Greater Western Sydney sits on top of hurt ladder by a long way

COACHES are reluctant to use injuries as an excuse but every season there are some clubs less fortunate than others. See where your club ranks on the hurt ladder

GREATER Western Sydney may yet prove to be as ­unstoppable as the Terminator this season.

Adelaide has clear air for another premiership push and Port Adelaide’s resurgence has solid foundations.

Melbourne’s rollercoaster season looks more glass half-full than half-empty, while St Kilda appears to have run out of excuses.

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We refer to the 2017 hurt ladder — the table where every game a player has missed through injury is recorded alongside a quality measure showing the direct scoreboard impact.

The Giants are clearly on top. Ravaged by injury to such an extent they launched a mid-season review of their own procedures, they are still third on the real ladder.

Unkillable? Maybe. But for a team many critics have ­portrayed as an AFL-created machine, Judgement Day is coming. Can they all get them all back and in form in time?

Stephen Coniglio, Harrison Himmelberg, Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper and Brett Deledio can only watch on during a Giants game this season. Picture: Getty Images

With Brett Deledio, Ryan Griffen and Stephen Coniglio among the injured, GWS has missed 167 games for an estimated loss of 385 points on the scoreboard — 3½ goals a week.

“I think every coach and high-performance manager looks at why your injuries come around,” coach Leon Cameron said last month.

“So just looking into every aspect of the way we train — the surface we train on, how the injuries are sustained ... think every club does that when they have injuries.

“What probably came of it was probably 95 per cent of it is just unlucky — that’s just the way it is and there’s probably five per cent we can probably do a little bit better at.”

West Coast is second for scoreboard pain. With Nic Naitanui out long-term and Josh Kennedy missing games, Champion Data’s formula has the Eagles losing 264 points.

Melbourne is 10-8 in an up-and-down season, but the loss of Max Gawn and Nathan Jones cost 248 points.

Josh Kennedy’s injury was a blow for the Eagles. Picture: Getty Images

The Crows have been relatively fortunate with injury, while Port Adelaide has been charmed, losing only 81 points in 18 games.

Geelong has missed 110 games through injury — the sixth-most — but not many have been to stars. The Cats have lost only 138 points, the fifth fewest.

St Kilda, despite a quiet medical room (second-fewest games missed and third-fewest points lost) so far has been underwhelming in a season that promised more.

THE HURT LADDER

Games lost to best 22 / Estimated points lost

GWS Giants 135 / 385

West Coast 83 / 264

Gold Coast 92 / 253

Melbourne 81 / 248

Richmond 81 / 213

North Melbourne 81 / 207

Hawthorn 75 / 199

Western Bulldogs 94 / 187

Sydney 64 / 178

Brisbane Lions 62 / 174

Fremantle 73 / 157

Carlton 75 / 139

Adelaide 67 / 139

Geelong 98 / 138

Collingwood 81 / 115

St Kilda 42 / 100

Essendon 49 / 81

Port Adelaide 37 / 81

Source: Champion Data

Note: Points lost is estimate of score forfeited by players missing through injury, weighted to quality of player.