Pure Footy: Stats men David King, Daniel Hoyne lift lid on AFL trends after round 18

Mark Blicavs is playing a role the stats gurus have never seen before – and giving Geelong a weapon that could help end a run of finals heartbreak.

Has there ever been a player like Mark Blicavs?

The 198cm athlete has always been versatile, but his role this year is giving Geelong another finals weapon – and confounding experts and stats men.

North Melbourne champion David King said Blicavs deserved a spot in the All-Australian team, but “he never gets in because you can’t lock down one position for this guy”.

“If you’re picking an All-Australian team you need a second ruck. This guy’s your second ruck. He can also tag, he can also play key back. There’s not much this guy can’t do,” King said on Pure Footy, the weekly AFL analysis show exclusive to heraldsun.com.au.

WATCH THIS WEEK’S EPISODE OF PURE FOOTY ABOVE

Blicavs has highlighted his value over the past two weeks, playing a lockdown role on gun opposition midfielders Christian Petracca and Patrick Cripps then moving into the ruck as back-up to Rhys Stanley.

Petracca averages 15.3 AFL Player Ratings points per 100 minutes. Blicavs slashed that to 12.1 in their time matched against each other. Against Patrick Cripps, he cut the Carlton ball-winner’s output from 15.9 AFL Player ratings points to 2.2.

Mark Blicavs is a unique player. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

“He’s been able to reduce Christian Petracca’s input by 21 per cent, and he’s been able to reduce Patrick Cripps’ output by 86 per cent,” Champion Data analyst Daniel Hoyne said.

“That is phenomenal. He adds something completely different that I don’t think we’ve ever seen before.

“He’s a weapon and you think ahead to finals and being able to shut out the opposition’s best midfielder.

“If there’s ever a role for someone on the interchange bench of the All-Australian team, it’s Mark Blicavs with what he’s done this year.”

King said the accolades could be even greater.

“Playing 103 minutes a game as a ruckman swapping on ball, I don’t know of anyone else in the game that’s ever been asked to do that. Those are crazy numbers.

“He’s capable of winning a Norm Smith Medal.”

Also on this week’s episode King and Hoyne examine the teams in form leading into finals and those with big problems, who is being played out of position and why Essendon’s form might not be all it seems.

Originally published as Pure Footy: Stats men David King, Daniel Hoyne lift lid on AFL trends after round 18