Skuit

I was meaning to update a couple weeks back so it's not just a fair-weather bump - but I do hope others can help to keep the numbers fresh and add their own bits and pieces when they come across them. Anyway, at the end of Round 9: Scoring: 1st Scoring 1st Inside-50s 1st Inside-50 (Differential) Intensity 1st Contested 1st Contested Differential (by a huge margin) 2nd Clearances (1st Center - 3rd Differential) 3rd Tackles (3rd Most Tackles Against) 5th Tackles i50 4th poorest D/E% against/most Turnovers Against/most Clangers Against 3rd (!) Contested Marks! (6th least Contested Marks Against) Space/Territory 1st Least Kicks Against 1st Least Marks Against 1st Marks i50 3rd Metres Gained (2nd Differential) 4th Intercepts (2nd Differential) 2nd Least i50s Against 17th Rebound-50s 18th Bounces Notes - again, most of the stats are telling us exactly what we're seeing - although I don't think we're entirely appreciating the extent of our various multiple areas of dominance (possibly because we're still not consistently and fully capitalising on-field). We're top-notch at the coal-face stuff but we're also forcing the opposition to play our close-in game - i.e high tackles against. We're also putting a lot of pressure on the carrier and it's telling in the opposition turnover/DE%/clanger stats as well as the least kicks against figure. And we're smashing the territorial battle. The big surprise for me is in our continued contested marks statistics - a huge improvement on last year, and we've also properly balanced our kick/handball disposal ratios - another common grizzle from last year. The most pleasing thing for me - we're doing all the hard stuff and proving a dynamic forward threat. If I had to build a team game from scratch from a fan perspective, and could choose aspects of dominance by compromising in other areas, I would probably take contested/high-scoring/forward territory over high possessions and DE%. The Roos to Goody transition may have been an unintended masterstroke. We're both a hard and attacking football team in an aggressive and pressurised modern era. But disregarding my own personal footy fan-boy preferences - is this the formula for success? Manic, contested footy, a high-press, and thrusting the ball forward as the first priority?

So after succumbing to our strange 40 point roadblock again for two weeks in a row this month, we seem to have broken the hoodoo and kicked on with it in the past two consecutive weeks. Coincidence? Irrelevant? Turning point? For me, there has been an obvious intent within the team to do so in these past two weeks, and some of the language coming out of the club suggests that it's an area which has been addressed. Does this put to rest the question re. our potentially unsustainable game-style - or is it something which requires a longer-term measure? Will we be able to crush better teams when we dominate (such as Adelaide last year?) vs. Essendon 43 points (4th Qtr 9.10 mins) 48 points (19.29) 36 points (Final) vs. St Kilda 43 points (3rd Qtr 25.5 mins) 48 points (4th Qtr 4.18) 39 points (Final) ....................................... vs. Gold Coast 38 points (4th Qtr 7.1 mins) 69 points (Final) vs. Carlton 37 points (3rd Qtr 0.34 mins) 73 points (4th Qtr 4.15 mins) 109 points (Final)

As an aside, I live in Europe and have travelled a fair bit in my time. The vast majority of people I speak to overseas, from every corner of every continent, have derived most of their cultural understanding of Australia from Masterchef. And forget official figures - go on an illegal streaming site and you'll often see the show among the 'popular' content. This show is simply huge. For the most part these people will probably never care much about football. But in terms of international exposure, this is a massive coup - in fact, I can't think of a single, promotional effort that could bring as much widespread attention to our football club - especially one as easy and inexpensive as this. Masterstroke.

I still think he has depth-perception issues. Maybe we can shift one on the o's on Ooscar's $50,000 contract offer and he won't pick it up?

'We have looked at the game as an opportunity to improve all all aspects of how we go about things, including how we can better communicate key messages to our players when the opposition gets a run on. It is easy to forget how young our list is and we have two key leaders in TMac and Jack out so this week we are going to have Macca, who is definitely in no way disaffected and is really happy about the move and he and Goody get on better than ever and have a fantastic working relationship, you could even say a personal relationship, if you consider that time Macca went round to Goody's house for a BBQ, go back to his role that he played so brilliantly for the last 3 years as a key person communicating directly to players on the bench and conveying messages from the box. Which he is happy about.

Was vaguely concerned after reading the general thrust of this thread. Not so now. Thanks for sharing Cards. While there may be a kernel of truth somewhere in the story, it's a shame modern journos feel the need to sensationalise - whether it be internal media pressure, pandering to a mindless audience, or plain simple ego to break something big. I'll be taking a grain of salt with that kernel. And if there are a few minor internal problems, it's clear then that the club is moving to address them. A modern workplace.

I've been mostly concerned over the past couple years re. his capacity to gain clean possession off the deck. The weekend wasn't a time to judge but was again his biggest problem. Got to the right spots but fumbled or overran.

I'm certainly no expert, but assuming there's no further set-backs or especial caution I would expect players of Viney and Tmac's ilk to be available within the month.

I don't condone violence in any shape or form. Except where it concerns a five-foot football recruit in their first outing for our club and then it makes me smile.

I'm rather disappointed to hear he'll miss our first two premierships but maybe we can squeeze him in for our third?

