2022 - what do the numbers tell us?

[Mofra]

https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/th-western-bulldogs

Western Bulldogs 2022 Averages Per Game
Team GM K HB D M T G B HO FF FA GA CL CG R50
Bulldogs 23 218.7 158.6 377.3 93.5 56.4 12.8 11.4 29.6 20.5 16.4 8.6 40.0 56.0 37.0
Opponent 23 221.3 139.2 360.5 106.5 55.6 12.0 9.9 41.4 16.4 20.5 8.1 32.1 57.6 42.0
Team Diff. 23 -2.6 19.4 16.7 -13.0 0.7 0.8 1.5 -11.9 4.1 -4.1 0.5 7.9 -1.6 -5.0

(Apologies in advance for formatting)

Key takeaways:
- We handball... alot. Handball club from 2016 still rings true. Is that still by design or are teams stifling our ball movement?
- -13 marks is big. We give up that cheap 45 far too easily, we saw GWS & Freo exploit this at Marvel late in the season
- We lose the hit outs but win the clearances pretty convincingly, so we shark opposition taps very well
- We are down in rebound 50s which is a big surprise. We just let teams 'slingshot' the ball far too easily. Our supposed forte... isn't

What else?

[Swoop]

Uncontested marks was a big issue for us this year. A lot of teams tried to kick through our zone as they identified that as an obvious weakness. Giants game at home was the biggest example of this when they took it to a complete another level. We don't need to reshape the wheel but certainly a fine tune is required.

Handball is part of our identity and how we move the ball out of congestion. We do need to identify periods when the pressure is high and we need to pull back a little. Think of Melbourne R19 game when we pulled the trigger on our kicks with success. Similarly this approach worked well against Geelong in Geelong for the first quarter.

There was probably a transition period there with Webb and hopefully Lade can come in and make a positive impact with the midfield group too.

[bornadog]

On average, we are top 4 for I50, Disposals, top5 in Goals, 1st in clearances but broken down, 1st in Centre CL, but 6th in Stoppage Cl, 6th for CP.

We are down in CM, 14th in tackles including 7th I50, 15th in HO.

The basics are there but we need to improve our tackling and hitouts. I don't know our ranking for hitouts to advantage.

[Mofra]

On average, we are top 4 for I50, Disposals, top5 in Goals, 1st in clearances but broken down, 1st in Centre CL, but 6th in Stoppage Cl, 6th for CP.

We are down in CM, 14th in tackles including 7th I50, 15th in HO.

The basics are there but we need to improve our tackling and hitouts. I don't know our ranking for hitouts to advantage.

This may raise the ire of some, but hit-outs are overrated. We had a clearance surplus despite giving up hitouts, and given our R2 next season will stop the slaughter for a few minutes per quarter as well I think we'll close that gap anyway.

Tackling is an issue. If you ignore the numbers, Dunkley was so far ahead of anyone on our list (and most of the comp) as a tackling mid/forward it's impossible to replace him with one midfielder. We have to replace that and then improve, no easy feat

[bornadog]

This may raise the ire of some, but hit-outs are overrated. We had a clearance surplus despite giving up hitouts, and given our R2 next season will stop the slaughter for a few minutes per quarter as well I think we'll close that gap anyway.

Tackling is an issue. If you ignore the numbers, Dunkley was so far ahead of anyone on our list (and most of the comp) as a tackling mid/forward it's impossible to replace him with one midfielder. We have to replace that and then improve, no easy feat

Hitouts to advantage is the better stat. I will do a search

[bornadog]

Individual % of hitouts to adv. Tim English better than some and in the ball park

Player	HTA%
Marc PittonetRUC	41.7
Tom De KoningRUC	36.2
Braydon PreussRUC	35
Matt FlynnRUC	34.6
Jarrod WittsRUC	34.3
Max GawnRUC	33.6
Nick BryanRUC	33.3
Sean DarcyRUC	33.3
Ben McEvoyRUC	32.6
Callum Coleman-JonesRUC	31.7
Sam HayesRUC	31.7
Nic NaitanuiRUC	31.7
Lloyd MeekRUC	31.6
Tim EnglishRUC	31.4
Toby Nankervis	29.5

