2017 Jim Park Medal Analysis:

[ElwoodBlues1]

To be honest, I cannot see Daisy going on next season. There is a good chance he will become part of the coaching staff. He is well respected for his footy brain. But his body can no longer get him to do the things that made him so highly regarded.

On the other hand, Sam Rowe polling 273 votes so far suggests he will be around for a while yet. He was beaten on Saturday, but he had silver service from the GC mids.

That White has polled more votes than Simmo so far is also a point of interest.

But one of the things that really pleases me is the performance of Plowman. To be 3rd at this point is a great effort and suggests we did the right thing in recruiting him. Even if the others in his deal do not come off, he is an excellent pickup.

Not sure Daisy will last the 2nd half of the season, no doubt he is trying but the body wont do the things the brain is telling it to do and I think both player and club
need to sit down and formulate a retirement deal now so he gets to go out in a dignified manner rather than be pushed/staggering over the line..

[flyboy77]

Simple reality is he shouldn't be picked on current form.....and agreed he does try hard!

[Thryleon]

I wouldnt be so sure guys.

There are stats that mean a lot to teams that the average punter wont be privy to unless they go searching.

Dale Thomas is currently sitting 6th in our team for metres gained this season in our team.

A stat that is very important to getting the team going forward of centre.  The top 6 at the Blues:

1. Sam Docherty
2. Marc Murphy
3. Bryce Gibbs
4. Kade Simpson
5. Patrick Cripps
6. Dale Thomas

He is also sitting 9th in our team for score involvements.
13th for intercept posessions,
3rd for Marks taken (which indicates hes getting to where the ball is frequently as his contested stats are not very high).

The other thing that I can see is that his team mates seem to like him, and are trying to involve him as much as possible.

Now, Ive seen just by watching him for a few minutes at a time that he is a smart player who gets to where the ball is, and has a high workrate with lots of repeat efforts at putting defensive pressure on.  The only thing really letting him down is his ball use by foot and I would say based on his disposal efficiency (higher than a few in our team who most consider undroppable at the minute at an overall 66%, Bryce Gibbs is travelling at 59%) is that he is only letting us down at critical moments which is highlighting the poor disposal more than anything else.

He isn't what he once was, but I think we need to learn the lesson of Brock Mclean.  He too was a footballers footballer, who could get to where the ball was going even though his leg speed didnt show he was worth it, and on current form is still worth playing.  Its important that the MC who ask people to perform roles, seem to be happy enough with his work at the minute, but at the same time, it doesn't say anything about whether or not he will go on with it next season.

We will see how the rest of the year pans out, but there are positives he is providing our team which is all we can really hope for.

[flyboy77]

I call BS to that.

What of his multiple clangers that lead to cheap turnovers - and easy goals to the other side.

Metres gained means jack when the ball misses the target!

[DJC]

Is there a metres lost stat?

[Thryleon]

I call BS to that.

What of his multiple clangers that lead to cheap turnovers - and easy goals to the other side.

Metres gained means jack when the ball misses the target!

Im not sure they are counted if they are turned over but I see your point.

@DJC

;D

[crashlander]

Round 4: Carlton vs Gold Coast
Not the greatest of result, but we really only failed in 1 quarter. Unfortunately their skill level and game style allowed them to get a lot of goals in the 30 minutes of disaster.

Notes:
[1] This game had the voters staying away in droves. There were 14 voters this year compared to 21 last year for this round. Last week we had 22 voters for a game where it poured.
I will not speculate as to why we had such a large voter drop-off, but it is not a good trend.
[2] The overall rating of 7.14 was much lower than last. This represents a rating of less than a D+. I gather the voters found our 3rd quarter unacceptable. We were the better team in the other 3 quarters.
[3] Out teens appeared to cope well with the game and made an impression, as did Pickett. But our inability to make the most of our forward entries was lethal.
[4] 13 players managed to get votes for this week. Murphy was the pick for our best player.

Votes:
Murphy, Marc 324
Docherty, Sam 268
Simpson, Kade 107
Casboult, Levi 87
Gibbs, Bryce 82
Silvagni, Jack 79
Marchbank, Caleb 36
Kreuzer, Matthew 28
Curnow, Edward 20
Fisher, Zac 18
Macreadie, Harrison 13
Williamson, Tom 8
Pickett, Jarrod 3

Progressive Voting:
1154 - Murphy, Marc (0)
582 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
439 - Docherty, Sam (0)
412 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
333 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
311 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
273 - Rowe, Sam (0)
267 - Wright, Matthew (0)
190 - Marchbank, Caleb (0)
153 - Simpson, Kade (0)
118 - Curnow, Edward (0)
117 - Silvagni, Jack (0)
115 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
92 - Casboult, Levi (0)
61 - White, Simon (0)
32 - Petrevski - Seton, Sam (0)
27 - Macreadie, Harrison (0)
18 - Fisher, Zac (0)
12 - Williamson, Tom (0)
10 - Thomas, Dale (0)
3 - Pickett, Jarrod (0)

[crashlander]

At this particular point, Murphy is well out in front, approximately double the number of votes of the 2nd ranked player (Kreuzer!) This season he has not had less than 25 possessions in any game and he had 3 games with well over 30.

