so i'd hazard a guess that a high percentage of their total clangers is probably 'unforced'. Still, they are known to butcher an 'unpressured' ball every now and then so there definitely is an element of their game that they can improve.

I am torn on this. From a COVID perspective I wish our VIC state leaders took a leaf out of McGowan's book. However from an AFL fixture perspective the decision the WA govt make to shut their borders should not automatically equate to a redraft...'they cannot have their cake and eat it too' comes to mind. I like the idea of relocating WA/Freo to Tassie..There are a million excuses as to why this wont succeed, but just imagine if the Tassie govt could make it work...would go a long way in showing the viability of a 19th team in the comp.

Great analysis CHF. We have great stocks across all lines as you have astutely pointed out, which makes up for a solid foundation. Reality is most teams (that are not in rebuild) will stack up quite similar. The attribute that distinguishes great teams from good teams will still be star talent. No matter how much you try to remove that dependency (football strategy / playing style etc), it will always be there and mostly in the form of a midfielder or two. And the way the draft has been designed, teams will have a window and then come back to the pack, so we have to make use of the current opportunity and win another premiership or three.

I’d say Giddy is the flashy new thing atm. Not surprised.

Scrap this joke of an idea. Take the FS with it too but only after we get Whitey’s kid 😂

Please tell me you are joking?

Time to move on.

I saw this or another report on Channel 7. I maybe mistaken but I recall Ch7 saying that 20 or so MFC players/staff were away from training due to covid. Must have misheard because there has been nothing officially or anything on here either. Can anyone confirm?

I really like this bloke. So personable and easy to relate to. We are really spoilt for choice. We can manage an injury in just about every line atm but let’s hope for another healthy season. May is really the only player that has soft tissue vulnerabilities in backline but you could argue that his hammy in the finals was more a result of the push than anything else.

I think it is. I heard the commentary mention one of the players was raised in Parkdale - It caught my attention because I went to Parkdale Secondary College. I’m pretty sure they were talking about Boland at the time as he was bowling.

Is it to early to say that this will fall way short of the mark w.r.t consistency, the MRPs role and current operator and the whole bloody system which is ripe with inequity and favoritism? I still think the MRP matrix needs be clarified w.r.t the impact. It needs to have a category which covers the scenario where the player is injured and can no longer be part of the game - so impact grades can be low/medium/high (used when no actual injury has occurred) and critical (which is where injury has actually occurred). So if you bump someone off the ball and they are not injured or concussed, then its one of low/medium/high. If they are injured and need to be subbed out of the game, then it is automatic critical and that is 120% of impact= high or something to that effect. Or completely remove the 'actual' injury or lack thereof out of the equation, so if you elect to bump off the ball and head contact is made, irrespective of injury, automatic 2 week suspension. The more black and white this can be, the better for all (except the media and ensuing news cycle of course)

He did have a solid year, which was capped off by a phenomenal GF. Unfortunately that doesn’t count towards to the B&F… or does it?

Agreed - I was trying to Shazam it to find the artist and album but was unsuccessful which makes me think it maybe a live band.

There is also an espntv link that requires an account (and credit card) http://espn24tv.com/best-and-fairest/ From the 20ms I can see from the live feed before the login prompt pops up, it seems like nobody is sitting yet.

Just on loop. Waiting for the thing to start. Running late or tech difficulties?

Hard to see anybody take this away from Oliver. 1. Oliver 2. Trac 3. May 4. Salem 5. Gawn Norm Smith Memorial Trophy (most consistent): Its a hard one, but probably Oliver takes this as well? Ron Barassi Jnr Trophy (best leadership): Lever (assuming Gawn is not applicable as Captain?) Harold Ball Memorial Trophy (best young talent): Hard to go past Bowey Ian Ridley Memorial Trophy (community work) : Hard to know this one - presume Jetts still doing the good stuff. James McDonald Trophy (Melbourne spirt): Going out on a limb here to say ANB as the ultimate role player who was able to turn back from the 'abyss of delistment' and forge himself as premier small forward.

Rankine is an absolute jet. Is already a top performing small forward but also has the potential to become an elite midfielder. Hard to say what has caused his stagnation, but i think a lot of player development issues exist at Gold Coast. Remember when Rowell exploded onto the scene in his first 3-4 games before he did his shoulder? Since coming back has really just faded in obscurity.

Experts predicting 25K+ new cases per day by the end of Jan. If i have understood that number to be correct, undoubtedly we can expect a major impact on the AFL Footy season. Im going out on a limb and predicting that the team that manages to avoid COVID the most (luck) will probably end up with the premiership. I do hope that the AFL does introduce some common sense principles into whether games go ahead or not - something in the ball park of 5-10 of the starting 22 (missing due to a positive covid test) would be reasonable but how they make a fixture work with more forfeited games will be tough.