GFL Stats leaders for categories in 2023 revealed

From dominating inside the contest to picking off opposition attacks and booting bags of goals, some of Geelong’s best local footy stars shone this season. Find out who led every statistical category, plus the top 10 individual performances of the season here.

The GFL has reached the end of the home-and-away season, spelling the end to 2023 for seven of the league’s teams.

But with the end of the season comes the assessment of the competition’s top performers over 18 rounds of football, with the league’s best ball winners, goal kickers, tacklers and others highlighted for their efforts.

Check out all of the competition’s best in each statistical category here.

Disposals

611 – Matthew Boag (Newtown & Chilwell)

545 – Fletcher Keck (St Albans)

515 – Logan Wagener (Leopold)

506 – Jacob Russell (St Albans)

496 – Tanner Lovell (Geelong West)

484 – Lachie Patten (Bell Park)

479 – Marcus Thompson (Leopold)

464 – Jarryd Garner (St Mary’s)

458 – Ned Harris (Newtown & Chilwell)

443 – William McKenzie (Lara)

Boag is a red-hot chance to claim his first Mathieson Medal. Picture: Mark Wilson

Eagles star Matt Boag (33.9 average) dominated this category, blitzing nearby opponents to collect at least 66 touches more than his nearest opponent.

Supersaints’ designated kick-out specialist Fletcher Keck (32.1 average) was consistently having big disposal games in his first season at the club, while Lions midfield bull Logan Wagener (30.3) rounded out the top three.

Giants duo Tanner Lovell and David Handley would have been further up the list if they had played every game, with Lovell averaging 33.1 touches and Handley averaging 32.9 per contest.

St Joseph’s star Jack Buckley, who did not make the top 10 after once leading the category, has the highest average of 35.3 disposals per game but his overseas travel meant he did not play all 18 games.

Contested Possessions

303 – Lachie Patten (Bell Park)

244 – Jacob Russell (St Albans)

237 – Matthew Boag (Newtown & Chilwell)

236 – Tanner Lovell (Geelong West)

228 – Ryan Abbott (Grovedale)

228 – David Handley (Geelong West)

226 – Marcus Thompson (Leopold)

209 – Bayley Cockerill (Lara)

201 – Doyle Madigan (South Barwon)

194 – Nathan Deans (Grovedale)

Dragons captain Lachie Patten (17.8 average) leads the inside midfielder category, having collected 59 more contested possessions than the next-best player.

Jacob Russell (14.4 average) finished second in the competition for total contested possessions, while Boag (13.2) finished third.

Once again, Giants duo Handley (17.5 average) and Lovell (15.7) could have been in the top three for the category if they had played more games.

Lachie Patten and Matthew Boag dominated in 2023. Picture: Mark Wilson

Clearances

138 – Ryan Abbott (Grovedale)

123 – Matthew Boag (Newtown & Chilwell)

122 – Lachlan Patten (Bell Park)

118 – Blake Sutterby (Newtown & Chilwell)

117 – Jacob Russell (St Albans)

112 – David Handley (Geelong West)

107 – Marcus Thompson (Leopold)

106 – Cassidy Parish (Grovedale)

105 – William Ford (Grovedale)

101 – Nathan Deans (Grovedale)

Ruck star Ryan Abbott becomes an extra midfielder for the Tigers when the ball hits the ground, leading the clearance numbers for the season.

Grovedale having four of the top 10 clearance players in the competition shows how much dominance Abbott holds over the league.

Blake Sutterby was second in the competition’s averages with 8.4 per game, behind only Handley (8.6), while Lara’s Connor Linehan-Cunningham averaged eight per contest but suffered a season-ending injury halfway through his campaign.

Goals

60 – Sam Dobson (St Mary’s)

47 – Andrew Boseley (South Barwon)

45 – Paddy De Grandi (St Joseph’s)

44 – Mitch Patten (Leopold)

42 – Mitch Chafer (Grovedale)

38 – Bailey Ettridge (Lara)

38 – Luke Hillman (Colac)

36 – Patrick Dowling (St Mary’s)

33 – Lachlan Bond (Newtown & Chilwell)

32 – Matthew Caldow (South Barwon)

In his first year back in the GFL, Sam Dobson showed why he is coming off an 88-goal season in the Hampden Football League.

His average of four goals per game beats everyone in the league, with Geelong West’s Lachie Horniblow (14 goals from four games), Bell Park’s Jack Fischer (7 goals from two games) and North Shore’s Jordan Lane (16 goals from five games) the only other players who averaged more than three per contest.

Tackles

97 – Jacob Russell (St Albans)

95 – David Handley (Geelong West)

88 – Connor Fopiani (Newtown & Chilwell)

80 – Lachie Patten (Bell Park)

76 – Joseph Salmon (North Shore)

74 – Lachlan Middleton (South Barwon)

71 – Nathan Deans (Grovedale)

71 – Aaron Stone (Lara)

70 – Kody Spokes (Colac)

70 – Tylar Watts (Geelong West)

70 – Ethan Liddle (Geelong West)

70 – Harry Benson (St Mary’s)

Jacob Russell was clearly St Albans’ best player in 2023. Picture: Mark Wilson

If Handley had played more than 14 games (13 with recorded stats) this season he would have been leading or right near the top of a number of categories, with his average of 7.3 tackles per game the clear best in the competition.

Russell showed his ability to both hunt the ball and the carrier, with the Supersaints skipper dominating in several categories despite leading a two-win team.