Behind him at this point is a considerable pack:
There is basically one good game between Kreuzer in 2nd spot and Wright in 8th spot.

There are 21 vote getters to this point, which is better than this time last year easily. Of those, 9 are in either their 1st or 2nd year on our list.
Simmo has not performed to the standard he has over recent seasons as yet. However, he dos remain a consistent performer. However, in recent years he would already be the top 5. He is, at the moment, in 10th spot.
Rowe has continued his pretty good form in defence. He did well last year and retains his top 10 standing.
We also have a number of younger players featuring so far, not just making up the numbers. Most of the teens have managed to get a mention.
However, at this point we still appear to be out of favour with the scribes, as none of our young players have been mentioned as Rising Star nominees as yet. Plowman may have played too many games at this point, but Marchbank, Silvagni, Weitering, Petrevski-Seton and Charlie Curnow have not. There are some good young kids going around, but looking at the performances that have managed nominations both Silvagni and Marchbank have played at least well this year.

[Navy Maven]

At this particular point, Murphy is well out in front, approximately double the number of votes of the 2nd ranked player (Kreuzer!) This season he has not had less than 25 possessions in any game and he had 3 games with well over 30.

Behind him at this point is a considerable pack:
There is basically one good game between Kreuzer in 2nd spot and Wright in 8th spot.

There are 21 vote getters to this point, which is better than this time last year easily. Of those, 9 are in either their 1st or 2nd year on our list.
Simmo has not performed to the standard he has over recent seasons as yet. However, he dos remain a consistent performer. However, in recent years he would already be the top 5. He is, at the moment, in 10th spot.
Rowe has continued his pretty good form in defence. He did well last year and retains his top 10 standing.
We also have a number of younger players featuring so far, not just making up the numbers. Most of the teens have managed to get a mention.
However, at this point we still appear to be out of favour with the scribes, as none of our young players have been mentioned as Rising Star nominees as yet. Plowman may have played too many games at this point, but Marchbank, Silvagni, Weitering, Petrevski-Seton and Charlie Curnow have not. There are some good young kids going around, but looking at the performances that have managed nominations both Silvagni and Marchbank have played at least well this year.

Weitering has played too many games to be in RS contention. Surprised the media hasn't mentioned Marchbank though. Must be in the top 10 of the club B+F at this point.

[crashlander]

Rd 5: Carlton vs Port Adelaide

An ugly night with little to recommend it. Port flogged us after half time.

Some Notes:
[1] With our worst performance of the season was a relatively low voter turn out. We had 17 voters this week, compared to 23 this round last year. However, it was 3 more than last week.
To get the voters we need to be more competitive against the 'higher ranked' teams.
[2] With a ranking of 5.75, the performance was rated by the voters as our worst. Fair enough. It was a shocker. 5.75 is an E-, which pretty much says it all.
[3] 14 players did get a vote: something of a surprise considering how we played. We had very few winners on the night. Certainly guys like Gibbs and Murphy got mentions because they worked hard and got a lot of the ball. However, their direct opponents were among Port's best.
[4] It was very hard to find any green shoots. But Jack Silvagni and Charlie Curnow did their best to be noticed. Of course, when you are being pumped, it is hard to notice our players, so it seems. We still haven't managed a Rising Star Nomination yet.

Votes:
Cripps, Patrick 270
Casboult, Levi 147
Rowe, Sam 112
Curnow, Charles 103
Silvagni, Jack 64
Plowman, Lachlan 51
Gibbs, Bryce 39
Murphy, Marc 22
White, Simon 12
Williamson, Tom 12
Docherty, Sam 8
Fisher, Zac 8
Marchbank, Caleb 7
Petrevski - Seton, Sam 7

Crippa was rated our best by some margin.

Progressive Votes:
1176 - Murphy, Marc (0)
603 - Cripps, Patrick (0)
582 - Kreuzer, Matthew (0)
463 - Plowman, Lachlan (0)
447 - Docherty, Sam (0)
384 - Rowe, Sam (0)
350 - Gibbs, Bryce (0)
267 - Wright, Matthew (0)
239 - Casboult, Levi (0)
196 - Marchbank, Caleb (0)
181 - Silvagni, Jack (0)
153 - Simpson, Kade (0)
118 - Curnow, Edward (0)
115 - Weitering, Jacob (0)
104 - Curnow, Charles (0)
73 - White, Simon (0)
39 - Petrevski - Seton, Sam (0)
27 - Fisher, Zac (0)
27 - Macreadie, Harrison (0)
24 - Williamson, Tom (0)
10 - Thomas, Dale (0)
3 - Pickett, Jarrod (0)

Murphy still leads by a very large margin, but Cripps moves up into 2nd spot. This is even with him carrying niggles.