Pure Footy: David King and Daniel Hoyne lift lid on AFL trends, stats after Round 17

Stats gurus have identified the key areas that make up the AFL premiership formula. And right now only one team meets all four criteria. Watch Pure Footy here.

Every club is trying to unlock footy’s flag formula.

Champion Data has put Grand Final winners under the microscope and identified four key areas to premiership success.

On this week’s episode of Pure Footy, analyst Daniel Hoyne said the four “premiership pillars” were clearances, post-clearance contest numbers, ball movement and defending the opposition’s ball movement.

“If you can’t move it and you can’t defend the opposition, you’re stuffed,” he said.

“Of those four key pillars, Geelong come out No.1. They are the only team that ticks all four boxes.”

Geelong and Patrick Dangerfield are smack bang in the premiership window.

Hoyne said history suggests premiership teams rank near the top of the ladder in at least three of the four areas.

The Cats rank second in the AFL for clearances, second for winning post-clearance contests, third for ball movement and fourth for depending ball movement.

The Bulldogs are second on the premiership pillars ladder, ranking No.1 for clearances and defending ball movement and No.3 for post-clearance contests, but No.10 for moving the footy.

Melbourne is third with clearances (No.11) a surprising weakness, while the Lions are fourth despite being the third-worst team in the competition at moving the footy.

Here's the full premiership pillars ladder - watch Pure Footy here to find out more: https://t.co/gM92LjEOJcpic.twitter.com/9qsr9y8WmW

— purefootyafl (@purefootyafl) July 13, 2021

Outside the top four, there are some big surprises.

Fremantle is fifth, ahead of Sydney and Port Adelaide, while Gold Coast is eighth — helped by a No.4 competition ranking in clearances.

Richmond is ranked dead last in that statistic, while there are “alarm bells going off everywhere” for West Coast, according to North Melbourne champion David King.

Hoyne said: “Every area that you look at across the whole season they are coming up bottom three or bottom four in the competition, so we probably shouldn’t be surprised by the results they are putting out at the moment.”

Also on this week’s show, why Jordan Ridley should be in All-Australian discussions, how David Noble is changing North Melbourne, why Port Adelaide has to try “something radical” to stay in the flag race, how much losing Eric Hipwood will hurt Brisbane, St Kilda’s unsung hero and more.