Player Watch #24: Trent Rivers – midfield gun (imagine my surprise)

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Chaplin on Rivers - Article on AFL website

"We have a bit of a laugh with him. Two years ago, round one, 2021, he'd taken a couple of intercept marks and he turned to Steven May and Jake Lever and said, 'Boys, just keep holding out for me, I'm feeling it today'," Chaplin said.
 

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Rated best kick in the comp over the last 6 rounds by Champion Data.
Think he's been good but not sure that good. Then again I can't immediately think of someone better (though haven't seen enough of other teams to rate it).
Josh/Nick Daicos
Charlie Curnow
Newcombe
Merrett
Myers

Just off the top of my head

Champion data has some of the worst takes you'll ever see. They rated Grundy the AA ruck a week before he was dropped
 
Rated best kick in the comp over the last 6 rounds by Champion Data.
Think he's been good but not sure that good. Then again I can't immediately think of someone better (though haven't seen enough of other teams to rate it).

Think people just generally jump to quick without looking at any context tbh. I'm going to assume this is either 'effective kicks' or the Champion Data kick rating system which measures the effectiveness of kicks based against their expected outcome as per the AFL average.

This doesn't mean he's the most creative kick, or the best technical kick, or his kicks lead to scores more often, it simply means he's been the best over the last 6 weeks in hitting kicks effectively based against the likely outcome.

It's not as sexy as it sounds in a tweet, but I do enjoy how it triggers oppo supporters and the like.
 
Stats are stats. They're just numerical data sets based on specific criteria. People who don't understand that context often get frustrated that the data doesn't match their opinions without realizing the difference. It's funny how it generally triggers the same types.
'Best kick in the comp' is an assessment not a stat, what exactly are the stats to back it up? How are they weighted? The way champion data rates things can get a bit fuzzy sometimes and is subject to the biases of the assessors.

Fwiw, I'm actually not surprised Rivers is rated that highly though. He's had some genuinely amazing kicks and plays in some of our scoring chains over the last couple of months. But I wouldn't be surprised if it's just an aberation and it doesn't last.
 
'Best kick in the comp' is an assessment not a stat, what exactly are the stats to back it up? How are they weighted? The way champion data rates things can get a bit fuzzy sometimes and is subject to the biases of the assessors.

Fwiw, I'm actually not surprised Rivers is rated that highly though. He's had some genuinely amazing kicks and plays in some of our scoring chains over the last couple of months. But I wouldn't be surprised if it's just an aberation and it doesn't last.

It's an assessment based on stats - He's going at 20% above the kick rating expectation I mentioned and explained above.

You can listen to it here from around about 15:30 in:



There are no biases in the numbers.
 
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Smokey for our B&F honestly imo
Feel there's too much ground to make up on Trac/Viney, but a top 3-5 finish definitely on the cards. The usual suspects have dropped off (May, Lever) or been hurt (Gawn, Oliver) for a lot of the year.
 
Feel there's too much ground to make up on Trac/Viney, but a top 3-5 finish definitely on the cards. The usual suspects have dropped off (May, Lever) or been hurt (Gawn, Oliver) for a lot of the year.
He's definitely been in our best 5 all year. Will be shocked if he doesn't get a top 5 finish.
 
Stand by my claim that he'll be our best player within the next two years (provided he stays in the middle).

Dude is nearly the perfect midfield archetype – big, tough, good with ball in hand, evasive, fast, works hard defensively, strong in the air, good looking.

The whole package :love:
 
Simon can get in the bin for making us wait this long as far as I'm concerned
Bit of 2021 "but imagine if we didn't win the flag" Topkent vibes, but imagine if Rivers signed elsewhere seeking midfield opportunities that we couldn't provide him and he was playing like this for another team. I'd be so filthy right now.
 
Bit of 2021 "but imagine if we didn't win the flag" Topkent vibes, but imagine if Rivers signed elsewhere seeking midfield opportunities that we couldn't provide him and he was playing like this for another team. I'd be so filthy right now.
You bitch
 
I remember at the time of the draft when we were rumored to pick Young at 3 - our team said they thought Rivers at 32 could be just as good as Young (and he could win his own ball).

We actually chose a really good year to bottom out in 2019 - that draft was stacked. Also great move to trade the 2020 first round to get Pickett.

Young and Rivers ironically on similar trajectories having moved into midfield full time in 2024.
 
I remember at the time of the draft when we were rumored to pick Young at 3 - our team said they thought Rivers at 32 could be just as good as Young (and he could win his own ball).
Was this in the Oscar winning documentary To Hell and Back?
 

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Player Watch #24: Trent Rivers – midfield gun (imagine my surprise)

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