Pure Footy: Stats gurus David King and Daniel Hoyne on the big trends ahead of round 19

Star interceptor Aliir Aliir is a regular on Port Adelaide highlights reels, but that’s not the whole story. See the numbers that will worry Power fans.

Port Adelaide enters a mouth-watering clash against Collingwood as second favourite for the 2023 premiership.

And Aliir Aliir is the star of the Power back half. But are the highlights misleading?

Champion Data analyst Daniel Hoyne has flagged concerning defensive numbers at the Power, with one “horrible” stat exposing Aliir’s biggest flaw.

“I don’t know if this guy is actually going as well as we all just assume,” Hoyne said on a new episode of Pure Footy.

WATCH A NEW EPISODE OF PURE FOOTY ABOVE

Hoyne said using Champion Data’s new 100X ratings Aliir was the sixth-best key defender in the AFL in 2021, his first year at the Power. But that ranking slipped to 14th last year and he sits 17th in 2023.

“He’s actually performing below expectation at the moment as a key defender.

“He’s the sixth-best key defender in terms of impacting the game from a ball-winning perspective, and that’s what we all see, what is actually hard to see in a sense is what players do with the ball, and his ball use is horrible.”

Aliir Aliir’s long kicking is a major worry for Port Adelaide. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

Hoyne said Aliir was the 32nd best key back when it came to using the footy.

“Aliir Aliir needs to keep the game simple.

“When he goes short, he’s OK, he’s about AFL average. When he goes long, he’s the third-worst kick in the competition.

“Don’t go long, Aliir, when you do win the intercept, keep the game simple. look for a (Kane) Farrell, look for a (Dan) Houston, look for a better ball user rather than you being the aggressive one.”

North Melbourne champion David King said Port Adelaide was a “Joe Average” team in terms of its defensive profile.

The Power ranks mid-table in all four of Champion Data’s “without the footy” metrics – preventing opposition chains to score, preventing opposition ball movement, restricting opposition scores per inside-50 and midfield intercepts.

“It’s not just Trent McKenzie, I think the group are gettable,” he said.

“This (stats profile) is against the competition, when you go to the top three or four teams in a semi-final or a prelim final, this is going to kill them.”

Also on this week’s episode, King and Hoyne reveal the top-ranked players in the competition over the past six weeks, why Carlton might miss Harry McKay more than many people realise and the best odds from TAB for round 19.