WITH the football department based at AAMI Park, the coaching staff has great access to the two other professional football codes also sharing their tenancy.
The codes are able to share their experience and knowledge of coaches from other sports.
So with the Melbourne Storm staff and players passing us by in the corridors, the natural progression was obviously to seek their help with tackling techniques.
Players are taught a number of different methods to influence the ball carrier.
On the flip side, players are also taught techniques to avoid tackles and dispose of the football effectively, while under physical pressure.
Tackling is at the core of rugby league, so the Demons have been able to benefit from some of their knowledge when we apply it to our own game.
But statistically, tackling analysis arguably hasn’t evolved alongside the increased emphasis on this vital skill.
Why? Because it’s incredibly tricky.
The first challenge in logging anything other than a basic tackle is the time pressure involved when calling statistics live.
The game moves so fast in the modern era that calling the general statistics (kicks, marks, handballs) along with all the other events (including tackles), becomes incredibly difficult.
Judgement calls are made in an instant, although there are methods to review the figures throughout the match.
The other challenge is agreeing on a clear definition. If the stats providers wanted to include missed tackles into their call, they would face extreme difficulty finding consistency over a number of statisticians. And trying to get all 17 clubs to agree on a fair definition is next to impossible.
There’s nothing wrong with the clubs collating tackling figures themselves - the majority already do.
But the drawback of the in-house method is that you don’t get the benefit of stacking up the numbers against the entire competition - unless you have the resources and time to record all games the same way. It’s a mammoth job for a single club.
Clubs have access to official statistics, which basically include only one type of tackle - one that is significant enough to impede or influence the ball carrier.
The codes are able to share their experience and knowledge of coaches from other sports.
So with the Melbourne Storm staff and players passing us by in the corridors, the natural progression was obviously to seek their help with tackling techniques.
Players are taught a number of different methods to influence the ball carrier.
On the flip side, players are also taught techniques to avoid tackles and dispose of the football effectively, while under physical pressure.
Tackling is at the core of rugby league, so the Demons have been able to benefit from some of their knowledge when we apply it to our own game.
But statistically, tackling analysis arguably hasn’t evolved alongside the increased emphasis on this vital skill.
Why? Because it’s incredibly tricky.
The first challenge in logging anything other than a basic tackle is the time pressure involved when calling statistics live.
The game moves so fast in the modern era that calling the general statistics (kicks, marks, handballs) along with all the other events (including tackles), becomes incredibly difficult.
Judgement calls are made in an instant, although there are methods to review the figures throughout the match.
The other challenge is agreeing on a clear definition. If the stats providers wanted to include missed tackles into their call, they would face extreme difficulty finding consistency over a number of statisticians. And trying to get all 17 clubs to agree on a fair definition is next to impossible.
There’s nothing wrong with the clubs collating tackling figures themselves - the majority already do.
But the drawback of the in-house method is that you don’t get the benefit of stacking up the numbers against the entire competition - unless you have the resources and time to record all games the same way. It’s a mammoth job for a single club.
Clubs have access to official statistics, which basically include only one type of tackle - one that is significant enough to impede or influence the ball carrier.
The other potential tackle types are many and varied - broken tackles, missed tackles, run down tackles, ineffective and effective tackles are just the tip of the iceberg.
You can even look at instances relating to the number of times a player is “stepped”, where his opponent simply steps around him without any contact at all.
Officially a player isn’t given a tackle if he gives a free kick away (for high contact/push in the back). So one statistics provider, Prowess Sports, collates tackle attempts along with effective tackles.
There are a number of benefits of using this method, the most significant being the link between the statistics and vision.
Coaches can analyse all attempts to tackle, regardless of whether they are effective or not.
A lot has been written in the media about Joel Selwood’s tactics when being tackled, but at club level coaches are simply training their players to tackling with a better technique, so they don’t run the risk of giving away a free kick.
You can also look at effective tackles as a percentage of total attempts - there’s no use in tackling your opponent if they are still able to dispose of the ball to a teammate.
So far this season, the Demons sit in the middle of the table with a 70.1 per cent effective tackle percentage. North Melbourne (74.3 per cent), Essendon (73.5 per cent) and Brisbane (72.9 per cent) occupy the top three positions on the table, while the Gold Coast (67.3 per cent), Fremantle (66.8 per cent) and St.Kilda (65.8 per cent) sit down the bottom of the rankings after round nine.
The effectiveness percentages are also preferred because this takes away other variables in football.
The weather conditions are an obvious one - the Swans lead the competition for tackle averages largely because they have played two matches in extremely wet conditions.
And the myth about teams always having more tackles than their opponent because they’re second to the ball? Busted.
West Coast had 81 tackles to the Bulldogs’ 74 on the weekend despite the massive difference in the score.
And when you look at Prowess Sports’ effectiveness percentages, the Eagles had an 80 per cent success rate compared to the Dogs’ 72 per cent.
So when you’re looking at the figures in the newspaper on a lazy Sunday morning, don’t read too much into the tackle numbers.
While they are accurate by their definition, they aren’t necessarily the numbers we focus on with the players.
In fact, tackling is one of the key areas of the game where specific video analysis outweighs the statistics.
And there’s certainly no substitute for hours of tackling training on the track.
Don’t forget to follow @StatsIncredible on Twitter.
You can even look at instances relating to the number of times a player is “stepped”, where his opponent simply steps around him without any contact at all.
Officially a player isn’t given a tackle if he gives a free kick away (for high contact/push in the back). So one statistics provider, Prowess Sports, collates tackle attempts along with effective tackles.
There are a number of benefits of using this method, the most significant being the link between the statistics and vision.
Coaches can analyse all attempts to tackle, regardless of whether they are effective or not.
A lot has been written in the media about Joel Selwood’s tactics when being tackled, but at club level coaches are simply training their players to tackling with a better technique, so they don’t run the risk of giving away a free kick.
You can also look at effective tackles as a percentage of total attempts - there’s no use in tackling your opponent if they are still able to dispose of the ball to a teammate.
So far this season, the Demons sit in the middle of the table with a 70.1 per cent effective tackle percentage. North Melbourne (74.3 per cent), Essendon (73.5 per cent) and Brisbane (72.9 per cent) occupy the top three positions on the table, while the Gold Coast (67.3 per cent), Fremantle (66.8 per cent) and St.Kilda (65.8 per cent) sit down the bottom of the rankings after round nine.
The effectiveness percentages are also preferred because this takes away other variables in football.
The weather conditions are an obvious one - the Swans lead the competition for tackle averages largely because they have played two matches in extremely wet conditions.
And the myth about teams always having more tackles than their opponent because they’re second to the ball? Busted.
West Coast had 81 tackles to the Bulldogs’ 74 on the weekend despite the massive difference in the score.
And when you look at Prowess Sports’ effectiveness percentages, the Eagles had an 80 per cent success rate compared to the Dogs’ 72 per cent.
So when you’re looking at the figures in the newspaper on a lazy Sunday morning, don’t read too much into the tackle numbers.
While they are accurate by their definition, they aren’t necessarily the numbers we focus on with the players.
In fact, tackling is one of the key areas of the game where specific video analysis outweighs the statistics.
And there’s certainly no substitute for hours of tackling training on the track.
Don’t forget to follow @StatsIncredible on Twitter.
