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Just how good are the Fremantle Dockers in this 2015 AFL season? After dispatching Sydney on the weekend, you’d have to be leaning more to the positive side.
According to the AFL website’s statistics page Fremantle ranks as shown in these statistical areas.
Kicks: third
Handballs: sixth
Disposals: third
Marks: second
Hit outs: second
Eff Disposal: second
Cont. Disposals: eighth
Tackles: 17th
Goals: sixth
Behinds: 11th
Contested marks: second
Marks inside 50: seventh
Clearances: fourth
Centre clearances: fourth
Stoppages: seventh
Rebound 50s: 18th
1 per centers: 17th
Inside 50s: sixth
Goal accuracy %: 56.6 fifth
Interchange: second
So how good are they?
Looking at this data it can seem like just a bunch of numbers, but what it shows is how good Fremantle really are in some very important areas of the game.
Fremantle are dominant in being first to the ball, their ability to run with the footy, break lines and penetrate the opposition defence, and deliver hitting their targets better than almost anyone.
The Dockers’ ability to be gain control of the football is something Ross Lyon prides his team on and it is thanks to player like Nat Fyfe, Barlow, Neale and Pearce (Fremantle rank second in hit outs, second in contested marks, and seventh in stoppages). However every coach, or even every fan, knows that without effective disposals the ability to gain control of the footy is useless or has little merit on its own.
To Freo’s credit they have the necessary skills to deliver the footy accurately to their forward line with devastating results. (The Dockers rank third in the number of disposals/game, second in number of effective disposals, second in marks, fourth in clearances, and sixth in inside 50’s).
The figures shown are simply a numerical breakdown of the important and game winning components in the AFL and are averaged over a number of games.
It can be seen that according to the breakdown and ranking of Fremantle’s game and cross referencing on game-winning statistics Fremantle could be in very good stead to be finishing the season in the top four, possibly a premiership contender if they continue their current run of form.
So in response to the original question, the Fremantle Dockers are very good. Good enough to be taken seriously by the rest of the clubs in the AFL. That was demonstrated against the mighty Swans this weekend.
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