Quote Originally Posted by Danjul View Post
When Sweet was in the ruck for 5 games the team had over 40 clearances 4 times (80%rate) And 36 in the fifth.. Over the previous 3 seasons (60 games) the rate was 25%.

Same with Martin.

Why? Because they are both real ruckmen.

In the first half of the season (the Martin-Sweet era) the team had two 100 point victories, one each.

In the second half of the season the number of losses increased, the percentage was eroded and the team fell out of the top four. When the Martin-Sweet era finished the team went on to lose 4 of its last 7 home and away games.

There is no evidence that having either Martin or Sweet in the team does any harm and history shows that it probably did some good. People who disagree need to provide evidence, and none have. Simply saying that I havenÂ’t offered a sophisticated multi factorial statistical analysis is simply a cop out.
I think in hindsight (I mean we made the GF so did a lot right) not playing Sweet during the period Martin was out was a mistake. Many called for it in real time as well looking back.

I can only guess that he, as Trengove before him didn't contribute enough to Bevo's core tenet "the turnover game"; his GPS numbers maybe indicated this.

Problem I have with that is neither does Martin, and in the era of "the number of the beast" centre clearances are almost as important as his coveted anti counter attack mindset.

If Sweet leaves; wow: questions need asking. I mean he's no Gary Dempsey but we missed a great opportunity to see what he's got.