Collectively, Goulburn Valley League finals aspirants are more adept at producing scores from opposition turnovers than stoppages — as we discovered from the round 14 data surrounding the top six sides — while Mansfield and Euroa led the categories respectively.
But a crucial part of the bigger picture is where those turnovers and stoppages are happening on the field.
Tackling pressure, ruck presence, zone structure and even forward marking ability can affect how effectively teams create scores from inside their own forward 50m arc. But who is currently doing it best?
Once again we’ll take the data from the top six sides in round 14, as a percentage of their overall score for the match.
ROUND 14 SCORING SOURCE (as a percentage of total score)
FORWARD 50
Mansfield: 30%
Echuca: 26%
Kyabram: 21%
Mooroopna: 18%
Seymour: 13%
Euroa: 6%
And again it is Mansfield and Euroa where our eyes are drawn first.
The Eagles sourced 30 per cent of their score from the forward 50 at the weekend, two-thirds from stoppages in the arc and the other third from turnovers.
Meanwhile, Euroa started scoring chains worth just 6 per cent of its overall score from its own forward 50 against the Shepparton Swans.
The initial conclusions from that piece of data from the Magpies is that either the Swans rebounded efficiently from defence — at least until past the arc — or Euroa’s forwards were unstoppable in the air.
The reality is a bit of both; and other factors I’m sure.
Euroa’s 20 marks inside the forward 50 ranked just outside the top 20 performances for the entire season from a team (equal 21st) but well behind the benchmark of 44 set by the Magpies in round 11.
The Swans’ 43 rebound-50s was one of the better performances in the category this campaign as well, ranked equal 20th and only 12 behind the season-high.
And while not specifically defensive-50 statistics, the 12 intercept marks and 12 spoils the Swans managed were equal 47th and equal 26th lowest (out of 166) for a team this year.
When you break it down to that statistical level it is easy to see why Euroa didn’t start scoring chains from within its own attacking area.
Echuca and Kyabram also secured a relatively high percentage of their respective totals at the weekend from within the forward arc — at 26 per cent and 21per cent — while Mooroopna (18 per cent) and Seymour (13 per cent) did their best work elsewhere on the field.