GVL Data

GVL Data | Shaun Atley leads GVL disposal list

By Rohan Aldous

Jun 26, 2022

Ball magnets: Rochester’s Shaun Atley leads the Goulburn Valley competiton in relation to average disposals. He is shown evading Benalla’s James Martinello, who is ranked third on the GVL Data list.

Shaun Atley has been unveiled as Goulburn Valley football’s top ranked footballer for average disposals in the opening half of the 2022 season.

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His absence from the Rochester mid-field for the last five weeks has seen the club slip outside the top six and - along with a succession of injuries to key players - has the team now teetering on the edge of the top six.

For much of the season the Tigers have been ranked among the top four, but three successive losses have impacted on that status.

Atley is expected to return after Rochester’s July 9 split round bye, for the Mansfield match on July 16, having spent two months travelling internationally after an outstanding opening five rounds to start the season.

He tops the list of average ball winners through the GVL Data statistical release last week, averaging 32 disposals from his five matches.

Atley is averaging 14.8 kicks and 17.2 handballs, going at 86 per cent efficiency by hand and by a much lower 58 per cent by foot.

The former North Melbourne star is ranked marginally ahead of Benalla duo Christopher Welsh and William Martinello.

Welsh and Martinello both average 31 possessions, stand outs for the second bottom ranked Benalla - with only two wins to its credit.

Atley’s average of seven clearances per game is fifth in the competition, the Benalla duo above him on a list which is headed by Echuca’s Jack McHale.

McHale averages nine clearances a week.

Also among the top five in clearances is Atley’s midfield teammate, Chris Jansen - with Jordan Harper probably Rochester’s most consistent player this season.

Jansen averages 7.4 clearances a match and is also eighth on the list of average disposals from his eight matches - with an average of 28.4.

Jansen is Rochester’s second ranked player in regard to total disposals, with 227 (ranked 16th in the league).

The top ranked Tiger, Jordan Harper, has a 10 game total of 253 disposals - ranked seventh - with Seymour’s Jack Murphy (309 disposals from 10 games) topping the list.