All Australian thread 2014

[Righteo]

Even as a Freo supporter Mackenzie definitely should have been selected over Rance.

Not to say Rance wasn't deserving but it does seem Richmond's winning streak (and his great form in that time) weighted it towards Rance in the end, Mackenzie has been great for a few years now. Reminds me a bit of how McPharlin kept getting snubbed, if WC return to finals next year he'll probably get in finally.

Goals conceded is a pretty lazy way of judging it too, reckon the respective midfields and therefore number of forward entries defended against should come into play too.

 

[Ron The Bear]

Champion Data ranked Luke Delaney as the best defender in the competition after Round 8 this year.

I like CD, I have bought their Prospectus every year for the past six years, but their goals conceded and contests won/lost stat is fairly recent and lacking transparency too. It doesn't help that those stats come out maybe once or twice a year and therefore it is very hard to hold CD to account for their assessments after each match.

Maybe the AFL still has his name on their computers as McKenzie, and he got Trent McKenzie's goals against?

I rarely notice Mackenzie when I watch West Coast (or Talia at Adelaide for that matter). They're efficient and unobtrusive, where Rance catches the eye with his desperation and dash. I think the reason he got the nod is that simple.

 

[liz]

Goals conceded is a pretty lazy way of judging it too, reckon the respective midfields and therefore number of forward entries defended against should come into play too.

Absolutely. It's a pretty ordinary stat for rating defenders, I reckon. Teams concede goals, not players. Sure, there might be some occasions where a defender (or any other player) loses a one-on-one contest that was winnable (ie not a perfect pass onto the chest of a leading forward whose under little pressure from the middle) and this directly leads to a goal. But on the whole its far less simple than that.

You can argue that teams create and score goals too, but there is more often a degree of skill involved from the direct scorer. And in any case, forwards are judged partly on goal assists and on pressure acts and the like. Goals conceded as a primary means of comparing defenders seems overly simplistic and arguably misleading. It's a stat for people who can't judge the performance of a player without reverting to a stat,

 

[Eshay187]

Irrelevant.

It's not irrelevent to my personal feelings of disappointment which is all i was referring to.