After half a packet of Tim Tams and five Rum and Cokes, I’ve done some data sets based on various criteria to see how each of the Australian provinces and individual Australian players are going thus far in the Super 14 for this year.
Looking the above data, the thing that stands out is how much the Reds kick the ball and how little the Tahs run the ball. I guess this suggests the Tahs kick more effectively than the other teams and the Reds are least effective in this respect
The Reds lead the other Aussie teams in most attacking KPI’s but languish at the bottom of the table, equal with the Force.
The Tahs, on the basis of this data, are the most conservative of the Aussie teams and yet they are leading the charge, who said the ELV’s were meant to herald a new era of attacking rugby.
Below is an individual breakdown of some key statistical indicators. On balance, I guess it looks as if Cliffy and Diggers are the best performed Australian players.
Have a look at the data, draw your own conclusions, and leave a comment.
Top 5 for Line Breaks
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2152 https://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/?p=2152">9 Comments
Diggers!
My conclusions:
1) the way the breakdown is being reffed (NOT the ELVs per se) means not having the pill wins matches. Hence the Tahs stats. This is real pity.
2) Aussie wingers based on this should be Shmoo & Diggers. Great yards & line breaks. Lote’s had plenty of runs for little pay off – although is this poor pill?
3) Tyrone Smiths line break % is phenomenal. How can he be kept out?
4) TPN gets turned over 3 out of every 4 runs!!
And that’s why Gerrard isn’t the team too I guess..but is he just getting isolated?
I haven’t seen much but I think Lote typically is getting bad ball, at least a quarter of those runs are kick returns surely…
And: the million dollar question is going to be outside centre: Smith, because Iaone can play wing and this fits Smith in, Iaone because he is clearly more value there and Smith gets the bench, or Mortlock because he’s old faithful (and a dab hand when on song, of course!)??
Although didn’t Smith play 12 last year? I think he was only at 13 last weekend as a work-around.
I like the idea of him at 12 – making the breaks for Morty / AAC / Diggers / Ryan X (quiet season so far) to run on to.
However, I haven’t seen sign of a kicking game which I believe Dingo likes there. Would still like to see him have more of a run there as an option, he was electric against the Shorks
Yea I was ruling him out of 12 on the grounds that Deans has Barnes/Cooper basically locked in there, for the kicking game like you say and also the distributive game which I haven’t seen as much of from him (but then again I haven’t really seen him play five-eigth either!)
Geez we seem to have a bit of depth in the inside backs now.
And what about prodigal son Brock James, currently leading the scoring in Top14?
What if he came back?
If Brock James came back it would not even raise a ripple in the rugby pond of Australia…might get a run for a Bratislavian invitational XV but that’s it
Not even the Western Force, short a fly-half or two in the very near future?
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