Dr. Gonzo

How good was Roger Waters? 74yo and the guy still has it, always puts on a hell of a show too! I did the same thing, took the opportunity to wander over for a look while waiting for people beforehand. I didn't realise how far back from swan st our training oval at Goschs is, I thought it was directly next door to AAMI Park. The little triangle pocket being proposed for the new facilities looks ridiculous as you walk up but once you get there you can easily imagine a multistorey development being quite suitable for our needs

Chadstone is the other side of the world for those of us in the north west suburbs

I disagree, the expectation is there that we will make finals this year internally and externally.

Flat Track Bullies

It was actually 5th in the AFL Prospectus so not sure where this list came from.

Having read some of champion data's AFL prospectus I thought they'd ranked the Pies midfield 6th, not 3rd. Could be wrong though. They do have a decent top end of mids in Pendlebury, Sidebottom and Treloar.

He was last year too Albeit inconsistent

You can eat the horse crap

Dark blue? DARK blue?? It's NAVY BLUE YOU HEATHEN!!!!

Catatonic

I mean the idea is ok but the AFL can't claim it as original. Pretty sure I saw the same thing in the cinemas 20 years ago only it had those guys from South Park in it

I'll say one thing for the AFL, at least they're able to attract the big name sponsors even to this bastardised version of a preseason game. I mean who would've thought we'd see the day when a global brand like Zooper Doopers would be sponsoring our home grown game.

Anything to distract the spectators from what is happening on the field The only redeeming part so far is listening to the boofhead commentators having to say "Zooper" goal with a straight face. Oh and also having to act like "Lehmo" is not a [censored].

Lol this is a joke. Has the AFL jumped the shark? Please don't play Petracca tomorrow, a serious injury in this less than Mickey Mouse comp would plunge me in to an irretrievable bout of MFCSS.

I've literally never heard of this guy. Isn't Dave Misson our "fitness guru"?

I wouldn't have Petracca TMac or Jetta in there but otherwise it's about what I had expected/hoped

I don't get it

Hmmm I see what you're getting at. Gil for PM.

Sick? No way. Butterflies of excitement. This team is ready people, enjoy the ride

We must get 80k to Queens bday this year, it needs to be a guaranteed crowd puller along with the other standalone games.

If KB is against it then it must be a good thing

The problem I have is that the advanced stats aren't available during the season or in realtime. They release their book at the start of the year then it's only the coaches and clubs who pay thousands that have access to the data. Noone can watch every minute of every game live at the ground but the stats give you the ability to break down what you can view on TV and provide analysis on both the macro and micro level. Yeah someone at the game might be able to tell you "ANB has worked his arse off today" but looking at the GPS data over the season and combining it with things like contested possessions, loose ball gets, inside 50s, scoring chain involvements etc etc creates the ability to add more in depth analysis and more certainty around that analysis rather than merely having your eyes to rely on. Conversely they also provide the ability to refute certain commentaries such as "so and so has had a great season" when in fact they may have accumulated a lot of cheap possessions but have had little overall impact on the team's ability to succeed.

If they could predict things with 100% accuracy they wouldn't be sharing the info, they'd be making a packet backing winners. The analysis does stand up, for the most part. Of course they can only base this on historical statistics and players performance can change from year to year, especially as they mature. You can't look at it and then predict the ladder from first to worst for the coming year but you can look at trends especially in game style and a players relative worth to his team. Take Dustin Martin for example, they do a piece on him as the 2017 player of the year. Early in his career the piece states Martin was being under-rated compared to his actual output. Then in 2016 he spent longer periods in the middle and was getting more touches but have less overall impact on his teams performance ie their ability to score. The football world starting getting on the Dusty bandwagon but relative to his performance in 2016 Champion Data felt he was being over-rated. 2017 he smashed it from pillar to post and the stats bare that out. They show some comparative heat maps from 2016 v 2017 where in 2016 often he was getting his touches around half back/midfield. 2017 he was getting more touches around midfield/half forward. He was also winning more one on one contests, far more than his next closest rival in Dangerfield (I believe the stats for 2017 were something like 86 1:1's won by Dusty vs about 26 for Dangerfield who was 2nd). Of course the ultimate statistic is the scoreboard and the best way to know what is happening is to actually watch the game in front of you. But the advanced stats that Champion Data have implemented allow us to better articulate what is happening, break down coaching strategies/game styles and make comparisons between teams and across years. Two more things I took away from their intro in this years Prospectus; 1) Up until 2008 scoring chains predominantly began in the back half of the field. This changed in 2009 where the amount of scoring chains between back and forward half were roughly equal - then since 2010 it has flipped and the majority now come from forward half. This correlates with Ross Lyon and Malthouse initiating the forward half press with teams getting more turnovers in the forward half providing scoring opportunities. 2) Since they began keeping scoring stats in 1999 the origin of scores has stayed pretty much constant. 60% from turnovers, 35% from stoppages, 5% (roughly a goal a game) from kick-ins. Teams that receive a kick-in after a point are likely to either turn it over or create a boundary throw-in or ball up and turning it over in the forward half is lethal. Looking at this from a rudimentary perspective you'd think the best plan of attack would be to just keep smashing the goal front from all angles. Chances are you'll get it back for another crack anyway. From the other perspective if you have possession at a kick-in and decide to play keepings off you better make damn well sure you retain possession or at the very worst create a stoppage. This explains why so many teams just go long and to the boundary from a kickout as its preferable to get a stoppage than a turnover and the chances of running the field and scoring from a kickout are extremely slim.

I think it's more about working with what you've got instead of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Small forward lines will work if your players are talented and driven enough. But you're not going to drop a big guy for a small guy if the big guy is more talented and offers more to the team (and vice versa).

I picked up the latest AFL Prospectus on Tuesday, for me it's must-read material before each season and has been for the last several years. In regards to positions, they have actually broken them down into General Defender, Key Defender, Mid, Wing, Ruckman, General Forward, Mid-Forward, Key Forward. There's a piece by Troy Luff on the change in gamestyles over the last couple of years and a particular focus on what Richmond did last year. He makes a comment in regards to the two most asked questions they often get at Champion Data - the most asked is "what's the most important statistic" and his response is "Points For" - that might appease some of the statistical luddites