The one area of the game your club needs to get better at to win the premiership

DUSTIN Martin, Trent Cotchin, Dion Prestia, Kane Lambert, Toby Nankervis. Richmond has a star-studded midfield and a handy ruckman, but cannot win the footy at stoppages. What does every finals club need to get better at?

Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, Dion Prestia, Kane Lambert are all guns, but why can't the Tigers win the footy at stoppages?

JUST eight teams remain with premiership dreams and while the Tigers are everyone’s pick to go back-to-back, every finalist has the same goal.

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We took a look at each of the eight finalists to find out the one major facet of their game they need to clean up in order to be bolster their premiership claims, thanks to Champion Data.

Let’s start with the top-of-the-table Tigers.

Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, Dion Prestia, Kane Lambert are all guns, but why can't the Tigers win the footy at stoppages?

RICHMOND: CLEARANCES

With midfield dynamos like Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin and Dion Prestia, you’d think the Tigers would be mauling teams at stoppages. Not so. Remarkably, they are a clear last in clearances this season. Yep, 18th in the competition, behind the likes of Carlton and Gold Coast. If they can up the ante at stoppages, they are almost certainties to win the flag. To be fair, their defensive work when an opponent wins the clearance is A-grade, the Tigers’ having conceded the fourth-fewest points from clearances.

WEST COAST: GROUNDBALL GETS

West Coast’s small brigade struggles to find the footy when it hits the deck. With all that tall timber up front, you’d think the likes of Willie Rioli, Mark LeCras and Jamie Cripps would be buttering up plenty. But the Eagles simply haven’t been good at ground level, ranking dead last in the AFL for groundball differential, only winning the stat three times since Round 7. Start to find the footy when Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling bring it to ground and it will only mean more goals.

Pendles and Co. need to do more with Brodie Grundy’s work at centre bounces. Picture: Michael Klein

COLLINGWOOD: CENTRE CLEARANCES

The Pies possess arguably the best midfield group in the AFL, led by the likes of Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom, Adam Treloar and Taylor Adams. They also have arguably the best ruckman in the game in Brodie Grundy giving them silver service. So why can’t they win a centre clearance? The midfield has been dominant everywhere outside of centre bounces, ranking 17th for centre clearances. They’ve also been outscored by more than 10 goals (63 points) from centre clearances and that’s third-worst in the AFL. One of the AFL’s great mysteries right here.

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HAWTHORN: CONTESTED POSSESSIONS

This used to be a Clarko team’s bread and butter, but the Hawks have been up and down around the contest this season, ranking 12th for contested possession differential, 14th for groundball differential and 10th for clearance differential. It’s very middling for a side that is currently in the top four and has designs on the premiership. Lift their game at the contest and all of a sudden they become very hard to beat, because they do so much else well.

MELBOURNE: DEFENDING

The Dees like to play a hard at it, high octane, get the ball forward at all costs game, but that has hurt them defensively throughout the season. The Demons have been opened up by opponents, ranking 15th for conceding a goal from an opposition inside 50. It’s a tough gameplan on defenders and if it goes wrong, they almost stand no chance of stopping their opponents.

Yeah, we reckon you should be getting more service too, Lance. Picture: AAP

SYDNEY: GOING FORWARD

Defence is a hallmark of any Sydney side, but it might be going a bit far this season. The Swans have one of the best forwards in AFL history to kick to in Lance Franklin, yet they play much of their game in the back half. Ranked 14th for time in their forward half, the Swans possess an inside-50 differential better than just three other teams in the competition. It is a symptom of game style, but a few more sighters for Buddy wouldn’t go astray, right?

GWS GIANTS: KICKING STRAIGHT

The Giants have been their own worst enemy at times this season, ranking 14th for accuracy, and as a result rank 12th for converting an inside-50s into a goal. Good kicking is good footy and the Giants, frankly, have the yips in front of goal. They’ve only kicked more goals than points seven times this season — and they won every one of those games.

Don’t be too upset, Dan and Gaz. Just a little more forward pressure and you’re good. Picture: Getty Images

GEELONG: FORWARD PRESSURE

A few Cats have copped it for being frontrunners this season, and it is somewhat deserved. The Cats possess elite top-end talent that produces plenty of forward entries, but the attacking brigade is letting them down by failing to pressure their opponents when the ball gets turned over. The Cats just haven’t been able to create opportunities close to goal this season, ranking 12th for turnovers created in their forward half and eighth for points scored from these turnovers. A renewed focus on pressuring opposing defenders could be the difference at the Cattery.

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Originally published as The one area of the game your club needs to get better at to win the premiership