DenieD
Ken
Welcome to another media thread by me. Today we will be looking at the past 10 seasons (s24-33) top performing teams in the home and away season. More specifically, we will be looking at their median and average positions that they finish on the ladder before finals. This should give us good insight into which teams have been exceeding the sims expectations and which are performing well below what they should be. Let's take a look...
Mount Buller Demons
Median Ladder Position: 3rd
Average Ladder Position: 4.6
Unsurprisingly the Mount Buller Demons are well ahead of everyone else when it comes to ladder position finishes at the end of the home and away season. With a median final ladder position of 3rd, the Demons have shown that they are the top team from this past half a decade. In the past 10 seasons the Demons have finished inside the top 4 a total of 6 times, and have only just missed out on finals twice (finishing 9th in S30 and 10th in S25). They are far ahead of all the rest and have easily been the dominant team in the home and away seasons. Finals is another matter, but I'm not focusing on that in this thread. So let's just congratulate Mount Buller on a truly impressive run they have put together in the last 10 seasons.
Fighting Furies
Median Ladder Position: 5th
Average Ladder Position: 5.9
Fighting Furies is next on the ranking with a median final ladder position of 5th at the end of the home and away season. Finishing in the top 4 a total of 5 times out of the past 10 seasons, the Furies definitely know how to handle the home and away fixtures. Sadly, the same cannot be said for finals, but that is for another time. Furies have only missed out on playing finals 3 times, with 2 of them coming in the past 3 seasons (S31 and S33). Fighting Furies management would be very pleased to see that the past 10 seasons they have had much success on finishing inside the top 4 and top 8 most of the time.
West Coast Wonders
Median Ladder Position: 5th
Average Ladder Position: 6.4
West Coast Wonders also have a median final ladder position of 5th, and are pretty much equal to Furies on home and away season success. They have finished inside the top 4 a total of 4 times in the past 10 seasons, and have only missed the finals 3 times (S33, S30, and S27). Similar to Furies their finals success does not reflect this home and away dominance. Hopefully that will change in the future.
Gumbies FFC
Median Ladder Position: 6th
Average Ladder Position: 6.1
Gumbies FFC are just below the Furies and Wonders, with a median final ladder position of 6th. Finishing inside the top 4 a total of 4 times, and only missing out on finals 3 times (S29, S28, and S25) in the past 10 seasons. But when they do miss finals they tend to drop all the way to the bottom of the ladder, winning the wooden spoon twice in seasons 29 and 25. They also share a common trait to the Wonders and Furies in the past 10 seasons, in that they all tend to fall away when performing in finals. Maybe their captain will try to find a way to turn that around.
Sin City Swamprats
Median Ladder Position: 6.5th
Average Ladder Position: 6.2
Sin City Swamprats are only slightly below Gumbies, with a median final ladder position of 6.5th? Between 6th and 7th. Achieving top 4 a total of 4 times and only missing out on playing finals 3 times. Their position would be higher but their wooden spoon finishes in either end of this 'era' in seasons 24 and 33 have brought down their average. They did have a brilliant run from seasons 27 to 30 where they finished inside the top 4 every season and made top of the ladder twice. There was a lot of talk around which team out of the Demons and Swamprats was the best when they were having their grand final clash in season 29, but purely based on home and away data, it is pretty easy to see who the more dominant team was.
East Side Phoenix (Hawks for 8/10ths of this data)
Median Ladder Position: 6.5th
Average Ladder Position: 6.2
East Side Phoenix have pretty much the exact same home and away success as the Swamprats in the past 10 seasons. Finishing in the top 4 a total of 4 times and only missing out on finals twice. The only slight differences is that East Side only finished on top of the ladder once during this time and had many close calls just barely making finals in seasons 26, 31 and 32. A big positive is they never dropped so low to get the wooden spoon, with their lowest finish coming in season 30 where they came 11th. East Side have been pretty successful in the home and away seasons, but like a lot of the teams above them, just haven't been able to turn that into finals success.
