The rise.... and RISE of Marc Pittonet

[kruddler]

So i contacted Champion Data to get a few things cleared up.....and to my surprise, they replied, albeit 2 weeks later.

Firstly, they confirmed that a hitout to advantage is as i described.

"A hitout to advantage is a hitout that reaches an intended teammate.

Yes, this player must have the opportunity to dispose of the ball, treat this like an umpire deciding ‘prior opportunity’ if they were going to pay holding the ball."

I also queried hitouts sharked...

Hitouts sharked are indeed the opposite, it’s a hitout going directly to the opposition, who again must have had time to dispose of the ball.

They were also kind enough to provide me with a spreadsheet...

"I have attached a spreadsheet with hitout stats for 2023 of the top 50 ruckmen for average ruck contests attended – but I will stress this is a one off, it’s not something we do."

Now unfortunately, that did not include stats for Jack Silvagni as he doesn't attend enough ruck contests (on average), but it does include a few players who have only played 1 game this year which isn't really helpful.
After removing those who have attended less than 100 ruck contests, we have a list of 41, not 50.
But, beggars can't be choosers. - I did ask for Silvagnis stats in a follow up email, but i've been ghosted....as expected (see "one off").

But in any event, i've been able to break down some key stats, both as a whole, and for individuals.

This could be a bit all over the shop, so hope it makes sense.

AFL Wide....
The chance a player attending any given ruck contest will get a hitout to advantage is (RC->HTA%) - 12.9% of the time.
The chance a player attending any given ruck contest will get a hitout sharked is (RC->HTS%) - 8.8% of the time.
Combining these, we see that a player attending any given ruck contest will get hitout that will go to a player 21.7% of the time.
There are 2 rucks in every contest, so we double that and get 43.4% of a ruck contest will find a player (for or against).
That means that 56.6% of ruck contests end in either no hitout, or no hitout to advantage for either team. Essentially meaning 56.6% of all ruck contests are pointless.

Now that Brown stat shows one reason why i've been against having 2 dedicated rucks....especially 2 specialist rucks who can't hold down another position. Majority of their work is literally pointless! The 2nd ruck takes the spot of another player who will no doubt have more influence over the game.

So with that being said, time to break down some stats for individuals. No bias here, if you want to know a player, ask and i'll show you (if i have him), but i'll try and include a top 10 and any other 'notable rucks' in each area. (All these rucks have attended 100+ ruck contests this year) This includes only the first 12 rounds (as thats when i got the data).

So first we start with RC-HTA%
1. Ryan (rich)- 19.2%
2. Pittonet (carl) - 17.8%
3. Stanley (gee) - 17.2%
4. Reeves (haw) - 17.2%
5. Grundy (mel) - 16.4%
6. Flynn (gws) - 16.2%
7. Goldstein (nm) - 16.1%
8. Gawn (mel) - 16%
9. Darcy (fre) - 15.9%
10. Witts (gc) - 15.8%
-----------
Phillips (ess) - 15.6%
De Koning (carl) - 11.9% - (equal 23rd)
English (wb) - 11.5%

Next we go with RC-HTS%
1. Phillips (ess) - 13.4%
2. Darcy (fre) - 13.3%
3. Dixon (pa) - 12.6%
4. Gawn (mel) - 12.4%
5. McInerney (bri) 11.0%
6. OBrien (ade) - 10.4%
7. Reeves (haw) - 10.3%
8. Ryan (rich) - 10.1%
9. Cox (coll) - 10%
10. Lycett (pa) - 9.9%
--------------------
Witts (gc) 9.8%
English (wb) - 8.7%
Grundy (mel) - 8.3%
Pittonet (carl) - 8.2%
De Koning (carl) - 7.4%

Now we have the net result of this. (HTA% less HRS%) I call it Pure HTA%
1. Pittonet (carl) - 9.9%
2. Ryan (rich) - 9.1%
3. Miller (rich) - 8.9%
4. Grundy (mel) - 8.1%
5. Flynn (gws) - 7.9%
6. Goldstein (nm) - 7.7%
7. Moyle (gc) - 7.6%
8. Reeves (haw) - 6.9%
9. Witts (gc) - 6.0%
10. Lobb (wb) - 5.8%
---------
Cameron (coll) - 5.7%
Stanley (gee) - 5.4%
De Koning (carl) - 4.5%
Gawn (mel) - 3.7%
English (wb) - 2.9%
Darcy (fre) - 2.6%
Phillips (ess) - 2%
Dixon (pa) - -1.6%**
Jamieson (wc) - -5.8%**
[sub]**These show that including these rucks on the ruck contests actually benefit the opposition more than your own team!
[/sub]