The best endurance players in the AFL revealed

IF you’re wondering how far AFL footballers run in a match, or how faster they’re doing it, we’ve got the results from exclusive GPS data generated by every player in the comp.

JONATHAN Brown described Tom Scully as the best runner football has seen — and we have evidence to support him.

Scully is officially the AFL’s premier running man, working harder and for longer than any other player in the game in 2017.

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For the first time, the Herald Sun has been given exclusive access to GPS data generated by the competition’s 816 players across the 23-round home-and-away season.

How far do they run? How fast do they do it? Who digs deepest when their team has the ball and who pushes hard when they don’t?

The numbers reveal:

SCULLY averages a league-high 16.6km per game and his standing as the game’s unrivalled endurance machine is laid bare by his ownership of the four highest distance totals this year, topped by a 18.3km effort against Collingwood in Round 8.

Giants midfielder Tom Scully has the best endurance in the league. Picture: Michael Klein

GREATER Western Sydney’s attacking threat is underlined by having the three hardest-working offensive players, with Scully (7.1km), Lachie Whitfield (6.51km) and Toby Greene (6.4km) averaging the most distance per game when their team is in possession.

WEST Coast winger Andrew Gaff is the most selfless runner, working back harder than any other player and covering the most ground (6.5km) when West Coast don’t have the ball. Interestingly, not one Giants player appears in the top five for distance covered in defence.

BRADLEY Hill is the repeat effort king of the competition, averaging 35.3 sprints (running above 24km/h for at least one second) per game for Fremantle.

NORTH Melbourne whippet Shaun Atley recorded the fastest top speed — 35.3km/h to burn off Hawthorn in Round 21.

The running men - 2017 averages

Distance covered in a game

Tom Scully (GWS) 16.62km

Andrew Gaff (WC) 15.95km

Lachie Whitfield (GWS) 15.60km

Steele Sidebottom (Coll) 15.18km

Isaac Smith (Haw) 15.13km

Distance covered at high speed

Tom Scully (GWS) 4.16km

Bradley Hill (Frem) 3.43km

Lachie Whitfield (GWS) 3.10km

Jack Sinclair (StK) 3.08km

Steele Sidebottom (Coll) 2.96km

Distance covered in attack

Tom Scully (GWS) 7.12km

Lachie Whitfield (GWS) 6.51km

Toby Greene (GWS) 6.41km

Steele Sidebottom (Coll) 6.41km

Andrew Gaff (WC) 6.37km

Distance covered in defence

Andrew Gaff (WC) 6.50km

Nick Robertson (Bris) 6.44km

Sam Gibson (NM) 6.35km

Ethan Hughes (Frem) 6.34km

Harris Andrews (Bris) 6.34km

Sprints in a game

Bradley Hill (Frem) 35.3

Tom Scully (GWS) 32.9

Jeff Garlett (Melb) 26.9

Jeremy Cameron (GWS) 26.6

Steven Motlop (Geel) 26.1

SOURCE: Champion Data

* Minimum 10 games

But it’s Scully who is the AFL’s Thomas the Tank Engine.

The No.1 pick in the 2009 national draft, Scully has been one of the most harshly-judged players in the game alongside former Melbourne teammate Jack Watts.

The midfielder left the Demons in 2011 when the club was on its knees for what was then-described as the heftiest salary in the AFL.

Yet Scully has run towards respect at Greater Western Sydney.

Andrew Gaff is the hardest worker without the ball. Picture: Getty Images

Revered at the club for his meticulous preparation and refusal to drink as a teenager, he has only enhanced his endurance powers at the free-wheeling Giants.

With the interchange cap lowered to 90 in 2016, his influence has only grown.

He averages the most distance per game (4.2km) at high speed — more than 18km/h — highlighting his gut-running ability.

Brown played with aerobic animals Nigel Lappin and Shaun Hart during the Brisbane Lions’ all-conquering premiership run, but said Scully was peerless.

“I’m prepared to put in on record: I think Tom Scully is the best two-way runner I’ve seen,” Brown told Fox Footy earlier this year.

“His running ability — both ways — is second to none. I know we’ve had some great endurance midfielders who’ve chased the ball really hard, but Scully is unbelievable.”

Originally published as The best endurance players in the AFL revealed