Total list breakdown: Age, experience, 100-gamers, teens and more Staff writers December 3, 2016 8:00 AMCLUB lists have been finalised for 2017 and a number of trends and anomalies have emerged.
AFL.com.au crunched the numbers across nine categories to paint a picture of how your club’s list compares to the opposition.
The Western Bulldogs defied history in their push to win the premiership from seventh, and 17 clubs will have analysed their list structure since.
That the Dogs won the flag with a team that still ranks 10th for average age and eighth for average games will have their main rivals miffed.
Then there is Greater Western Sydney, which has quietly become the second-oldest team in the AFL, while North Melbourne has gone the other way.
So is your club rebuilding or readying for a finals charge in 2017? We’ll let the numbers tell the story.
Average age of your team
Add a pair of 34-year-olds to your playing list (Sam Mitchell and Drew Petrie) and hey, presto, you become the oldest team in the competition. Congratulations, West Coast! Also noteworthy is that the allegedly fledgling Greater Western Sydney has the second-oldest list and the reigning premier Western Bulldogs are only mid-range. At the other end, the Lions are the youngest team by almost a year.
OLDEST TO YOUNGEST AVERAGE AGE
West Coast 24 years, 330 days
Greater Western Sydney 24y, 219d
Fremantle 24y, 207d
Hawthorn 24y, 184d
Essendon 24y, 102d
Geelong 24y, 18d
St Kilda 23y, 350d
Richmond 23y, 344d
Adelaide 23y, 340d
Western Bulldogs 23y, 322d
Collingwood 23y, 319d
Gold Coast 23y, 305d
Port Adelaide 23y, 286d
Carlton 23y, 299d
Sydney 23y, 265d
Melbourne 23y, 233d
North Melbourne 23y, 218d
Brisbane Lions 22y, 225d
- Ages calculated at round one, 2017
Average experience of your team
West Coast is the most experienced side after bringing in Sam Mitchell and Drew Petrie, both of whom have played more than 300 games. Greater Western Sydney ranked third after trading for Brett Deledio and drafting Matt de Boer and Tendai Mzungu, while Sydney (14th oldest) and Adelaide (16th) should improve as their younger players become more exposed to the elite level.
MOST TO LEAST AVERAGE GAMES
West Coast 85 games
Hawthorn 79
Greater Western Sydney 76
Essendon 69
Fremantle 67
Collingwood 64
Port Adelaide 64
Western Bulldogs 64
Geelong 63
St Kilda 63
Richmond 62
Gold Coast 60
North Melbourne 59
Sydney 59
Melbourne 58
Adelaide 57
Carlton 53
Brisbane Lions 42
Former Docker Tendai Mzungu adds to GWS’ experienced contingent. Picture: AFL PhotosAverage goals per player on your list
Coleman medallist Josh Kennedy (450 career goals) leads an experienced Eagles forward line, while North Melbourne recruit Drew Petrie (428) adds depth. Ty Vickery (158) joins a host of veterans including Jarryd Roughead (491), Cyril Rioli (268) and Luke Hodge (192) as regular goalkickers at second-ranked Hawthorn. At the other end of the table, the Lions have to rely on their young forwards, led by Josh Schache, to kick a winning score.
MOST TO LEAST AVERAGE GOALS
West Coast 63
Hawthorn 61
Sydney 49
Greater Western Sydney 46
Collingwood 43
Port Adelaide 43
Geelong 42
Adelaide 41
Western Bulldogs 41
St Kilda 39
North Melbourne 37
Fremantle 36
Richmond 36
Essendon 35
Gold Coast 35
Melbourne 30
Carlton 28
Brisbane Lions 24Finals experience
No surprises at the top here, with the leading five clubs being perennial finalists over the past 6-8 years. The Bulldogs are starting to close the gap, given a large majority of their premiership team played four finals each last year, while power Victorian clubs Carlton, Essendon and Richmond are among the bottom seven for total finals after a long stretch without success. The Brisbane Lions are placed last in this category, with 12 of their combined 35 finals attributed to Dayne Beams in his time at Collingwood. Similarly, Melbourne would be equal-last with the Lions if not for Jordan Lewis’ 23 finals with his former club Hawthorn.
MOST TO LEAST AVERAGE FINALS
Hawthorn 315
Sydney 267
West Coast 222
Fremantle 185
Geelong 185
Western Bulldogs 173
North Melbourne 139
Greater Western Sydney 135
Adelaide 130
Collingwood 125
Port Adelaide 90
Essendon 84
St Kilda 77
Richmond 65
Melbourne 58
Carlton 55
Gold Coast 52
Brisbane Lions 35
Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis have played a combined 47 finals. Picture: AFL Photos
Players yet to debutIn moving on Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Nick Dal Santo and Michael Firrito, the Kangaroos are clearly turning their attention to the future. That means they are changing the profile of the list and therefore are set to blood more youngsters. The premiership-winning Bulldogs have found a good balance between handing inexperienced players their debuts, if they earned them, and maintaining a core squad capable of competing week after week.
