DEAN Bailey has often said that the Demons need to find more opportunities to get the ball inside 50, while restricting the opposition from doing the same thing.
A lot of work is being done in this area, and it is something that will improve over time as the young Demons develop.
But looking at pure inside 50 numbers can be troublesome - often it is the quality of those inside 50s that can really make the difference.
If you take the round three match against Brisbane Lions, there are some great examples.
In the first quarter the inside 50 count was 15 to 13, in the Demons favour, yet the Lions managed to score five goals to one in that period.
With the advanced statistical data now available to all clubs, we can instantly look a little deeper into where things might be breaking down and why a team might not be scoring as well as they should.
Almost every instance in the game is now ‘plotted’ onto an image of the ground - called a game map.
From there, we can see where a particular player is gaining his possessions, where we have turned the ball over, and even entire chains of play to give us a better understanding of the game.
When looking at the Inside 50s in the first quarter against the Lions on the game map, it was evident that our kicks inside 50 were far too shallow - only five landed deeper than 35 metres out, while nine landed between 35-50 metres away from goal.
From an opposition perspective, this is a great area in which to attack from, if you manage to turn the ball over.
Teams like the Adelaide Crows have made this an art form in recent times, launching countless attacks from just inside their defensive 50.
Once the coaches were able to highlight this to the players, things have gradually started to turn around. The second quarter saw five of our 14 inside 50s land less than 35 metres out, while seven made it between 35-50 metres.
Five plus seven equals 12, you say? And we had 14 inside 50s?
Remember that we’re looking at kicks inside 50 - you’ll get a few instances a quarter where the ball is handballed or simply run over the 50m arc, which still counts as an inside 50.
Looking at the third quarter, it is no surprise that our best term coincided with an increase in the depth of our inside 50s - eight of the 14 landed less than 35 metres from goal.
Remember also that by pumping the ball long into your attacking zone, you will give the opposition less of an opportunity to score if they win it back. In some respects a quick turnover from a shallow inside 50 can do half of your opposition’s work for them.
And now that we have the tools in the coaches’ box to see that occurring, we can instantly move to change things, as happened on the weekend.
A lot of work is being done in this area, and it is something that will improve over time as the young Demons develop.
But looking at pure inside 50 numbers can be troublesome - often it is the quality of those inside 50s that can really make the difference.
If you take the round three match against Brisbane Lions, there are some great examples.
In the first quarter the inside 50 count was 15 to 13, in the Demons favour, yet the Lions managed to score five goals to one in that period.
With the advanced statistical data now available to all clubs, we can instantly look a little deeper into where things might be breaking down and why a team might not be scoring as well as they should.
Almost every instance in the game is now ‘plotted’ onto an image of the ground - called a game map.
From there, we can see where a particular player is gaining his possessions, where we have turned the ball over, and even entire chains of play to give us a better understanding of the game.
When looking at the Inside 50s in the first quarter against the Lions on the game map, it was evident that our kicks inside 50 were far too shallow - only five landed deeper than 35 metres out, while nine landed between 35-50 metres away from goal.
From an opposition perspective, this is a great area in which to attack from, if you manage to turn the ball over.
Teams like the Adelaide Crows have made this an art form in recent times, launching countless attacks from just inside their defensive 50.
Once the coaches were able to highlight this to the players, things have gradually started to turn around. The second quarter saw five of our 14 inside 50s land less than 35 metres out, while seven made it between 35-50 metres.
Five plus seven equals 12, you say? And we had 14 inside 50s?
Remember that we’re looking at kicks inside 50 - you’ll get a few instances a quarter where the ball is handballed or simply run over the 50m arc, which still counts as an inside 50.
Looking at the third quarter, it is no surprise that our best term coincided with an increase in the depth of our inside 50s - eight of the 14 landed less than 35 metres from goal.
Remember also that by pumping the ball long into your attacking zone, you will give the opposition less of an opportunity to score if they win it back. In some respects a quick turnover from a shallow inside 50 can do half of your opposition’s work for them.
And now that we have the tools in the coaches’ box to see that occurring, we can instantly move to change things, as happened on the weekend.
Historically, the sheer volume of inside 50s can almost be enough to get you over the line.
Looking at the 2010 data, there were 63 occasions where teams had 60 inside 50s or more.
Only eight times did the team lose the match. Interestingly, three of those matches involved Melbourne wins. Our defence was able to withstand the pressure and send the ball back the other way.
In 2011, no team has had 60 or more inside 50s and lost the match.
Another interesting way of looking at inside 50s is measuring the percentage of scores per inside 50. The West Coast Eagles rank number one with 55.8 per cent of their entries ending up in a score, closely followed by Sydney (54.6) and Hawthorn (53.9).
The Eagles are definitely making the most of their opportunities, since they rank eighth overall for getting the ball inside their forward 50.
Melbourne sits ninth with 47.9 per cent, while the Gold Coast Suns (39.8), Adelaide Crows (38.9) and Brisbane Lions (34.2) fill the bottom three ranking positions.
And our best inside 50 player after three rounds? Colin Sylvia, who is ranked second in the competition behind Hawthorn’s Clinton Young for inside 50s with 20 for the season.
So while there are certainly still some challenges for the Demons in terms of controlling the for and against inside 50 tallies, things are starting to move in a positive direction.
Let’s hope it continues against the Suns this weekend.
Don’t forget to follow @StatsIncredible on Twitter.
Looking at the 2010 data, there were 63 occasions where teams had 60 inside 50s or more.
Only eight times did the team lose the match. Interestingly, three of those matches involved Melbourne wins. Our defence was able to withstand the pressure and send the ball back the other way.
In 2011, no team has had 60 or more inside 50s and lost the match.
Another interesting way of looking at inside 50s is measuring the percentage of scores per inside 50. The West Coast Eagles rank number one with 55.8 per cent of their entries ending up in a score, closely followed by Sydney (54.6) and Hawthorn (53.9).
The Eagles are definitely making the most of their opportunities, since they rank eighth overall for getting the ball inside their forward 50.
Melbourne sits ninth with 47.9 per cent, while the Gold Coast Suns (39.8), Adelaide Crows (38.9) and Brisbane Lions (34.2) fill the bottom three ranking positions.
And our best inside 50 player after three rounds? Colin Sylvia, who is ranked second in the competition behind Hawthorn’s Clinton Young for inside 50s with 20 for the season.
So while there are certainly still some challenges for the Demons in terms of controlling the for and against inside 50 tallies, things are starting to move in a positive direction.
Let’s hope it continues against the Suns this weekend.
Don’t forget to follow @StatsIncredible on Twitter.
