Pure Footy: Stats men David King and Daniel Hoyne on the big trends after round 4

A remarkable stat about St Kilda’s defence under Ross Lyon has surfaced – and it even has Kangaroos great David King believing. Watch Pure Footy here.

St Kilda is doing a lot of things right under Ross Lyon, but it’s one stat in particular that has won over Fox Footy’s David King.

After being unable to find a top-four spot for the Saints in his power rankings on radio last week, the Kangaroos great is now convinced after Champion Data analyst Daniel Hoyne revealed some remarkable numbers on this week’s episode of Pure Footy.

In a stat Hoyne described as “unbelievable”, the Saints have lost just three of 23 contests in their defensive 50 this year, with Callum Wilkie, Dougal Howard and Josh Battle, in particular, proving very difficult to beat one-on-one.

“A lot of credit has gone to their runners, and rightly so, but that back six or seven is holding up significantly well under a bit of pressure at times,” Hoyne said.

“Their doing a lot right in terms of what they are doing without the footy, so hats off to them.”

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St Kilda’s Callum Wilkie has been a rock in defence. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Fellow defender Josh Battle marks strongly against the Suns. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

With the Saints boasting four of the top 20 possessions winners in the defensive half - Brad Crouch, Jack Sinclair, Wilkie and Liam Stocker – their two-way running has been key to an unbeaten start to the year.

But what proves they could be the real deal in 2023 is what Lyon’s side is doing without the ball.

“Other than Melbourne this year, there is no other team who has a better without-the-footy profile,” Hoyne said.

“That profile their stacks up and historically suggests that if that continues for the next four-to-five months, they are looking at finishing top six.”

Hoyne noted the Saints “still have a little bit of work to do with the footy if they are to get to that top-four marking”, but King is onboard.

“I’m now a believer,” he said.

“I’m coming around … I’d still like to see them do it against a good team and we get to see that in Gather Round this week against the Pies.”

The punters agree, with TAB’s Jaimee Rogers confirming they’ve taken five times more money on the Saints than Collingwood ahead of Sunday’s clash.

On another big episode, Hoyne and King also dive into Port Adelaide’s “strange” win over Sydney and reveal Richmond’s big problem, Christian Petracca’s hot start and the competition’s corridor kings.