Pure Footy: Stats gurus David King and Daniel Hoyne on the big trends ahead of round 24

Should Dustin Martin be in the All-Australian team? Stats guru Daniel Hoyne says it’s one of the easiest calls of the year.

Dustin Martin should be a “walk-up” for this year’s All-Australian team after producing numbers never seen before by Champion Data.

But stats guru Daniel Hoyne is worried the Tigers champ will be overlooked by selectors.

“Sometimes the superstars get compared to themselves as opposed to getting compared to the competition,” the Champion Data analyst said on Pure Footy.

“He should be a walk-up – here’s your jacket, what size are you, put it on next Wednesday night.”

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“It’s frustrating when you hear people say, ‘He’s had an OK year’, but he hasn’t had an OK year, he has been frightening ... Since round 14 he’s the third-best player in the competition behind only Charlie Curnow and Jack Sinclair.”

Across the season, Martin is the fourth-highest rated forward under Champion’s 100X ratings system, behind Curnow, Toby Greene and Taylor Walker.

He ranks first among all forwards for disposals – averaging 23.1 per game – contested possessions and forward-50 ground ball gets, and fifth for score involvements.

Dustin Martin is winning the footy and impacting the scoreboard. Picture: Michael Klein

Hoyne said the numbers were even more impressive because Martin was playing only 14 per cent of game time in the midfield.

“He plays 86 per cent of his time as a forward and he’s winning 23 disposals – that has never been done in 18 years of us capturing time in position data.

“No player who has spent 85 per cent forward time or more in a season has won more ball than Dusty has this year.”

Also on a big episode, Hoyne and North Melbourne champion David King reveal the alarming drop in Caleb Daniel’s kicking efficiency, suggest a new role for Clayton Oliver and preview all the key round 24 matches and a thrilling Brownlow Medal count.

Originally published as Pure Footy: Stats gurus David King and Daniel Hoyne on the big trends ahead of round 24