Sam Hargreaves
Let's have a look into the Victoria University Data Lab. It's all thanks to the finals countdown partner, Victoria University. We're going to go into the VU Data Lab, Ellie, to look at some of the key stats about some of our Bulldogs prime movers. So, thanks to VU and Bulldogs analyst, Sam McIntosh, let's have a look at the top 20 AFL player ratings. And this is a great indication of the strength of this Bulldog side, when you look at how many Dogs are in that top 20.
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[Table showing players listed by rating points, from top to bottom]
Total AFL Rating Points - Top 20
- Nic Naitanui
- Marcus Bontempelli
- Clayton Oliver
- Jack Macrae
- Darcy Parish
- Dayne Zorko
- Christian Petracca
- Tom Liberatore
- Touk Miller
- Jarryd Lyons
- Ollie Wines
- Zach Merrett
- Max Gawn
- Jack Steele
- Sean Darcy
- David Mundy
- Bailey Dale
- Luke Parker
- Jake Stringer
- Jack Crisp
Ellie Blackburn
Yeah, obviously there's four players there in the top 20, Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae, Tom Liberatore, who unfortunately missed out on the all-Australian selection and Bailey Dale who made his way into the half-back of the all-Australian team, you know, rightfully so. And look at those rankings, obviously, Bon and Macrae sitting right up there in the top four. They've had an extremely positive and great season on their behalf. So, I think that's really positive signs for the Bulldogs.
Sam Hargreaves
We're going to look in a little bit closer detail to Bailey Dale. One of the great positional changes that we've seen in recent times, in terms of the bang for the buck and what they've been able to reap the rewards that they have from that change Luke Beveridge. But, and I want to ask you about Jake Stringer a little bit more and what you would do in terms of a match up from him. But, if we have a look at Jack Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli, so, three times in a row now Macrae has been all-Australian. Bontempelli in that side again. One and three ranked midfielders in the competition, but as someone who uses the ball better than most in the AFLW, Ellie, you would appreciate just how well these guys do the same ranked two and three.
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[Player stats table: Marcus Bontempelli & Jack Macrae; Player rankings - Midfielders]
Column 1: Player rating / Position rank
Bontempelli #1
Macrae #3
Column 2: Overall ball use / Position rank
Bontempelli #2
Macrae #3
Ellie Blackburn
Absolutely, and they're just so crafty in the way they move it. It's sleek, it's super nice to watch. So, you know, they've had extremely, you know, as I mentioned before, they've had great seasons and it's just the way they move and get themselves into positions. They've obviously got to be able to trust the guys who are winning it at the source. So, I guess, the Libbers, the Dunkleys and, you know, relying on Tim English and, obviously, Stefan Martin throughout the season to play important roles in the ruck to give it to them. But, the way they position themselves, but it's not just that, their work rate and all of that adds to this. So, they've been extremely positive this year.
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[Player stats table: Bailey Dale; Player rankings - Defenders]
Column 1: Player rating / Position rank
[Dale] #1
Column 2: Overall ball use / Position rank
[Dale] #1
Sam Hargreaves
The other thing about this too, is when the Libbers and the Dunkleys can get the ball in the hands of the Bontempellis and McCraes, they're in the top four both of them for goal assists this year as well. So, their ability to provide when they get the ball in the right position. So, those center clearances and contested ball stats are going to be so important in this game. This is the one that we were really keen to talk about and I know you were too. One of the great positional changes, Bailey Dale being deployed over the last few years of the lead up forward. And now, is all-Australian running off half-back and look at those player rankings and the ball-use rankings.
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[Plot graph showing performance for Bailey Dale, rounds 1-23]
Ellie Blackburn
That's just incredible, isn't it? To have that kind of change and then to be ranked number one in both the rating and the ball-use for a defender is incredible. And as we have a look at here at, I guess his range and where he's expected to have sort of played and the level he's expected to have played at. As we have a look at here, there's only one game where he's sat outside the expected range for it, but most of it's in it and above.
Sam Hargreaves
Yeah, and those games where he's been above two, the numbers are phenomenal and he almost doubles his output in terms of inside fifties. He goes from about two and a bit to almost four and a half from three score involvements to about six and a half, and then made his gain about 479 to 674 when he's at the top end. And the only time he's been below, as you mentioned, was that last game against Essendon, and they put a lot of work into him. So, you know that there'll be a plan to free him up and to get him off the chain. And he's been the most improved player, you'd think, this season and his ball-use far and away exceeds most that play in the position that he does. It's a credit to him though, too, isn't it? To be told, "Okay, we're going to change you up." But then the way in which he's responded has been he's exceeded every expectation.
Ellie Blackburn
Yeah I don't think most players like it when the coach comes and taps them on the shoulder and says, "Hey, we want to move you from the forward line to the back line." I think most players, they won't say it, but I think they would all somewhat admit that they love playing forward. So for him to, I guess, be open to that change and then just the way he's adapted to it has been incredible. And, you know, he's run, he's carried, but then he also has the experience of going up forward as well. So, he's been able to hit the scoreboard and played extremely well as that, I guess, rebounding half-back flanker.
Sam Hargreaves
So, big thanks to Victoria University and Sam McIntosh for all that brilliant analysis in the VU Data Lab.
