Stats insider: Full round 7 centre bounce numbers, key SuperCoach intel

Alastair Clarkson’s midfield shake-up produced mixed results for North Melbourne’s SuperCoach guns. See every centre bounce attendee for round 6 and the big movers and sliders.

Sometimes you have to look for subtle clues to explain a sudden spike or drop-off in player output and SuperCoach scores.

And sometimes the answer smashes you over the head.

Young Kangaroos ball magnet Tom Powell is averaging 22 disposals, five clearances and almost five tackles a game this year, and 87 SuperCoach points.

On Saturday against Adelaide he had just 10 disposals, two clearances, one tackle and a season-low 49 SuperCoach points.

A look at the Kangaroos’ centre bounce numbers reveals the culprit. After attending at least 76 per cent of CBAs over the first six rounds (in round 2 that number was 93 per cent), he was at just 14 per cent in round 7.

Alastair Clarkson threw his midfield around, with Powell playing 75 per cent of game time as a forward. Harry Sheezel played 65 per cent in defence, 15 per cent midfield and 20 per cent as a forward. Small forward Paul Curtis (26 per cent CBAs) was given a run in the centre square, Will Phillips a staple at centre bounces until he was subbed off and Jy Simpkin has been getting a lot more mid time over the past two rounds.

While the magnet moves might have hurt Powell, they clearly worked for one young Roo. Colby McKercher had zero CBAs and spent 100 per cent of the game in defence, where he amassed a season-high 32 disposals, seven marks and 102 SuperCoach points.

Tom Powell spent most of the game against Adelaide in the forward line. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Other notable CBA moves this week included:

LUKE Beveridge persisted with his Ed Richards midfield experiment, with the former defender attending 24 CBAs against Fremantle. It’s worth noting that Tom Liberatore was missing again.

JORDAN Dawson’s CBA percentage dropped from 80 per cent to 60 per cent with Matt Crouch returning to the team. Izak Rankin’s centre bounce numbers took an even bigger hit, dropping from 76 per cent to 26 per cent.

JAKE Stringer was at 75 per cent of CBAs for the Bombers on Anzac Day, replacing Jye Caldwell.

WILL Day attended 50 per cent of CBAs in his first game of the year for Hawthorn.

LUKE Jackson’s CBAs dropped again from 43 per cent to 27 per cent as Sean Darcy gains fitness. Jackson spent 75 per cent of game time as a forward.

CHRISTIAN Petracca’s CBAs fell to 57 per cent against Richmond, his second-lowest figure for the season.

ISAAC Heeney was at 81 per cent of CBAs against Hawthorn, his highest figure for the year.

JACK Petruccelle took Harley Reid’s midfield minutes at West Coast, attending 76 per cent of CBAs against Gold Coast. He managed only 14 disposals but laid a team-high 10 tackles.

NOTE: Movers and sliders table is based of player’s most recent performance. Minimum two games in 2024 to qualify, but the two games can be weeks apart.

Secret SuperCoach stats

Each week Champion Data guru Fantasy Freako lifts the lid on the SuperCoach scoring system by analysing key moments from the weekend games. Here are the numbers you need to know from round 7.

MY FAVOURITE MARTIN

Nic Martin shared his time between defence and attack in the final term on Anzac Day, playing played 69 per cent of game time for the quarter as a forward.

He kicked an important goal and scored 15.2 points from his handball-receive, effective short kick and the goal. He also scored 3.9 points for his goal assist soon after.

FREE KICK ROWELL

Rowell won seven free kicks on the weekend – the most by any player in a match this season. A free for is classified as a contested possession and he won a total of 23 points from free kicks.

Rowell has 26 frees for this season, ranked No.1. Brodie Grundy is ranked No.1 for frees against with 22 for the season.

Matt Rowell has won more free kicks than any other player this year. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

NO KNOCK ON BONT

Marcus Bontempelli showed on the weekend that you don’t have to take possession of the ball to influence the match, or score SuperCoach points. He scored 2.9 points for an effective knock-on and 3.4 for a goal assist when he cleverly tapped a loose ball to Aaron Naughton for a crucial goal on Saturday night.

GREEN’S NEW MATE

Tom Green had an effective and unexpected partnership with first-gamer Darcy Jones on Anzac Day. The two players combined twice – one for a goal and the other for a behind. No one has combined three times in a match this year.

Stat of the Week – First possessions and clearances

Below is a definition of the two stats:

First Possessions

The initial possession that follows a stoppage, including a loose ball-get, hardball-get, intended ball-get (gather), free kick or ground kick.

Clearances

Credited to the player who has the first effective disposal in a chain that clears the stoppage area, or an ineffective kick or clanger kick that clears the stoppage area.

We often get asked, How many SuperCoach points you get for a clearance? The simple answer is none. The clearance is an action whereby you clear the stoppage area – so no SuperCoach points are attached to it.

You do earn points for how you win the ball, whether that be a gather from a ruckman’s hitout-to-advantage, or a loose ball-get or hardball-get when the ball is in dispute.

If you clear the stoppage area via a kick (short and effective or long) then you are positively rewarded for this with SuperCoach points. If the kick is ineffective then you get zero points, while if you turn the ball over by foot then you lose points off your score.

Caleb Serong wins plenty of SuperCoach points at stoppages. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

While there are no points attached to a clearance, the one exception to this rule is a hitout smash which generates a clearance. This is a hitout that clears the stoppage area, and this is worth five SuperCoach points.

On the weekend, Caleb Serong generated a career-high 17 clearances, but he only got points for his gathers and hard and loose ball-gets. He did have six gathers from a hitout which netted him 9.4 points.

Patrick Cripps leads the gathers from a hitout stat with 24 across the year, slightly ahead of Christian Petracca (23) and Nat Fyfe and Tom Liberatore (20).

If we look at the best ruck-rover combinations in the league, Max Gawn and Christian Petracca have combined 21 times – three ahead of Kieren Briggs and Tom Green.

Originally published as Stats insider: Full round 7 centre bounce numbers, key SuperCoach intel