Pure Footy: David King and Daniel Hoyne look at the latest trends in the AFL

Collingwood has been one of the surprise teams of the year. But is it sustainable? Watch this week’s episode Pure Footy to find out.

Former North Melbourne champion David King says Collingwood is playing a “finals brand of football” and he has the numbers to prove it.

In this week’s episode of Pure Footy, King and Champion Data analyst Daniel Hoyne break down the numbers behind the Magpies’ surge up the ladder in 2022 under new coach Craig McRae.

They deliver the numbers that prove how ditching the “controlled” game style of former coach Nathan Buckley has delivered dividends.

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“The midfield intercepts, under Bucks they won 38 intercepts per game between the arcs,” King said.

“The last six weeks it’s 53 and that’s No. 1 in the AFL.

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Scott Pendlebury and the Magpies are playing a finals brand of football. Picture: Michael Klein

“That’s a massive spike, almost 40 per cent on last year.

“What it basically means is instead of defending with the football like they did last year with uncontested marks and chipping the ball around and averaging 107 marks per week, they’re actually defending when they don’t have the ball.

“So, for me, that’s a finals brand of football and finals defence.

“I hate teams that defend with the ball because it doesn’t stack up in September and we’ve seen that time and time again.”

In this week’s episode, the duo also look at Carlton’s rise this season and just what has happened to Fremantle in recent weeks.

They also reveal just who the most consistent and inconsistent players in the AFL are.