Crow Paul Seedsman has gone from being broken down a year ago to leading the AFL in metres gained
ALMOST washed-up a year ago, Crow Paul Seedsman has become the No. 1 in the AFL for metres gained.
Andrew Capel
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AFL legend Leigh Matthews describes it as “crap football’’.
Another great of the game, David Parkin, says he is so sick of watching the ball go sideways that he turns off his television.
In a season where more AFL games have turned ugly and the state of the game is being questioned, players who gain metreage for their teams are becoming more and more valuable.
They are worth their weight in gold.
Enter Crows Paul Seedsman, Bryce Gibbs and Rory Atkins and Port Adelaide's Jared Polec and Riley Bonner.
One season after having groins so sore that he contemplated life after football, former Magpie Seedsman is not only in the form of his life, he leads the competition in average metres gained.
The long-kicking wingman’s 645 metres is a whopping 104 more than the next-ranked player, rebounding Fremantle defender Nathan Wilson (541).
“Paul’s an important member of our team and his style and the way he plays complements what we are trying to do,’’ Adelaide coach Don Pyke said of his playmaker’s new lease of life.
“He’s played his role really well and clearly his strength is his ability to kick the ball and run with distance, his metres gained numbers are really strong.
“That’s the sort of player he is and it’s important he brings that. After three years at our football club he has played six games in a row (for just the second time) and we are seeing the sort of player we thought we had when we brought him in.’’
Seedsman played just five games last year and didn’t play his first AFL match for the season until round 19 after battling chronic groin injuries.
Kicking is Seedsman's real strength.
He averages 39.4 metres per kick — 4.1m more than any other player in the competition.
Wilson is next with an average of 35.5m.
Most Metres Gained (min. 3 games)
Adelaide, which has lost more games to injury than any other club this season but still boasts a solid 4-2 record, does not play ugly football. This is recognised in it having three players ranked in the top 15 for metres gained, with star recruit Gibbs ranking seventh (495m) and wingman Atkins 15th (464).
“You want players who gain metres for your side — players who can break the lines and put the opposition under pressure,” said Matthews, describing metres gained as one of the most important statistics in the AFL.
“You want players who can move the ball.
“You don’t want players who kick backwards and sideways — they are crap stats.”
At the Power, it is two left-footers who are leading the way.
Flying wingman Polec is back to his very best form of 2014 — his first at Port after his trade from Brisbane — and ranks ninth in the competition, with an average of 483m of territory gained for his side.
Bonner — the round one Rising Star nomination — ranks equal 12th, with 473m.
Champion Data measures metres gained only on forward progress, through carrying, kicking and handballing, not disposals which go sideways or backwards.
Most Metres Gained per Disposal (min. 20 disposals per game)
Metre-eaters straighten teams up and allow them to play a more run-and-gun style of game.
When it comes to most metres gained per disposal, Seedsman (24.3m) and Bonner (22.7m) rank first and second respectively.
Polec’s success is illustrated in him averaging more Champion Data ranking points than any other of the big territory-eaters in SA.
Apart from gobbling up the ground with his explosive pace and sheer will to burst away from opponents for the Power, he is averaging a career-high 27.7 disposals at 70.5 per cent efficiency.
The metres gained statistics show how much Port will miss injured half-back flanker Hamish Hartlett.
Hartlett, who is out for the season after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at training last week, ranks third in metres gained at the Power, with 370.
andrew.capel@news.com.au
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