Pure Footy: Stats gurus David King and Daniel Hoyne reveal new Ratings 100 player rankings

Champion Data has developed a ratings system that compares every player against the rest of the competition for the first time. See how it works, and the winners and losers.

Champion Data has unveiled an all-new ratings system that ranks players against every other player in the competition for the first time.

And it has produced some surprising results.

AFL clubs will soon be given access to the rankings which analyst Daniel Hoyne expects to become part of contract discussions.

But he revealed them for the first time on Pure Footy.

“It’s getting harder and harder to track players by one position as so often players are changing position within games or week to week,” Hoyne said.

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“It does actually become quite misleading when you’re comparing a player who spends 75 per cent of time as a defender and 25 per cent of time as a midfielder and we have to bracket him as a defender. It doesn’t tell the true story.

“So we spent a fair bit of time in the off-season trying to develop a new ratings system that will, for the first time in our 20-25 years of doing what we’re doing, allow us to compare the whole competition. For the first time we can compare a defender to a forward or a midfielder to a defender.”

Nick Daicos is the fifth-best player in the competition according to the Ratings 100. Picture: Michael Klein

The new Rankings 100 work by rating players per 100 minutes in each position they play against expectation (AFL average) based on their impact on the game.

For example, Nick Daicos averages 11.6 AFL player ratings points per 100 minutes as a defender (3.2 above expectation) and 18.3 per 100 minutes as a midfielder (+5.9). Overall Daicos averages 14.6 – 5.2 above expectation, the fifth-best rating in the competition.

Breaking down the ratings within a game also sheds a new light on player impact. Against the Eagles last week Daicos spent 46 minutes as a defender and averaged only 0.8 AFL player ratings points in that time (-7.5 on expectation). But in his 46 minutes in the midfield he averaged 18.2 (+5.2) and in 20 minutes as a forward he averaged a massive 36 points per 100 minutes (+28.1). For the game as a whole his Ratings 100 figure was 14, 3.9 above the AFL average.

Hoyne revealed the top five rated players per 100 minutes in each position, with Shai Bolton the top-ranked forward, ahead of Caleb Daniel, Brent Daniels and Jack Macrae.

Macrae also makes the top five midfielders, along with Geelong surprise packet Max Holmes.

In defence Saint Jack Sinclair comes out on top, with Dan Houston, Adam Saad and Nick Vlastuin also in the top five.

Zak Butters and Marcus Bontempelli are No.1 and No.2 in the midfield and in the overall rankings for the first 12 rounds.

On a packed show Hoyne also revealed the best players aged 21 and under based on Champion Data’s relative ratings, with Daicos again shinning – and a Saint not too far behind.

“We’ve never seen someone performing to the level Nick Daicos is at the moment,” Hoyne said.

“Nick Daicos is at 134 per cent above expectation. Mitch Owens is at 81 per cent. If that continues for the rest of the year that will be in the top five relative ratings we’ve seen in 13 years.”