2014 HITOUTS TO ADVANTAGE LEADERS (to Round 23)
S. Jacobs (33%) 257
S. Hampson (30%) 98
A. Sandilands (29%) 235
T. Goldstein (29%) 211
M. Lobbe (28%) 193
S. Mumford (27%) 168
M. Pyke (26%) 115
W. Minson (25%) 193
R. Warnock (25%) 141
P. Ryder (25%) 135
Stats: Champion Data
Certainly not what I expected!
Not enough talk about how Dangerfield will fix everything.
That’s crazy. He won’t fix everything. He’s just the extra one classy mid we need for everything to fall into place.
I call bulldust. Ryder would have contested more than 540 rucks in the season.
Paddy’s great element was his ability to recover from jumping and then get straight into a contest and tackle or bump.
His mobility and athletic ability. He was also never an out and out hit out winner, but he did that special thing every now and then where he would tap it to a player as they were in a semi-sprint.
Of course we will miss that, but it’s not vital.
10. P. Ryder (25%) 135I call bulldust. Ryder would have contested more than 540 rucks in the season.
Apparently not, ranked low top ten in total hit outs, average hit outs and hit outs to advantage.
10. P. Ryder (25%) 135I call bulldust. Ryder would have contested more than 540 rucks in the season.
Ryder had 549 hitouts and 25% of those were to advantage.
Lobbe is a better ruck than Ryder IMO.
Watched a few of our centre bounce set ups really closely on the weekend and we did nothing to quell armitage stepping straight into free space, started with no one beside him all second half.
We are struggling to cover hockings defensive mindset at the stoppage which allows him to at worst block and make a hole for jobe etc to break free from the congestion, lack of pace hurts but lack of strong blocking is hurting just as much if not more
10. P. Ryder (25%) 135I call bulldust. Ryder would have contested more than 540 rucks in the season.
Ryder had 549 hitouts and 25% of those were to advantage.
Oh OK. I thought it was 25% of the rucks he contested not of the rucks that he ‘won’.
Hmmmm. Does this then suggest that winning the ruck contest isn’t a key indicator of stoppage clearance success.
Last year we won 855 clearances. Paddy only hit 135 to our advantage (Paddy didn’t contest all of our stoppages so lets attribute some to our other rucks and say 170 (at best) hit outs to our advantage).
So, even if we assume that we won the clearance if Paddy (or our ruckman) tapped to our advantage, that helped us win only 20% of clearances.
So in summary - we win 20% of clearances due to our ruckman and his tapping to advantage and we won 80% of our clearances when our ruckman either loses the ruck contest or the him not tapping to our advantage.
To me this supports my view that our clearance problem is due to the mid-fielders not the ruckman. Specifically, our poor ball handling skills - fumbling the ball, double grabbing the ball, not being able to pick the ball up cleanly from the ground and when it’s on the ground 2 players both going for the same and spoiling each other. Add in slipping over, handballing to a team mate under pressure and blind turning into tackles.
10. P. Ryder (25%) 135I call bulldust. Ryder would have contested more than 540 rucks in the season.
Ryder had 549 hitouts and 25% of those were to advantage.
Oh OK. I thought it was 25% of the rucks he contested not of the rucks that he ‘won’.
Hmmmm. Does this then suggest that winning the ruck contest isn’t a key indicator of stoppage clearance success.
Last year we won 855 clearances. Paddy only hit 135 to our advantage (Paddy didn’t contest all of our stoppages so lets attribute some to our other rucks and say 170 (at best) hit outs to our advantage).
So, even if we assume that we won the clearance if Paddy (or our ruckman) tapped to our advantage, that helped us win only 20% of clearances.
So in summary - we win 20% of clearances due to our ruckman and his tapping to advantage and we won 80% of our clearances when our ruckman either loses the ruck contest or the him not tapping to our advantage.
To me this supports my view that our clearance problem is due to the mid-fielders not the ruckman. Specifically, our poor ball handling skills - fumbling the ball, double grabbing the ball, not being able to pick the ball up cleanly from the ground and when it’s on the ground 2 players both going for the same and spoiling each other. Add in slipping over, handballing to a team mate under pressure and blind turning into tackles.
That could actually explain why TBell is tapping to the opposition mids. Our chances of winning the clearance goes up dramatically on last year’s stats!
Yes, I’m being facetious 
Problem is our midfield doesn’t know to balance when to go for the ball, when to block for another player going for the ball, or when to stand ready to receive or mark an opponent.
