It’s quality over quantity for Josh Kelly and co as the Giants midfield leads its scoring charge
With the Crouch brothers leading the way, Adelaide wins its fair share of football in the midfield. But there’s another key statistic which sets the Giants’ Josh Kelly-led engine room apart.
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Led by the Crouch brothers Matt (31.1 per game) and Brad (30.9) and Rory Sloane (25.1), Adelaide’s midfield — when fit — has no trouble winning the ball, with the club recording the third-most disposals of any team in the competition.
As the fourth-ranked side, Greater Western Sydney isn’t far behind with Josh Kelly (30.3), Lachie Whitfield (28.3), Stephen Coniglio (27.8) and Tim Taranto (27.7) leading the way.
But it’s in another key statistic which sets the GWS engine room apart.
Of the top 15 players in the competition for score involvements this season, five are Giants — three from the very-potent midfield group.
On average, Kelly is involved in 9.1 of GWS scoring chains — ranked No. 1 in the game.
Coniglio, whose 207 Champion Data ranking points against the Suns last week is the highest tally of the year, averages 7.3 score involvements per game to sit at No. 11 of all players to play more than two games.
And Taranto, enjoying a breakout season in his third year in the competition, is the 14th-ranked player for score involvements with an average of 7.1.
While forward Tom Lynch (7.9) ranks inside the top 10, there’s no Adelaide midfielder in sight.
SCORE INVOLVEMENTS
Min 3 games
At No. 59, Matt Crouch is involved in 5.9 of Crows scoring chains.
Before we get to another Crow, fourth-year Giant Jacob Hopper, who is averaging a career-best 25.5 disposals per game, comes in at No. 73 for score involvements.
Brad Crouch’s average of 5.7 ranks him 76th in the AFL, while Sloane, who, on average, is only involved in five of Adelaide’s scoring chains per game, falls outside of the top 150.
Fellow midfielders Cam Ellis-Yolmen (5.4) and Rory Atkins (5.5) are involved in more.
GWS is +9.2 in scores from stoppages this season, ranked third in the AFL, again highlighting how important its midfield is to its second-ranked offence.
The Crows rank eighth in this area with a differential of +3.9.
And the Giants are having more direct impact on the scoreboard, too.
In a combined 30 games this season, Sloane and the Crouch brothers have tallied 16 goals and nine goal assists between them.
In one less match, Kelly, Coniglio and Taranto have recorded 24 goals and 21 goal assists.
This difference can be attributed to Coniglio who has booted 13 goals in 2019 and played a direct hand in seven others.
The 25-year-old is the only midfielder to rate elite for goals, score assists and score involvements in the competition.
If given the space, the Giants trio will take the game away from Adelaide very quickly on Saturday night.
But the Crows are the second-best tackling side in the competition and have recorded 139 more contested possessions than GWS this season.
And it’s in these two areas where Adelaide must get on top — given there’s no obvious tagger with Bryce Gibbs’ omission — to keep the rampaging Giants in-check.
Originally published as It’s quality over quantity for Josh Kelly and co as the Giants midfield leads its scoring charge
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