[Mofra]

Individual % of hitouts to adv. Tim English better than some and in the ball park

Player	HTA%
Marc PittonetRUC	41.7
Tom De KoningRUC	36.2
Braydon PreussRUC	35
Matt FlynnRUC	34.6
Jarrod WittsRUC	34.3
Max GawnRUC	33.6
Nick BryanRUC	33.3
Sean DarcyRUC	33.3
Ben McEvoyRUC	32.6
Callum Coleman-JonesRUC	31.7
Sam HayesRUC	31.7
Nic NaitanuiRUC	31.7
Lloyd MeekRUC	31.6
Tim EnglishRUC	31.4
Toby Nankervis	29.5

If there was a stat for "ruckman uses his body to make space for the mids" I'd expect Nank to be closer to the top.
More than other positions I think ruckmen's stats just don't reflect a lot of what they do.

[F'scary]

Where are the stats for allowing opponents easy goals out the back?

What about "outside 5" vs standing the mark?

Metres conceded for not standing the mark?

We are a pretty good side offensively, but our defending, particularly against the better teams was often non-existent. Where are the stats that show we all too often just let the other team take the ball up the field unopposed until the last line of defence is reached?

We were the 8th ranked team in terms of points against. But 5th in terms of points for. Our game plan was based around all out attack with no plan B.

[bornadog]

What about "outside 5" vs standing the mark?

Metres conceded for not standing the mark? .

This has no effect on the game and is actually better than standing there like a dummy, while your opponent waltzes around you and plays on and gains even more metres. It was also adopted by many teams including Collingwood. Another innovation by Bevo to tell those FWits in AFL House to go get F and stop changing the very fabric of our game. The stand rule is a joke

[macca]

Q1. Where is the stat for forwarding leading patterns? Something Cats do very well and are super discipline

Q2. What is the stat for our fwd crumbers being at the foot of the ball as it comes down?

Q3. Where is the stat for sh$=*×3t fwd long bombs ?

Q4. Where is the state for our fwds leading j to the SAME spacr and spoiling each other ?

[Go_Dogs]

On the numbers it says we are too cute and not direct enough, plus we can’t maintain possession as well as other sides.

Would be interested to see goals from 6v6 rule centre bounce clearances. Suspect we aren’t great…

[F'scary]

This has no effect on the game and is actually better than standing there like a dummy, while your opponent waltzes around you and plays on and gains even more metres. It was also adopted by many teams including Collingwood. Another innovation by Bevo to tell those FWits in AFL House to go get F and stop changing the very fabric of our game. The stand rule is a joke

I agree that it was an over strict treatment of setting the mark (e.g., Treloar once gave a 50 metres penalty for lifting one foot off the ground) and the AFL's attempts to dig itself out of a hole made the situation even more complicated than before to umpire. But dealing with it involves judgement and strategy. We seemed to be an outlier in that we almost never chose to stand the mark.

I watched teams we were playing against often coming in hard on the mark when we had possession in our backline, standing there forcing us to go back behind the mark, giving them time to man up or zone. Our guys didn't like it and often turned the ball over from that situation.

We, on the other hand, took a near blanket approach of not manning the mark and allowed our opposition even more territory than the advantage they got from running wide of the mark when it is being stood (so to speak). There were times when they were even able to run straight in and shoot for goal when the mark was way outside the range. It's true. I saw it.

[F'scary]

On the numbers it says we are too cute and not direct enough, plus we can’t maintain possession as well as other sides.

Would be interested to see goals from 6v6 rule centre bounce clearances. Suspect we aren’t great…

It looked to me like we were often practicing "outside 5" at those too.