How about those good ol' days in the AFL, huh?
Remember the ones?
The days of high scores and goals galore.
Of spectacular contested marks; free-flowing footy with few mistakes.
Congestion was something ridden from midwinter lungs - that was winning a clearance.
Stoppages were only encountered in the half-time queue, the car park outta there and perhaps, if unlucky, the ground's toilets.
A rotation was to get the blood flowing in the other foot while standing.
No one ever played 'down back'. A high half-forward was only found in that treasure of a movie, The Club.
No metres gained. No zones and 18-man presses. Or one-percenters or ranking points or pressure indexes.
They were the days, huh? Footy was so much better then, right?
Well, statistically, AFL footy hasn't changed that much.
A number crunch shows scant difference in some key stats between today's AFL and the good 'ol days.
Those frequent pack marks you remember? Hate to break it to you but a decade ago there was 9.8 contested marks a game. This season it's 10.8.
Heaps more goals back then, right? Not quite.
A decade ago, in 2008, there were 14.1 goals a game on average. Now, 13.3.
But yes, you're right: today's players can't kick as straight as a decade ago.
In 2008 goal accuracy was 51.3 per cent compared with 47 per cent this season.
Disposal efficiency was 75 per cent a decade ago, it's 72.1 per cent this season.
Clangers were 44.9 per team a game a decade ago, now 56.7.
So skills are down, yep.
But factor in teams today get, on average, 14.7 more disposals a game than 2008 teams.
And factor in there's more tackling now: an average of 64.8 per team each game in 2008 compared with 53.5 10 years ago.
How possessions come about is the big difference in the past decade: in 2008 teams averaged 117.6 contested possessions a game, now it's 145.7.
And uncontested possessions have dropped but only by an average of six, in the same period.
THE NUMBER CRUNCH
* DISPOSALS (average per side a game)
2018: 374.8; 2008: 360.1; 2001: 300.9
* DISPOSAL EFFICIENCY (average per side)
2018: 72.1 per cent; 2008: 75.0; 2001: 80.5
* CONTESTED POSSESSIONS (average per side a game)
2018: 145.7; 2008: 117.6; 2001: 120.3
* UNCONTESTED POSSESSIONS (average per side a game)
2018: 229.3; 2008: 235.8; 2001: 177.8
* CLANGERS (average per side a game)
2018: 56.7; 2008: 44.9; 2001: 37.2
* CONTESTED MARKS (average per side a game)
2018: 10.8; 2008: 9.8; 2001: 12.9
* TACKLES (average per side a game)
2018: 64.8; 2008: 53.5; 2001: 36.0
* GOALS (average per side a game)
2018: 12.0; 2008: 12.4; 2001: 12.0
* GOAL ACCURACY
2018: 47%; 2008: 51.3%; 2001: 59.5%
Australian Associated Press
