📊 Statistically Speaking: Round 15

In our weekly column, Statistically Speaking, we scoured the Champion Data stats to review Round 15 by the numbers.

STAR PERFORMER

Canberra midfielder Mitch Maguire was hard at work on Saturday against Redland, with his contested ball-winning ability going along way towards securing his side the four points. The 2018 NEAFL Rising Star winner had 37 disposals, 20 of which were contested, plus 12 clearances, four inside 50s and five rebound 50s.

RANKINGS RULER

NT Thunder may have suffered another big loss on Saturday night, but midfielder Abraham Ankers continues to shine. The 24-year-old had another outstanding performance against the GIANTS at TIO Stadium, where he collected 31 disposals (14 contested), 10 marks, four clearances, six inside 50s and seven tackles. He was wasteful in front of the sticks with 0.4, but Ankers’ performance still meant he led the round in Champion Data ranking points with 182.

ROOKIE WATCH

SUNS Academy member Connor Budarick had a solid return to the NEAFL on Saturday in Gold Coast’s loss to Sydney University. The U18 All Australian led his team for disposals with 21 and laid six tackles, and as named among the SUNS’ best players as a result. With the young gun pressing his claim for AFL Draft selection later in the year, expect plenty more from this young talent in the back end of the year.

HAMMELMANN EXTENDS LEAD

Redland full-forward Matt Hammelmann extended his lead in the NEAFL Leading Goalkicker race on Saturday with another four majors against Canberra, but he could have had a day out if he kicked straighter. Hammelmann had 16 disposals and 11 marks, but kicked 4.7 in front of the sticks. However, last year’s winner is in the box seat for a second consecutive title with 48 goals so far this year, 17 more than second-placed Tristan Davies.

STUDENTS HAND GOLD COAST A LESSON

Sydney University played some of its best football against Gold Coast on the weekend as they stormed back into the top six with a 50-point win. The dominance was evident in the contested possession count with the Students leading the round in this statistic with 159. Seven players had 10 contested possessions or more, with Jake Bartholomaeus leading the charge with 16. The SUNS, on the other hand, had just one – Mitch Riordan (15).

EFFICIENT GIANTS

NT Thunder was no match for the GIANTS in Darwin this week as the visitors were on another level when it came to disposal efficiency. No player had a DE less than 50% and the team operated at 75.1% for the match, which was the seventh-best performance by a team from 64 games played this year (special mention goes to defender Jake Stein, who had 21 disposals at an elite 95% efficiency). Brisbane holds three places in the top 10 but the record this year goes to Southport, which operated at 77.8% against Canberra in Round 10.

REIN-HARD TO STOP

Sydney University defender Ned Reinhard was tough to beat on Saturday in what was arguably his best performance for the club. Reinhard had 16 intercepts – just one shy of the season record – to go with an impressive stats sheet which read 27 disposals (12 contested), 11 marks and eight rebound 50s in a best-on-ground performance.

LEATHER POISONING

We had two big disposal hauls this week with Canberra’s Alex Smout (43) and Sydney’s Ryan Clarke (41) running amok for their respective clubs. Clarke is on another level, though, with the best average by far for anyone who’s played five games or more this year. Clarke has averaged an incredible 37.8 disposals from his six matches so far. Gold Coast’s Aaron Young (five games) is next best with 33.4. Southport’s Tyler Roos is ranked No.1 on the total disposals leaderboard with 396, followed by Smout (392) and Aspley’s Matthew Payne (363). 

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