I've recently made comments about Pittonets ruckwork. Best i've seen from a bloke in navy blue since Matty Allen.
I've also gone on to say that his form could potentially spell the end for our beloved Matty Kreuzer.
People have their own opinions, but i prefer to back it up with stats where possible. So I've done just that with the help of some new stats i've come across in regards to rucking.
Stats used are RC - Ruck Contests - How many times you've competed in a 1-on-1 ruck contest HO - Hitout - Normal stat, how many hitouts you've one HA - Hitout to Advantage - how useful those hitouts were. Was it to the direct advantage of your team. HO% - Hitout % - What percentatge of hitouts that you competed in, did you win. HA% - Hitouts to Advantage % - What percentage of hitouts that you won, went to advantage CA% - Contests to Advantage % - What percentage of ruck contests that you competed in, resulted in a hitout to advantage
This last one is the key as it tells us what are the chances that we will get a direct advantage from any give ruck contest. HA% only tells us how effective the hitouts we get our hands on are and it doesn't include the contests we lost.
With that in mind. Lets look at our week by week of Pittonet vs Opponent
R# RC HO HA HO% HA% CA% Player R2 65 23 10 35% 43% 15% Pittonet R2 72 34 10 47% 29% 14% Gawn
Despite not winning the 'hitouts' (which is the only common stat used) his hitout to advantage rate is much higher than any opponent he faces. Further to that, despite not winning the overall hitouts, the chances of a 'hitout to advantage' when he lines up in a ruck contest is superior than anyone he comes up against. (This is the final bolded column)
After spending the better part of an hour going through a lot of the above, i a stat which sums up a lot of the above rather simply.
He is "ELITE" in hitouts to advantage competition wide.
Although as mentioned, that is only half the tale.....by extension he would also be ELITE in 'hitouts to advantage from contests rucked in.' The simple difference is the last stat takes into accounts his opponent wins as well.
DUAL AFLW best and fairest winner Erin Phillips uttered some prophetic words about this time last year.
Carlton's Maddy Prespakis had just finished an impressive debut season in the competition and offered her congratulations to Phillips after the announcement of her second individual triumph.
Phillips' response? "Don't worry, kid, this will be you one day."
That day took barely 12 months to arrive, with Prespakis' barnstorming start to her AFLW career capped with the 2020 best and fairest award on Tuesday night.
Quote
AFLW BEST AND FAIREST TOP 10 1. Madison Prespakis (Carlton) 15 2. Kiara Bowers (Fremantle) 12 3. Emma Kearney (North Melbourne) 11 =4. Anne Hatchard (Adelaide) 10 =4. Jenna Bruton (North Melbourne) 10 5. Karen Paxman (Melbourne) 9 =7. Brittany Bonnici (Collingwood) 7 =7. Georgia Patrikios (St Kilda) 7 =7. Jaimee Lambert (Collingwood) 7 =7. Monique Conti (Richmond) 7
Well done to Maddy.
She is going to have to have a dedicated wing to house all her awards. 2 carlton B+Fs 1 rising star 1 AFLW B+F 2 AA's Inaugural VC in 22under22 team. AFLW MVP runner up
CARLTON co-captain Kerryn Harrington has had her defensive talents recognised, being named the 2020 Reflex Defender of the Year by Channel 9’s Womens Footy.
Not bad from someone who didn't make the AA team. What does that say about the defenders that made it??
No official announcement on when this is yet, but we are definitely playing against the Kangaroos who had a hard fought win against the pies.
Perhaps the pies showed us the gameplan to beat the kangas, but didn't quite have the skill level to pull it off.
Hopefully the Dees show us similar against the Dockers before the Grand Final.
Maddy P the only injury question mark to come out of the game, and given she was back out there, i reckon she is 99.9% likely to play. Which means we will most likely have an unchanged lineup, yet again, for at least the 4th week in a row.
If we could get the injury luck the girls have in the mens game, we might be half a chance there as well.
In any event, this will be a big game and a big test.
Which in reality, is probably the worst thing that could happen to us. Because IF we get past the Lions first up, a tough ask as it is, we'll either play the best team in the comp (IMO) Kangas, or the team that has the (colling)wood over us, the pies. in week 2. Then potentially the undefeated Dockers in the grand final should we somehow make it there.
In any event....we will find out if my mock finals systems is correct or if they go something random in the next 24 hours
1:10pm at home against the new girls on the block, the Eagles.
What appears to be an easy game against the lowly eagles could translate to a danger game if we take it lightly.
With % likely to decide finishing order in the finals, this week is one we must give our all. It has the potential to elevate us to a spot where we get a bye in week 1 of the finals.
Got a pretty settled lineup of late. Question marks over Harrington. IMO Edwards needs to deliver more and is potentially in danger of losing her spot.