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AFL’s quirky stat leaders revealed mid-way through 2019 season
Most of us know who gets a lot of disposals per game and who kicks the goals but do you know who has spent the most time on the ground this season? What about running bounces? See the AFL’s quirky stats leaders for 2019.
Dan Batten, Herald Sun
June 5, 2019 10:15am
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There are a number of statistics taken in footy, with disposals, marks, kicks and goals the major ones we rate a player’s performance on.
But there are a number of statistics that aren’t available to us at the click of a button — some of them are quirky, but also quite fascinating.
Check out the unknown stats leaders below.
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KICK-INS
— Most kick-ins taken: Shannon Hurn (86)
— Most play on from kick-ins: Jake Lloyd (67)
When the AFL announced the new kick-in rules — allowing players to waltz out of the square without kicking to themselves — the eyes of SuperCoach players lit up. While it hasn’t made a significant impact to defenders across the board, two defenders in particular have reaped the rewards of the freedom.
West Coast skipper Shannon Hurn is the man guilty of sprinting to the goalsquare the most after a behind is scored, taking 86 kick-ins across the season.
However, Swans rebounder Jake Lloyd has played on from the most kick-ins this season, doing so 67 times — more than six times per match.
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Shannon Hurn has taken the most kick-ins of any player this season. Picture: Michael Klein
RUNNING BOUNCES
Connor McKenna and Seb Ross (23)
While one name under this category comes as no surprise, many footy fans would be shocked to see Seb Ross here.
We don’t often associate long, raking runs down the wing with contested beast Ross, but the Saints midfielder is leading this category with running defender Connor McKenna.
METRES GAINED
James Sicily (560 per game)
The Hawthorn defender ranks first in the league, averaging 560 metres per game.
He leads this stat due to his tendency to kick rather than handball, recording a 3.35:1 kick to handball ratio.
Sicily also ranks in the top five in the competition for rebound 50s (1st), turnovers (3rd), intercepts (3rd) and marks (4th).
James Sicily in action for the Hawks. Picture: Michael Klein
CENTRE BOUNCE ATTENDANCES
Patrick Cripps (253)
He was kept to just 11 disposals by tagger Dylan Clarke on the weekend, but Patrick Cripps has been stationed in the centre square more than any player this season.
The contested animal has attended 253 centre bounces across the season, an average of 23 per game.
The amount of goals conceded by the Blues may have helped boost his numbers in this statistic.
MOST/LEAST TIME ON GROUND
— Most time on ground: Ben Brown (97%) — most have played all matches
— Least time on ground: Luke Davies-Uniake (67%) — minimum eight games
The players who spend the most and least time on the ground both come from the same club.
North Melbourne spearhead Ben Brown has spent a whopping 97 per cent of game time on the ground — an illustration of his phenomenal aerobic capacity.
Putting this into perspective, in a 120-minute game, the Roos goalkicker spends an average of three minutes and twenty four seconds on the bench.
On the flip side, young midfielder Luke Davies Uniacke has spent just 67 per cent of time on ground, the lowest of any player to have played eight matches.
Ben Brown celebrates a goal. Picture: Michael Klein
HIGHEST/LOWEST DISPOSAL EFFICIENCY
— Highest: Shannon Hurn (88%) — minimum 20 disposals
— Lowest: Brayden Fiorini (59%) — minimum 20 disposals
Kick-in king Shannon Hurn leads the way in this department, while an emerging Suns midfielder has recorded the worst disposal efficiency of any player this season.
Hurn tends to kick the ball long to a contest — with kicks 40m or longer to a contest classed as effective by Champion Data — especially from kick-ins.
The distributor is averaging 22.8 effective disposals per game — hitting the target 88 per cent of the time.
His retention is even more remarkable considering his kick to handball ratio is just under 4:1 — averaging 20.7 kicks and 5.3 handballs this season
In stark contrast, Brayden Fiorini has hit the target with just 59 per cent of his disposals in 2019.
The Suns midfielder has been registering some good numbers, averaging 28.1 disposals per game (including 18.3 kicks), but hits the target with just 16.5 disposals a match.
HIGHEST/LOWEST HIT-OUTS TO ADVANTAGE
— Highest: Max Gawn (14.7 per game)
— Lowest: Callum Sinclair (5.5 per game)
Max Gawn has been a dominant force in the ruck this season, averaging 42.3 hit-outs per game, and his hit-out to advantage numbers are seeing his teammates get first use out of the middle.
The bearded giant is averaging 14.7 hit-outs to advantage per game, putting the ball in his teammates’ bread basket with 34.8 per cent of his hit-outs.
On the flip side, Swans ruckman Callum Sinclair averages just 5.5 effective hit-outs, despite tallying 27.2 hit-outs per game.
This sees his hit-out rate at a low 20.2 per cent.
Max Gawn has been a dominant force in the ruck this season. Picture: Phil Hillyard
SCORE ASSISTS
Tom Hawkins (26)
He’s sitting in second spot in the Coleman Medal race, trailing Jeremy Cameron by eight goals, but Tom Hawkins does lead the way in another forward 50 stat.
The unselfish Cat has assisted 26 scores in 2019, averaging 2.4 score assists per game.
Hawkins is in some ominous form this season, tallying 13.9 disposals and booting 31 goals.
INTERCEPTS AND INTERCEPT MARKS
Intercepts — Luke Ryan (103)
Intercept marks — Jeremy McGovern (39)
Luke Ryan has gone to another level this season, recording the most intercept possessions in the competition, averaging 9.4 intercepts per game.
The No.1 man for intercept marks will surprise no one, with Jeremy McGovern clunking 3.5 intercept marks a match — providing a fantastic springboard for the Eagles’ side.
Tom Hawkins leaders two categories — score assists and one-on-one contest wins. Picture: Getty
HIGHEST/LOWEST ONE-ON-ONE CONTEST WINS
Highest: Tom Hawkins (50%) — minimum 20 contests
Lowest: Mitch Brown (10%) — minimum 20 contests
This statistic displays the sheer power of Hawkins in one-on-one contests.
The in-form forward wins 50 per cent of one-on-one marking contests — outstanding numbers for a player who is kicked to so often.
It also says a bit about the quality of ball coming his way, with the likes of Gary Ablett, Mitch Duncan and Tim Kelly kicking it long to his advantage.
Bombers forward Mitch Brown comes in at the other side of the spectrum, winning just 10 per cent of one-on-one marking contests in his five games this year.
FREE KICKS FOR AND AGAINST
Free for — Max Gawn (29)
Free against — Shane Mumford (30)
Two of the competition’s leading ruckmen hold the title of most frees for and against.
Demon Max Gawn has been given the most frees of any player in the league, with opposition rucks often giving away free kicks to him in ruck contests due to his height and strength.
The returning Shane Mumford has given away a whopping 30 free kicks despite playing just eight games for the season.
The big man is averaging 3.8 frees against a game, helped by a mammoth nine frees against in Round 7 against young ruckman Rowan Marshall.