Hit Outs

778 – Ryan Abbott (Grovedale)

594 – Trent West (Leopold)

532 – Zachary Zdybel (Colac)

459 – Cam Wilkinson (Newtown & Chilwell)

400 – Sam Christensen (St Mary’s)

336 – Tylar Watts (Geelong West)

316 – Ben Kellett (South Barwon)

306 – Nathan Cole (St Albans)

283 – Harry Gough (North Shore)

276 – Olivier Northam (St Joseph’s)

Zachary Zdybel finished third in hit outs during a breakout 2023 campaign.

There is a clear two best rucks in the competition, with West’s average of 49.5 trumping Abbott’s 43.2, but West’s unavailability through the middle of the 2023 season cost him top spot.

Young duo Zach Zdybel and Cam Wilkinson both dominated against most teams and did well in the tussles against West and Abbott.

Intercept Marks

71 – William McKenzie (Lara)

60 – Tevan Nofi (Leopold)

55 – Stephen Bensted (Bell Park)

53 – Daniel Weigl (Lara)

48 – Josh Dwyer (Geelong West)

48 – Todd White (South Barwon)

47 – Jack Melican (Colac)

47 – Rowan Gough (South Barwon)

47 – Alex Hickey (St Joseph’s)

39 – Harris Jennings (Leopold)

Lara recruit William McKenzie made an immediate impact at the Cats this season, leading the intercept mark category playing off the half back flank and playing as a third tall defender.

He also finished 10th in overall disposals for the season.

Spoils

151 - Ed Boyer (Bell Park)

94 - Rowan Gough (South Barwon)

76 - Ben Miller (St Albans)

63 - Jayson Tomicic (Lara)

62 - Luke Maddock (Newtown & Chilwell)

53 - Brock Reynolds (St Albans)

50 - Stephen Bensted (Bell Park)

48 - Tom Rieniets (Coalc)

47 - Braden Hocking (Newtown & Chilwell)

47 - Tom Caudullo (St Albans)

Bell Park’s defensive recruit, who arrived at the club at the start of the 2023 season, has led from the front with his fist.

Boyer’s top effort came in round 16, when he had 14 spoils, but has also reached double digits eight times in total, and owns eight of the top 13 individual spoiling games.

Rowan Gough has three of the other top 10 spots, having recorded 13, 12 and 11 as his three top performances this season.

Inside 50s

113 – Marcus Thompson (Leopold)

88 – Lachie Patten (Bell Park)

85 – Bailey Scott (Colac)

84 – Matthew Boag (Newtown & Chilwell)

84 – Liam Nash (Newtown & Chilwell)

84 – Jarryd Garner (St Mary’s)

82 – Nathan Deans (Grovedale)

80 – Will Jeffrey (Grovedale)

79 – Tanner Lovell (Geelong West)

79 – William Ford (Grovedale)

Marcus Thompson led the competition for inside 50’s. Picture: Alan Barber

The Lions skipper dominated this category, leading by 25 more than the next best in the Dragons skipper Patten.

Colac’s Bailey Scott enjoyed a dominant first half of the season, but his unavailability cost him category leads despite strong averages.

Fraser Fort’s Round 8 game against Lara was statistically the best in the season. Picture: Mark Wilson

Best Individual Games - Based on Addy Ranking Points

252 - Fraser Fort, Round 8 v Lara (South Barwon) - 32 disposals (87.5% efficiency), 9 contested possessions, 17 marks (2 contested, 7 intercept, 3 inside 50), 4 clearances, 14 hit outs, 8 tackles, 4 inside 50s, 3 goals

233 - David Handley, Round 11 v Colac (Geelong West) - 44 disposals (79.5% efficiency), 23 contested possessions, 8 marks (3 intercept), 12 clearances, 14 tackles, 5 inside 50s, 5 frees for

231 - Ryan Abbott, Round 10 v Bell Park (Grovedale) - 26 disposals (65.4% efficiency), 20 contested possessions, 7 marks (2 inside 50), 15 clearances, 62 hit outs, 6 inside 50s, 1 goal

228 - Matthew Boag, Round 15 v Bell Park (Newtown & Chilwell) - 42 disposals (85.7% efficiency), 12 contested possessions, 12 marks, 11 clearances, 10 tackles, 4 frees for, 4 inside 50s, 1 goal

227 - Ryan Abbott, Round 15 v Geelong West (Grovedale) - 27 disposals (92.6% efficiency), 15 contested possessions, 8 marks (5 inside 50), 10 clearances, 42 hit outs, 2 tackles, 6 inside 50s, 2 goals

216 - Matthew Boag, Round 2 v St Albans (Newtown & Chilwell) - 36 disposals (77.8% efficiency), 22 contested possessions, 9 marks (4 contested, 4 inside 50), 6 clearances, 2 tackles, 4 inside 50s, 4 goals

214 - Tanner Lovell, Round 8 v Bell Park (Geelong West) - 42 disposals (73.8% efficiency), 30 contested possessions, 7 marks (3 contested), 14 clearances, 5 tackles, 3 frees for, 6 inside 50s201 - Matty Lloyd, Round 15 v Bell Park (Newtown & Chilwell - 40 disposals (87.5% efficiency), 18 marks, 2 frees for, 6 inside 50s, 1 goal

199 - Marcus Thompson, Round 8 v North Shore (Leopold) - 34 disposals (85.3% efficiency), 10 contested possessions, 16 marks (2 contested, 3 inside 50), 3 tackles, 12 inside 50s, 6 goals

198 - Jack McMahon, Round 12 v St Albans (Bell Park) - 28 disposals (85.7% efficiency), 20 contested possessions, 8 marks, 7 clearances, 8 tackles, 11 inside 50s, 3 frees for, 1 goal

Originally published as GFL Stats leaders for categories in 2023 revealed