Quirky Round 4 stats: Richmond’s terrible forward half differential, Daniel Menzel needs to work on goalkicking
IMAGINE playing a whole quarter of football exclusively in your opposition’s forward half. Well, that’s exactly what Richmond did on Friday night. QUIRKY ROUND 4 STATS
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IMAGINE playing a whole quarter of football exclusively in your opposition forward half.
Well, that’s exactly what Richmond did in Friday night’s loss to West Coast.
Champion Data stats reveal the ball spent 34.52 minutes more in the Eagles’ forward half compared to the Tigers’ — effectively one whole quarter of footy — the club’s worst ever differential.
No wonder the Tigers struggled, particularly in the first half when they managed only four scoring shots to West Coast’s 23. What a smacking. It’s fair to say Damien Hardwick would have honed in on that point in his Monday review meeting with the players, that’s if he could hold off mentioning it for that long.
“It all came down to contested ball, we were well beaten around the contest,” Hardwick said post-match. “We know how important clearance is against West Coast Eagles, especially early doors.
“We just battled in that area, then just couldn’t get the ball our of defensive 50. We knew it was going to bne a tight tussle, and it is pretty tough to get it out (of defence) on a smaller ground.
“Defensively they set up very well.
“We just couldn’t break through their first line (of defence).”
Luckless Geelong forward Daniel Menzel is an exciting player with supreme talent but he needs to work on his goalkicking.
The small forward has presented well since forcing his way back into the Cats’ team in Round 3, managing a remarkable 10 scoring shots but only one goal.
Goalkicking practice for you this week, Daniel.
St Kilda halfback Shane Savage played 56 games for Hawthorn from 2009-2013 before he was traded to the Saints ahead of the 2014 season but when the two teams met on Saturday in Launceston, it was almost as if he picked up his old brown and gold guernsey.
Savage had 11 intercept possessions against the Hawks and 30 disposals in the narrow loss — an equal career-high.
And for those who stuck with Toby Greene in SuperCoach after a couple of low scoring rounds, his 13 score involvements in GWS’s huge win over Port Adelaide would have filled you with confidence about his prospects.
10 QUIRKY STATS FROM ROUND 4
1.RICHMOND lost the time in forward half differential by -34:52 against West Coast — its worst ever differential.
2. DANIEL Menzel had six shots at goal against Essendon, but failed to kick a goal. In his two matches, he has recorded 10 shots at goal for only one major.
3. HAWTHORN lost the contested possession count by 13 against the Saints. Aside from the Eagles game, they lost the count by 19 against Geelong, 29 against the Bulldogs, and again on the weekend.
4. SHANE Savage recorded 11 intercept possessions last week against the Hawks — and equal career-high. His 30 disposals was also an equal career-high.
5.BRISBANE generated 37 shots at goal last week against the Suns — their second-most recorded in a game under Justin Leppitsch.
6.SYDNEY conceded 20 points from centre bounces last week against Adelaide — its equal-most conceded to any side since 2014 other than Hawthorn.
7.RORY Sloane won 73% of his possessions contested against the Swans — the highest percentage of the top-100 possession winners for the round.
8. TOBY Greene was involved in a game-high 13 score involvements against the Power. He has been involved in eight score involvements per game this year — ranked No.1 at the Giants.
9. MELBOURNE scored 37 points against Collingwood from chains starting in its defensive 50 — its equal-most in a game since 2012.
10. AFTER four rounds, Fremantle has given up 92 points from centre bounces. They gave up 93 points in total across the home-and-away season in 2015.
Stats source: Champion Data
Originally published as Quirky Round 4 stats: Richmond’s terrible forward half differential, Daniel Menzel needs to work on goalkicking
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