As the saying goes, bad kicking is bad football. And good kicking in front of goal is never more important than in finals, as Wynstan Stats Central examines.
Recent AFL history is littered with stories of finals heartbreak caused by inaccurate goalkicking. One club that perhaps knows most about the topic is Geelong, which had nine more scoring shots than Hawthorn but lost the 2008 Grand Final by 26 points and had three fewer scoring shots than St Kilda but won the 2009 decider by 12 points.
Well, it turns out the 2016 VFL Cats are the best goalkicking team in the competition, recording a scoring accuracy of 61.9% so far this season – almost three per cent higher than the next-best finals contender, Collingwood (59.1%).
Geelong certainly proved the value of good goalkicking against the Casey Scorpions in Round 20, losing every key statistical category recorded by Champion Data but still claiming an 11-point win. The Cats booted 13.5 to Casey’s 10.12, with the Scorpions the fourth-best finals-contending team for scoring accuracy on 57.3%.
Above them on the list is Essendon (58.1%), while below them the order goes: Port Melbourne (55.9%), Williamstown (55.6%), Sandringham (54.8%), Richmond (54.7%) and then Footscray on 50.6% – an 11 per cent less likely proposition to put the ball through the big sticks than the dead-eyes from Geelong.
Other key stats from Round 20:
7: Alex Boyse has made a big impact for Essendon since making his VFL debut two weeks ago, kicking seven total goals in crucial victories over Williamstown and then North Ballarat. The 189cm 22-year-old booted four straight majors from 16 disposals and nine marks against the Roosters, helping his team stay one win clear inside the top eight.
17: Collingwood’s VFL-listed players have been integral to the Magpies being in prime position to claim the minor premiership, and perhaps their most underrated this year has been defender/midfielder Matt Smith. The 25-year-old is club’s only VFL-lister to have played every game (17), ahead of seasoned VFL campaigners Jordan Kelly and Ben Moloney (both 16).
Round 20 stats leaders:
KICKS |
|
|
|
Matt Jones |
Casey Scorpions |
27 |
|
Damian Mascitti |
Port Melbourne |
25 |
|
Mitch Honeychurch |
Footscray |
23 |
|
Jason Tutt |
Northern Blues |
22 |
|
Mitchell Hibberd |
Werribee |
22 |
|
David Mirra |
Box Hill Hawks |
20 |
|
Shaun Edwards |
Essendon |
20 |
|
Matt Austin |
North Ballarat |
20 |
|
Jack Grimes |
Casey Scorpions |
19 |
|
Joshua Newman |
Frankston |
19 |
|
Sam Crocker |
Port Melbourne |
19 |
|
Colin Garland |
Casey Scorpions |
18 |
|
Coleman Schache |
North Ballarat |
18 |
|
Oliver Tate |
North Ballarat |
18 |
|
Blaine Boekhorst |
Northern Blues |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
HANDBALLS |
|
|
|
Ben Jolley |
Williamstown |
21 |
|
Michael Gibbons |
Williamstown |
20 |
|
Jonathan O'Rourke |
Box Hill Hawks |
20 |
|
Toby Pinwill |
Port Melbourne |
19 |
|
Sam Iles |
Box Hill Hawks |
18 |
|
Jack Grimes |
Casey Scorpions |
17 |
|
Declan Hamilton |
Footscray |
17 |
|
Alex Greenwood |
Footscray |
17 |
|
Aaron Heppell |
Essendon |
15 |
|
Jack Trengove |
Casey Scorpions |