I'm usually too absorbed in the ruck contest to register our ground set-up on TV or who's even present at our breakdowns - like the umpire is some magician distracting me with the ball - but I did notice this a couple times last year. Usually it spelled trouble though. A vast paddock opening up after a tight contest - Geelong and Hawthorn in the last quarters spring to mind.

This would appear the most logical deduction. Our kick to handball ratio has improved and we're probably clearing it a bit quicker from the breakdowns with less handballs around the pack - two of the biggest gripes on here last season. It may be the Goody quietly addressed the tackled numbers in the off-season - which would certainly add to fatigue within a game and additional wear across the season - and while it's difficult to quantify among other measures, we seem to be closing out games fairly well. Goody also strikes me as a man of deep statistics. I made the point in the post-match thread of Lewis's curious post-match on-field interview, where he somehow already knew the match stats for contested and centre-clearance differentials. Obviously a focus to win these numbers to the point where our leaders are being constantly updated.

A variety of sources wherever I can find them - which still sometimes requires some extra digging to navigate the sites. Primarily afl.com, afltables and footy-wire. Would love to know of any others. Always appreciate @Rafiki's subscriber Telstra additions, and I think the Hun may print some unique ones. I imagine the betting agencies might have some obscure stats on occasion as well. The ones above are all pretty surface - so hoping others can dig out some more curious figures.

This always turns my brain around as well - like a double-negative through connotation. To clarify; we're the seventh-most tackled team. 2016 we were the most tackled team and last year we were on track for one of the top-most. Curious as to what has caused this drop? Also, I'd love if someone knew where to find the attempted and broken tackle stats to see if there's any variation.

We held our stat-line quite well for a good portion of last year until the injuries began to bite and the midfield figures and then scoring dried up (as a rough and ready figure; we scored above 100 points 7 out of the first 12 matches until we played West Coast. Only once thereafter). I think we'd be pretty short odds to end up top-four for contested and centre clearances this year and so then inside-50s as well - though we have a fairly young midfield brigade still which might fade a fraction.

The home of statistics and discussion thereof. As of the end of round 3; Scoring for and against Demons 1st in points scored. 1st in inside-50s 1st in least opposition inside-50s Thus 1st in inside-50 differential by a huge margin. 3rd in assists and marks inside-50 Last for rebound-50s and second-last for opponent rebound 50s. Intensity 2nd in total contested possessions – 1st for contested possession differential and the only team at 3-0 for contested wins. 4th clearances (3rd centre/7th stoppages) 4th for tackles 7th for tackles against (this is a huge improvement on recent years) Possession for and against 16th marks – but 3rd in least opponent marks per game. Also 9th contested marks. 1st in least opponent kicks 4th in least opponent disposals 12th for clangers Summary: I think for the most part the early statistics are bearing out what we're seeing with our eyes - inefficiency. But perhaps the frustration of this inefficiency is blinding us a fraction to our absolute dominance in a couple of areas, namely the contested battle and sheer volume of ball moving forward. We're also perhaps the one mobile clearance specialist short to really step it up (JV). The stats are however fairly similar to the early part of last year. But there's some subtle differences re. the nature of disposals for and against. We're kicking more and being kicked and tackled against less - areas which should help with endurance. We're also (to my surprise) not getting completely completely hammered in the marking and are a bit cleaner in our disposal. Basically, we're playing contested footy, but also shutting down space and forcing the opposition to do the same. Together, it all bodes super-well if we can clean up just a fraction up front or get a smidgen tighter down back - the latter which we should be able to do considering we have three AA-level defenders currently out of form or learning to gel (as well as a potential top-line rebounder in Hunt), while as to the former we're still fiddling with in the unexpected absence of Tomald. Lastly, it's just three rounds, and we've played two likely bottom-four teams - but I think we tend to play as well or as poorly despite the opposition and that most of these stats will hold. Add your own obscure statistics or whatever you think are pertinent and let's monitor where we stack up as the season progresses. Go Dees!

Those walking sticks come in pretty handy as well when leaning over to repeatedly push a button begins to make the pokies feel like a bit of a chore. Hopefully the club will now invest in some prodies for those of us who prefer our hobbies to be little less action-packed.

The point is is that we are having our way with teams at times. And if we extended these leads by a couple more goals I'm pretty certain most teams would roll over.

Is it too early in the season to dust off this old thread? Again, that mysterious barrier around the 40 point mark . . .

Being squeezed out on every line. Hasn't shown much at all at half-forward to justify a rotating spot there ahead of our HF medium fleet, a fair way down the order in the primary mid category, and at half back, where I think he will settle and is his most natural spot, we're looking for consistency in personnel and plugging the rotations with our seniors to make up for the already current immaturity of the group. Like ProDee, he was the first squeezed from my on-field 22 (not necessarily our best 22 players) - followed by the other 'surprise' omissions from round 1. Also had an absolute shocker against Collingwood - so may need to rebuild trust.

I thought it would have been nice to have had more players taking contested marks and applying forward tackling pressure. I.e - not Jack.

I was just out running some errands Jumbo.

I'm staggered by this. There are actually two people named La Comedia who support Melbourne? What are the odds?

I still hate our club for not picking him and I'm not even related to Ollie.