The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

McCalman statistically Australia's best 8

Roar Rookie
10th April, 2014
Advertisement
Ben McCalman crosses over to score a try for the Wallabies (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Roar Rookie
10th April, 2014
96
1726 Reads

When debating who should play 8 for the Wallabies, the argument usually lies between Wycliff Palu and Scott Higginbotham, with the incumbent but departing Ben Mowen also getting a mention.

The statistics suggest someone else should be in the conversation though.

Comparing Palu, Higginbotham, Ben McCalman and Jack Schatz, Ben McCalman leads or is equal in linebreaks, run metres and runs, linkebreak assists, tries and tackle busts, and has made the second-most tackles behind Schatz. Palu leads in offloads and has the fewest missed tackles.

McCalman has made a huge 326 metres (average 65.2), ahead of Higginbotham, with 305 (average 50.8) and Palu (average 44.6). McCalman gets through a huge amount of runs, averaging 11.8 a game, ahead of Palu (8.2) and Higgers (8).

These stats highlight how little work Mowen gets through – he is much more a 6 and doesn’t stack up at 8.

Most of the prospective Wallaby squads on The Roar haven’t included Ben McCalman but the above stats surely must give people cause to rethink. McCalman bulked up over the offseason, putting on 4 or 5kgs. This could be factor in his improvement.

Surely if McCalman continues this form with these type of stats he can no longer be ignored, especially when factoring the high possibility of injury to Palu.

There is the non-quantifiable factor of Wallabies form and making the step up. We know Palu peforms at Wallaby level, while McCalman and Higgers, despite great domestic form, still have question marks.

Advertisement

Ewen McKenzie definitely has a selection headache – the kind most coaches enjoy.

close