Field Marshal Awards: who are the winners in footy’s key statistics?
A DEMON sends the ball forward more than anyone, a star Cat is the king of clutch and an in-demand Crow is the best interceptor. Here are the inaugural Field Marshal Awards winners.
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NO ONE sends the ball their team’s way more than Michael Hibberd.
Paddy Dangerfield is peerless when it comes to delivering when the game is on the line in the last quarter.
Jonathon Patton is the best set shot exponent in the game and Scott Pendlebury its most dangerous field kick.
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Welcome to the inaugural Field Marshal Awards, an end-of-season look at the best of the best in their respective fields.
The ‘Marshies’ doesn’t have a night of nights or a red carpet, but like all prestigious footy awards, it is no doubt something the winners will look back on more in retirement.
Here is an awards ceremony that removes conjecture and opinion and replaces it with hard evidence — numbers provided by leading AFL analysts Champion Data.
Finally, those year-long debates around the water cooler over who takes the best grab and who is the biggest one-on-one beast can be put to rest.
Hibberd has proven a more than handy acquisition for Melbourne, with the former Bomber establishing himself as the league-leader in metres gained at an average of 567m per week.
In the closest season of the modern era, games are frequently decided by who can rise to the occasion in the last quarter.
Dangerfield is by far the king of clutch, averaging 39.6 SuperCoach points in the last half-hour — eight more than his nearest rival, Carlton defender Sam Docherty.
At the start of the game it’s Dayne Zorko (37.7 points) who inflicts the most damage, but the Brisbane Lions livewire has also put on more pressure than any other player in what has been an eye-catching season.
Pendlebury has been sorely missed at Collingwood as the league’s best user by foot. The Pies skipper boasts a kick rating of +9.3 per cent — a figure that takes into account how much pressure the kicker is under and what type of kick they’re trying to execute.
Using the same formula, GWS forward Patton is the deadliest shot at goal, with his +11.4 per cent rating better than Peter Wright (Gold Coast) and Josh Kennedy (West Coast).
There’s a reason Victorian clubs are falling all over themselves to lure Jake Lever from Adelaide.
At 21, Lever is the AFL’s best interceptor — disturbing opposition raids more frequently than superstar defenders Alex Rance and Michael Hurley.
Liam Jones’ resurrection is made all the more remarkable by the fact he sits fifth at 8.2 intercepts a week.
When the ball is on the deck, Clayton Oliver is Melbourne’s vacuum cleaner, averaging 12.8 ground ball gets per game — more than Dangerfield, Sydney’s Josh Kennedy and Hawk ball magnet Tom Mitchell.
Who are the best one-on-one players?
Of the forwards, Sydney’s Lance Franklin is No.1, winning 44.4 per cent of his battles, while down back, West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern loses only 6.8 per cent of one-on-one’s he’s involved in.
THE FIELD MARSHAL AWARD
INTERCEPT POSSESSIONS
Jake Lever (Adel) 9.6
Alex Rance (Rich) 9.2
Michael Hurley (Ess) 8.5
Jeremy Howe (Coll) 8.4
Liam Jones (Carl) 8.2
PRESSURE POINTS
Dayne Zorko (Bris) 66.1
Jack Steele (StK) 62.6
Hugh Greenwood (Adel) 62
Rory Sloane (Adel) 60.3
Tom Mitchell (Haw) 59.8
METRES GAINED
Michael Hibberd (Ess) 567
Dayne Zorko (Bris) 535
Dustin Martin (Rich) 535
Zach Merrett (Ess) 529
Nathan Wilson (GWS) 511
CHAIN INVOLVEMENT TO SCORE PERCENTAGE (midfielders only)
Tom Papley (Syd) 41.9
Daniel Wells (Coll) 39.4
Shane Edwards (Rich) 38.4
Jarrod Berry (Bris) 35.9
Kieren Jack (Syd) 35.7
HITOUT TO ADVANTAGE WIN PERCENTAGE
Aaron Sandilands (Frem) 21.5
Shane Mumford (GWS) 17.1
Paddy Ryder (Port) 16.8
Max Gawn (Melb) 16.8
Jarrod Witts (GC) 15.7
BEST 1ST QUARTER (SuperCoach points)
Dayne Zorko (Bris) 37.7
Brad Ebert (Port) 37
Patrick Dangerfield (Geel) 36.3
Michael Hibberd (Melb) 33.7
Matt Crouch (Adel) 33.6
BEST 4TH QUARTER (SuperCoach points)
Patrick Dangerfield (Geel) 39.6
Sam Docherty (Carl) 31.3
Marcus Bontempelli (WB) 29.7
Aaron Sandilands (Frem) 29.7
Elliot Yeo (WC) 29.3
FREE KICKS FOR
Joel Selwood (Geel) 61
Patrick Dangerfield (Geel) 50
Rory Sloane (Adel) 45
Shane Mumford (GWS) 42
Stefan Martin (Bris) 38
FREE KICKS AGAINST
Shane Mumford (GWS) 49
Jackson Trengove (Port) 43
Luke Parker (Syd) 38
Dustin Martin (Rich) 38
Clayton Oliver (Melb) 38
KICK RATING (200+ kicks)
Scott Pendlebury (Coll) +9.3%
Christian Salem (Melb) +7.8%
Michael Johnson (Frem) +6.9%
Shannon Hurn (WC) +5.7%
Lewis Taylor (Bris) +5.6%
GROUNDBALL GETS
Clayton Oliver (Melb) 12.8
Patrick Dangerfield (Geel) 11.1
Matt Crouch (Adel) 10.6
Josh Kennedy (Syd) 10
Tom Mitchell (Haw) 9.9
CONTESTED MARKS
Levi Casboult (Carl) 49
Cale Hooker (Ess) 47
Jeremy McGovern (WC) 47
Charlie Dixon (Port) 45
Jeremy Howe (Coll) 39
OFFENSIVE 1-1 CONTESTS WON
Lance Franklin (Syd) 44.4%
Jarryd Roughead (Haw) 41.4%
Sam Reid (Syd) 41%
Charlie Dixon (Port) 40.6%
Joe Daniher (Ess) 40.3%
DEFENSIVE 1-1 CONTESTS LOST
Jeremy McGovern (WC) 6.8%
Jake Carlisle (StK) 17%
Alex Rance (Rich) 17.4%
Daniel Talia (Adel) 18.8%
Heath Grundy (Syd) 19.4%
SHOT AT GOAL RATING (minimum 50 shots)
Jonathon Patton (GWS) +11.4%
Peter Wright (GC) +10.9%
Josh Kennedy (WC) +10.7%
Luke Breust (Haw) +9.5%
Mark LeCras (WC) +9.4%
GAME TIME PERCENTAGE (midfielders)
Tom Scully (GWS) 92
Andrew Gaff (WC) 89
Nat Fyfe (Frem) 89
Sam Gibson (NM) 87
Marc Murphy (Carl) 87
Note: Minimum 10 games played
Source: CHAMPION DATA
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