We play little league get footy kick footy.
Balance is out of whack without Myers Hocking and Cooney.
Guys like Ambrose and Baugley and etc have very little experience in there, so it means its almost all or nothing on Jobe and Heppell.
I think peoples memory of Ryders tap work is significantly higher than his actual output was. I also think people are underestimating Belly's potential. The first thing I noticed when he returned late last year was how many more clean taps he got than I was used to from Ryder. Once the mids start getting to the right spots and reading his work I think it will be a combo above what we say with Ryder last year. It's no going to gel till the second half of the year.Nup.I think belly is struggling with running out games and it’s effecting his tap work. But I also think he is improving each week.
I like the backups we have in Giles and Smack, Giles is a direct replacement for Belly and Smack can play ruck or forward. I would be signing all three for 3 year contracts.
Might not have done much else (for 90% of his career) but his ability to direct a tap, and his understanding & combination with Jobe/Hepp/Hocking et al were absolutely unreal. Sandi’s a long way in front of anyone else going around, but Ryder was IMHO best after him, purely for taps to advantage.
I think Bellcho might well end up winning a lot more taps, and he’ll be much much better resting forward, but I doubt he’ll ever approach Ryder for % to advantage.
Interesting… I think there is a HO to advantage stat, might go try find it.
I think peoples memory of Ryders tap work is significantly higher than his actual output was. I also think people are underestimating Belly's potential. The first thing I noticed when he returned late last year was how many more clean taps he got than I was used to from Ryder. Once the mids start getting to the right spots and reading his work I think it will be a combo above what we say with Ryder last year. It's no going to gel till the second half of the year.Nup.I think belly is struggling with running out games and it’s effecting his tap work. But I also think he is improving each week.
I like the backups we have in Giles and Smack, Giles is a direct replacement for Belly and Smack can play ruck or forward. I would be signing all three for 3 year contracts.
Might not have done much else (for 90% of his career) but his ability to direct a tap, and his understanding & combination with Jobe/Hepp/Hocking et al were absolutely unreal. Sandi’s a long way in front of anyone else going around, but Ryder was IMHO best after him, purely for taps to advantage.
I think Bellcho might well end up winning a lot more taps, and he’ll be much much better resting forward, but I doubt he’ll ever approach Ryder for % to advantage.
Interesting… I think there is a HO to advantage stat, might go try find it.
Im not sure it's spread. The opposition just don't get sucked into the contest and have players 5m off the pack. Once it's out they're away.
Sam - spot on. This has been happening for years at EFC…!!
Watch our contested ball and centre clearances increase when Hocking returns. So under-rated in that area.
How much of our centre square drop off is due to not having Goodwin?
How much of our centre square drop off is due to not having Goodwin?
think someone mentioned skippy as being centre clearance/stoppage coach, if so not impressed.
How much of our centre square drop off is due to not having Goodwin?
Fark knows. But I’d say missing Myers, Hocking, and Ryder is cause for far greater drop off.
I think peoples memory of Ryders tap work is significantly higher than his actual output was. I also think people are underestimating Belly's potential. The first thing I noticed when he returned late last year was how many more clean taps he got than I was used to from Ryder. Once the mids start getting to the right spots and reading his work I think it will be a combo above what we say with Ryder last year. It's no going to gel till the second half of the year.Nup.I think belly is struggling with running out games and it’s effecting his tap work. But I also think he is improving each week.
I like the backups we have in Giles and Smack, Giles is a direct replacement for Belly and Smack can play ruck or forward. I would be signing all three for 3 year contracts.
Might not have done much else (for 90% of his career) but his ability to direct a tap, and his understanding & combination with Jobe/Hepp/Hocking et al were absolutely unreal. Sandi’s a long way in front of anyone else going around, but Ryder was IMHO best after him, purely for taps to advantage.
I think Bellcho might well end up winning a lot more taps, and he’ll be much much better resting forward, but I doubt he’ll ever approach Ryder for % to advantage.
Interesting… I think there is a HO to advantage stat, might go try find it.
There is, but you’ll have to pay champion data for it. Ryder (after about 2009 when he started playing regular ruck) was regularly around the top of the tables.
See above.
10. P. Ryder (25%) 135I call bulldust. Ryder would have contested more than 540 rucks in the season.
Ryder had 549 hitouts and 25% of those were to advantage.
Ryder has never been that great around the ground which drags his stats down. I be interested to see how he rates purely for his centre square work. i’d dare say he’d come out well in front.