14 |
|
Anthony Miles |
Richmond |
14 |
|
Kieran Lovell |
Box Hill Hawks |
14 |
|
Ryan Clarke |
Werribee |
14 |
|
Bailey Williams |
Footscray |
14 |
|
Marc Lock |
Box Hill Hawks |
14 |
|
|
|
|
|
MARKS |
|
|
|
Colin Garland |
Casey Scorpions |
13 |
|
Brody Mihocek |
Port Melbourne |
13 |
|
Sam Dunell |
Williamstown |
12 |
|
Lucas Walmsley |
Frankston |
11 |
|
Lauchlan Dalgleish |
Footscray |
11 |
|
Brayden Irving |
Frankston |
10 |
|
Tim O'Brien |
Box Hill Hawks |
10 |
|
Isaac Conway |
Werribee |
9 |
|
Will Minson |
Footscray |
9 |
|
Robin Nahas |
Werribee |
9 |
|
Lynden Dunn |
Casey Scorpions |
9 |
|
Guy Dickson |
Port Melbourne |
9 |
|
Alex Boyse |
Essendon |
9 |
|
Sam Crocker |
Port Melbourne |
9 |
|
Declan Hamilton |
Footscray |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
HITOUTS |
|
|
|
Jarrod Witts |
Collingwood |
62 |
|
Michael Sikora |
Frankston |
56 |
|
Jake Spencer |
Casey Scorpions |
47 |
|
Nick Meese |
Williamstown |
47 |
|
Braydon Preuss |
Werribee |
30 |
|
Orren Stephenson |
North Ballarat |
28 |
|
Ivan Maric |
Richmond |
23 |
|
Tom Campbell |
Footscray |
22 |
|
Khan Haretuku |
Port Melbourne |
22 |
|
Billy Longer |
Sandringham |
21 |
|
Marc Pittonet |
Box Hill Hawks |
19 |
|
Matthew Eagles |
North Ballarat |
19 |
|
Ryan Abbott |
Geelong |
18 |
|
Ivan Soldo |
Richmond |
17 |
|
Harrison Prior |
Frankston |
17 |
|
|
|
|
|
TACKLES |
|
|
|
Jackson Sketcher |
Frankston |
12 |
|
Jack Grimes |
Casey Scorpions |
12 |
|
Ben Moloney |
Collingwood |
12 |
|
Ryan Clarke |
Werribee |
10 |
|
Mitchell O'Donnell |
Box Hill Hawks |
10 |
|
Jack Trengove |
Casey Scorpions |
9 |
|
Ed Vickers-Willis |
Werribee |
9 |
|
Sam Switkowski |
Box Hill Hawks |
9 |
|
Jack Sinclair |
Sandringham |
9 |
|
Jake Stringer |
Footscray |
9 |
|
Ryan Abbott |
Geelong |
8 |
|
Luke Kiel |
North Ballarat |
8 |
|
Dillon Viojo-Rainbow |
Northern Blues |
8 |
|
Kade Stewart |
Box Hill Hawks |
8 |
|
Tom Atkins |
Geelong |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
VFL LEADING GOALKICKERS |
|
|
Seniors |
|
Goals |
Total |
Ahmed Saad |
Coburg |
BYE |
47 |
Cameron Shenton |
Sandringham |
3 |
33 |
Dylan Conway |
Williamstown |
DNP |
33 |
Ayce Cordy |
Williamstown |
_ |
32 |
Sam Dunell |
Williamstown |
4 |
31 |
Liam Hulett |
Casey Scorpions |
2 |
26 |
Liam McBean |
Richmond |
1 |
26 |
Timothy Smith |
Casey Scorpions |
1 |
25 |
Nathan Gardiner |
Frankston |
2 |
24 |
Kristian Jaksch |
Northern Blues |
_ |
24 |
|
|
|
|
Development League |
|
|
|
Hudson Thomas |
Frankston |
3 |
27 |
Billy Hogan |
Port Melbourne |
** |
22 |
Jake Summers |
Box Hill Hawks |
BYE |
22 |
Thomas Baker |
Casey Scorpions |
2 |
22 |
Lachlan Langford |
Box Hill Hawks |
BYE |
20 |
Julian Dobosz |
Sandringham |
1 |
20 |
Mitchell Vandenberg |
Werribee |
BYE |
19 |
Jake Kalanj |
Coburg |
BYE |
18 |
James Freeman |
Casey Scorpions |
2 |
18 |
Nicholas Ebinger |
Williamstown |
_ |
17 |
*Photo: Arj Giese
Related content:
Stats Central Rd 19: Casey's ball hogs
Stats Central Rd 18: Tale of Dogs and Hawks
The VFL stats that matter
Stats Central Rd 17: Dolphins swim forward
Stats Central Rd 16: Tiger toughness
Last Modified on 24/08/2016 23:24