Pure Footy: David King and Daniel Hoyne lift lid on AFL trends, stats after Round 13

He has a reputation as a Rolls Royce, but one big name recruit has the worst kick rating in the competition. Find out more on Pure Footy.

The AFL world needs to change its view of Shaun Higgins, according to stats guru Daniel Hoyne.

Higgins was renowned as a quality ball user over 15 years at the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne, but after a trade to Geelong he has become “Brad Hill in hoops” according to North Melbourne champion David King.

King and Champion Data analyst Hoyne cut through the cliches to reveal what’s really happening at the AFL in their weekly Pure Footy show, exclusive to heraldsun.com.au.

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“Everyone assumes this guy is a Rolls Royce, he’s a beautiful mover, he’s a great kick — it’s absolutely not the case. He’s the worst kick in the competition this year,” Hoyne said.

“We’ve got to assess this guy differently.”

Digging deeper than kicking efficiency, Champion Data gives every player a kick rating to measure how often they hit the targets they should.

“He’s almost 10 per cent below the AFL average this year for the kicks he’s trying to pull off,” Hoyne said.

Shaun Higgins has kicked 2.8 from 15 shots on goal this year. Picture: Michael Klein

“We’ve talked about Nat Fyfe a lot and his accuracy in front of goal — Shaun Higgins is worse. (He’s had) 15 shots at goal this year for two goals. He’s had 11 shots at goal that have been unpressured.

“It’s a big two weeks for Shaun Higgins against two contenders to start improving these numbers and absolutely cement himself in the best 22.”

However, it’s a different story for one of Geelong’s other big off-season recruits — in the past seven weeks Jeremy Cameron is the No.2 ranked key forward in the competition, behind only teammate Tom Hawkins.

See more on the Cats, the problem Richmond must fix or “it’s curtains” for the Tigers’ premiership hopes, Josh Kelly’s trade value, how an easy fixture is working against Sydney, and more in this week’s episode.