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Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on February 12, 2018, 07:58:40 PM

Title: Players like Trent Cotchin can’t be measured in stats: Robbo (Herald-Sun)
Post by: one-eyed on February 12, 2018, 07:58:40 PM
Players can’t be measured in stats | Trent Cotchin, Joel Selwood

MARK ROBINSON, CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER,
Herald Sun
12 Feb 2018


STATS can’t totally reflect the worth of a footballer.

Kicks, marks, handballs, goals, hit outs, contested ball and clearances can be ticked off, but football is much more than numbers.

How can you put a number beside leadership, inspiration and the importance of moments, which is the behaviour of the heart and soul footballer?

You can’t, although their impact is immense.

There would be few discussions where Geelong skipper Joel Selwood and his Richmond counterpart Trent Cotchin would not be ranked as “elite” footballers.

But for stats provider Champion Data, the numbers don’t add up to rate Selwood and Cotchin as elite.

In the 2018 prospectus, which is the most in-depth tome of data and analysis, Selwood and Cotchin are ranked as above average footballers.

Their criteria takes in the past two seasons, which certainly hurts Cotchin’s standing.

Cotchin’s 2017 season was arguably the best of his career.

His finals series will be regarded as legendary at the Tigers and it could be argued the Tigers wouldn’t have won the premiership without their skipper.

Recall his qualifying final against Geelong at the MCG.

In the first quarter, he imposed himself on the game with his intent, which was incalculable in setting the standard and inspiration for his teammates.

He had five tackles in the first quarter. He caught Zach Tuohy inside three minutes for holding the ball, he smashed Scott Selwood in a huge tackle on the members’ wing late in the quarter and crashed into Patrick Dangerfield at half-forward to force a ball-up in the final minutes.

At quarter-time, the skipper would’ve been central to coach Damien Hardwick’s message.

What number do you put beside that?

How much do those acts cancel out the cheapies from the season before?

Selwood has been setting standards for 11 seasons, inspiring teammates by going to places they wouldn’t think of.

His ranking is hurt because he kicked seven goals in 2017, compared with Dangerfield who kicked 45 goals and is ranked No.1.

Still, Selwood’s work, in part, can’t have a number applied to it.

Champion Data ranks players by their position.

Including Cotchin and Selwood, there were 90 centre-square players eligible for evaluation — they had to play 10 or more games in the past two seasons — and the top 10 per cent are considered “elite”.

More complicated at Geelong, Daniel Menzel, who was dropped in the finals, is ranked elite as a “general forward”, joining Dangerfield, Gary Ablett and Sam Menegola (a mid-forward) in the highest category.

The two-year assessment meant the Western Bulldogs’ Marcus Bontempelli dropped from sixth in 2016 to 15th ahead of this season.

Josh Kelly, who most pundits would argue was a top 10 player, is ranked No. 21 despite his breakout 2017 season.

Players ranked higher than Selwood and Cotchin this year include West Coast’s Luke Shuey, Collingwood pair Scott Pendlebury and Adam Treloar, Brisbane’s Dayne Zorko and Sydney’s Luke Parker.
Joel Selwood in action for the Cats. Picture: Michael Klein

Ahead of Cotchin, who is ranked No. 16 for centre-square players, is Fremantle’s Lachie Neale, GWS’s Callan Ward and Bontempelli.

Their seasons might’ve been better by the numbers, but the premiership skipper was far and away better because of his impact and leadership.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/expert-opinion/mark-robinson/the-worth-of-players-like-trent-cotchin-and-joel-selwood-cant-be-measured-in-stats-writes-mark-robinson/news-story/f9fe260799f17ae4f5c56c6ee9599fe9
Title: Re: Players like Trent Cotchin can’t be measured in stats: Robbo (Herald-Sun)
Post by: mightytiges on February 13, 2018, 03:50:47 AM
No doubt Cotch is elite  :bow. He was a man possessed in the finals. Constantly smashing into contests and crash-tackling opponents which enabled himself or teammates to win the footy. It was infectious and the rest of the team followed his example. A key component in us pressurising and wearing down the opposition so we would eventually run away with games by the final quarter.
Title: Re: Players like Trent Cotchin can’t be measured in stats: Robbo (Herald-Sun)
Post by: Dougeytherichmondfan on February 13, 2018, 05:30:45 PM
One of the more laughable (enjoyable) things I saw last week was one of the fan run "AFL trade rumours information" pages on facebook posting a poll as to who was the better player out of Jack Stevens and Trent Cotchin - they also qualified their own position that Stevens was the superior player, and then went on to belligerently back their opinion in the comments. Honestly, that was their take!!! And whilst most of the comments were reasonably shocked, incensed or just couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it - a number of people actually felt this was more or less the case.

Lol.  :lol :lol :lol :lol
Title: Re: Players like Trent Cotchin can’t be measured in stats: Robbo (Herald-Sun)
Post by: mightytiges on February 16, 2018, 02:37:09 AM
One of the more laughable (enjoyable) things I saw last week was one of the fan run "AFL trade rumours information" pages on facebook posting a poll as to who was the better player out of Jack Stevens and Trent Cotchin - they also qualified their own position that Stevens was the superior player, and then went on to belligerently back their opinion in the comments. Honestly, that was their take!!! And whilst most of the comments were reasonably shocked, incensed or just couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it - a number of people actually felt this was more or less the case.

Lol.  :lol :lol :lol :lol
Just saw this. Jack Steven  :lol.

Steven is good footballer but he is more of an accumulator and he handballs as much as he kicks which is a sign of a player who doesn't trust his footskills. Steven doesn't hurt the opposition with the footy. He doesn't have tricks that someone of Cotch's class has.

https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?playerStatus1=A&tid1=16&playerStatus2=A&tid2=15&type=A&pid1=2342&pid2=2302&fid1=S&fid2=S
Title: Re: Players like Trent Cotchin can’t be measured in stats: Robbo (Herald-Sun)
Post by: YellowandBlackBlood on February 16, 2018, 07:14:38 AM
Who is Jack Steven? :shh