MOST TO LEAST YET TO DEBUT
North Melbourne 16
Adelaide 14
Geelong 14
Sydney 13
Carlton 12
Port Adelaide 11
Brisbane Lions 10
Fremantle 10
West Coast 10
Melbourne 9
Collingwood 8
Essendon 8
Greater Western Sydney 8
Hawthorn 8
St Kilda 8
Western Bulldogs 7
Richmond 6
Gold Coast 6Teenagers
Clubs’ recruiting across the past two NAB AFL Drafts is reflected in how many teenagers are on their lists. The Brisbane Lions brought seven teenagers into the club through the drafting period this year, while St Kilda recruited just three across the national and rookie drafts. Carlton has had an aggressive youth policy as it rebuilds under Brendon Bolton.
MOST TO LEAST TEENAGERS ON LIST
Brisbane Lions 11
Carlton 11
Gold Coast 10
Essendon 9
Geelong 9
North Melbourne 9
Collingwood 8
Port Adelaide 8
Sydney 8
Western Bulldogs 8
Adelaide 7
Hawthorn 7
Greater Western Sydney 6
West Coast 6
Fremantle 5
Melbourne 5
Richmond 5
St Kilda 4Players from other clubs
Carlton’s plundering of Greater Western Sydney sees the Blues with a remarkable 16 players boasting experience at another club. Just as eye-popping is the fact that defending premiers, the Western Bulldogs, have just five players with experience at another club. Three players from another club played in the Bulldogs’ flag but Joel Hamling departed to Fremantle as Travis Cloke arrived from Collingwood. Three of 2016’s four preliminary finalists are among the bottom four in this category, but a player from another club won both Geelong and Sydney’s best and fairest awards.
MOST TO LEAST PLAYERS FROM RIVAL CLUBS
Carlton 16
St Kilda 13
Collingwood 12
Greater Western Sydney 12
Hawthorn 12
Melbourne 12
Adelaide 11
Gold Coast 11
West Coast 11
Brisbane Lions 10
Richmond 10
Port Adelaide 9
Essendon 8
Fremantle 8
Geelong 7
North Melbourne 7
Sydney 7
Western Bulldogs 5The old blokes: 30 and over
Freo veterans Matthew Pavlich and Tendai Mzungu are no longer at the club but the Dockers still head this category. The suddenly experienced Giants’ tally includes the retired Joel Patfull, who is now on their rookie list for contractual reasons, while Heritier Lumumba has been counted although he might well have played his last game for Melbourne. Hawthorn’s stocks have thinned with the departures of Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis, while Collingwood’s only player over 30 is ex-Kangaroo Daniel Wells, whose former club lost six elder statesmen. The Eagles’ figure was boosted by the recruitment of Mitchell and ex-Roo Drew Petrie.
MOST TO LEAST PLAYERS 30 AND OVER
Fremantle 7
Greater Western Sydney 6
West Coast 5
Western Bulldogs 5
Essendon 4
Hawthorn 4
Melbourne 4
St Kilda 4
Adelaide 3
Geelong 3
Gold Coast 3
North Melbourne 3
Sydney 3
Carlton 2
Port Adelaide 2
Brisbane Lions 1
Collingwood 1
Richmond 1Players with 100 or more games
It’s no great surprise to see West Coast, Hawthorn – despite losing Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis – and North Melbourne at the top of this list, but Collingwood’s inclusion in equal third may turn some heads for a club that has been regenerating the past few years. At the other end of the table, the two Queensland clubs continue to lag in the experience department.
OLDEST TO YOUNGEST PLAYERS WITH 100 OR MORE GAMES
West Coast 19
Hawthorn 16
Collingwood 13
North Melbourne 13
Essendon 12
Fremantle 12
Geelong 12
Port Adelaide 11
Richmond 11
Greater Western Sydney 10
St Kilda 10
Adelaide 9
Carlton 9
Melbourne 9
Sydney 9
Western Bulldogs 9
Gold Coast 8
Brisbane Lions 7
Interesting set of stats there
Based on the age & experience demographic of our list we should be very much lid off about our chances next year.
At the same time we have a much higher number of teenagers on our list compared to some of the other flag aspirants, so been able to bring in a good influx of kids which will hold us in good stead in years to come.
The only thing we are down on that list the goal kickers. Have to just fix our fwd line, and IMO we will given progression of JD, Raz & TIPPA + Lang/Lav/Francis, Hooker permanent fwd, recruitment of Stewart/Green etc.
And will naturally kick more goals on end of dominant midfield getting way more inside 50’s than we have been able to achieve or recent times, who will also kick goals themselves.