THE DEMONS are in the middle of a tough stretch of matches right now.
Having played the third-placed Hawks last weekend, the Dees face Geelong, Carlton and West Coast in the coming rounds.
The perception is that these sides are simply bigger, tougher and stronger than those below them on the ladder. But in reality there is another crucial factor in the success of those teams, and it has nothing to do with height and weight.
Looking at the playing lists of every club, there is very little between each side in terms of average height and weight.
There is only a two-centimetre difference between the lowest average height (187cm) and the highest (189cm), while all clubs fall within an 85-89kg weight range.
Obviously the size and weight of players becomes important around stoppages, with the notion of having “bigger bodies” around the ball often mentioned. But is there really that much of a weight difference on paper between the midfields of each of the clubs?
Clubs have access to the numbers relating to how many times a player has attended a centre bounce.
Not counting the ruckmen, Melbourne’s top five centre bounce attendees are reasonably obvious - Brent Moloney (410), Jordan Gysberts (194), Jordie McKenzie (178), Colin Sylvia (177) and Jack Trengove (137).
The average weight of those five players is 84.6kg.
Ruckmen Mark Jamar (229) and Stefan Martin (198) have shared the centre bounce duties evenly this season. As with most ruckmen, both of them tip the scales at over 100kg.
The top five centre bounce players for Hawthorn - Sam Mitchell (314 involvements), Brad Sewell (263), Liam Shiels (234), Jordan Lewis (207) and Luke Hodge (130) - weigh in at an average of 85.8kg, only a little over 1kg more than the Demons.
Looking towards this weekend, the Cats midfielders are collectively a little heavier.
Joel Corey (263 involvements), Joel Selwood (242), James Kelly (239), Cameron Ling (200) and Paul Chapman (169) have been the main players at centre bounces for Geelong.
Their average weight is 88.8kg, influenced heavily by the fact that Cameron Ling is listed as 95kg.
While the Cats midfield is statistically bigger and heavier than most other sides, it is arguably experience which is a bigger factor in their success. And the numbers well and truly back up this theory.
Those same Geelong players average almost 195 games between them.
Compare this to the games average of the five regular Hawks midfielders (137) and then the Demons brigade (64) and you can see why experience and games together as a group is just as important as a player’s physical attributes.
Ladder leader Collingwood has the fifth youngest list in the competition, yet their top five centre bounce players this year still average 132 games between them.
Other top sides Carlton (averaging 107 matches) and West Coast (102), our upcoming opponents over the next few weeks, are less experienced but still average almost 40 more games between them compared to the Demons.
With those figures in mind, it’s easy to see that player development has as much to do with simply playing games together as it does any other factor.
Having strong, durable bodies through the middle is a must in the modern game, as is genuine ball-winning talent. But there is no way to fast-track experience.