Dragons FFC
Median Ladder Position: 7th
Average Ladder Position: 5.6
Dragons FFC median final ladder position may be a big of a surprise when first looking at it, because Dragons have actually been very successful in recent times. Finishing on top of the ladder in both of the last 2 seasons, as well as back in season 25. But Dragons had a very peculiar run in seasons 27 to 30 where they finished 7th in all 4 seasons in a row. Very odd. It certainly didn't hurt them though as they won a premiership during one of those seasons. They have also only missed out on finals twice in the past 10 seasons, finishing 10th in seasons 26 and 31. The numbers might not show their home and away dominance, but Dragons have definitely been one of the more successful teams in this time.
Roys FFC
Median Ladder Position: 7th
Average Ladder Position: 6.9
Roys FFC are just coming off a premiership victory where they finished 6th in the home and away season. Showing perfectly how you only need to have a single ticket in order to win, and not multiple (or something like that I forgot the quote). They have finished inside the top 4 a total of 4 times and have also missed out on finals 4 times. But if we used data from just the past 5 seasons the Roys would be looking much better, because the last time they missed finals was all the way back in season 28. They are on a magnificent run in these last 5 seasons, with 3 top 4 finishes and just sneaking into finals in season 31 and 33. If I was going to bet on which team will be the dominant home and away finisher in this next 10 seasons, I would bet on the Roys.
Baghdad Bombers
Median Ladder Position: 7th
Average Ladder Position: 8
Baghdad Bombers have been very up and down in home and away ladder positions during this time. They have only finished inside the top 4 once, and that was last season. They have missed out on finals 4 times and all of those seasons have been terrible where they finished 11th (S26 and S29) and 12th (S28 and S32). But that doesn't mean they haven't had finals success, in fact the Bombers have had more finals success in this time than a lot of the teams above them. Winning in season 24 from 6th position and making the grand final in season 31 from 6th again. Say what you will about their home and away performances, but the Bombers know how to play during finals when they make it.
Gold City Royals
Median Ladder Position: 7.5th
Average Ladder Position: 6.7
Gold City Royals have had some great success at stages during this 'era' of Sweet-FA. They completely dominated season 30 being the best team in home and away as well as finals. Royals also managed to make the top 4 on two other occasions in seasons 24 and 31, but that is pretty much where their success ends. They missed out on finals in 5 different seasons, most recently missing out in the past 2 seasons where they finished 10th. Gold City also had a terrible time back in season 26 when they won the wooden spoon. Much like the Bombers, they have had a very up and down past 10 seasons, with some very high highs but also some low lows.
Las Vegas Bears
Median Ladder Position: 8th
Average Ladder Position: 7.7
Las Vegas Bears are known for having very little luck when it comes to success in finals, but making finals they are actually not that bad at doing. The Bears have only missed out on finals a total of 3 times in the past 10 seasons, with 2 of those instances coming in the seasons 31 and 32. They normally get the opportunity to play finals, just scraping into the top 8 by their bare (bear wink) teeth. But their main problem is not achieving enough home and away wins to make top 4. Las Vegas is the only team in the last 10 seasons to have not made top 4 at all. Bombers just barely did it last season, but the Bears have never really gotten close to it. Their highest finishes are 5th in seasons 29 and 33. And if the start of season 34 is anything to go on, the Bears are in for another rough season. They need to find a way to change how they compete during the home and away season if they want to find any success in the post-season.
Coney Island Warriors
Median Ladder Position: 9th
Average Ladder Position: 7.7
Coney Island Warriors have been very inconsistent lately, having only made finals in odd seasons. The last time they made finals in an even season was back in season 26. The warriors would be looking much worse if they didn't make top 4 in seasons 27 and 31, so those bring up their averages a little bit. Missing 6 of the last 10 finals is not good, but at least they haven't gotten a wooden spoon during this time. A couple of 9th placed finishes in seasons 24 and 29 give them their median position on the ladder as being so close many times to playing finals, but just falling at the final rounds. It has been a rough last 10 seasons for the Warriors. Let's hope they can turn it around and perform better in the next 10 seasons.
Ophidian Old Boys did not participate in these seasons, as they were created for season 34 and beyond. If I make another one in 10 seasons time, they will definitely feature in it, and I will be interested to see where they find themselves on the ladder positions.
Ophidian Old Boys
