Kings of the rain: Which AFL clubs perform best when it’s wet?May 30, 2020
Fox SportsReddit user DataMadeInteresting posted their findings on Friday afternoon, using a programming language called Python to gather weather data for every game over the last three years.
“(I) categorised the conditions into Dry, Slippery, Wet (and) Very Wet, by using precipitation, dew point and temperature,” they wrote.
“It also categories the wind into no wind, light breeze, windy, very windy.”
Then they compared each AFL team’s winning percentage in games classified as ‘dry’ to games ‘slippery’ or wetter.
The research found rain may be the secret to Richmond’s success. Since 2017, the Tigers have won 75.7 per cent of their games, but a ridiculous 93.3 per cent of them when it rains. That was the biggest positive gap of any side.
This seems to suggest the Tigers’ game style perfectly suits wet weather footy. Of note, their win over West Coast last home and away season saw Damien Hardwick’s side trail early before rain fell in the second half, before coming back (though it had already began before the rain started).
Other clubs that have performed well in wet conditions were Port Adelaide (55.2 per cent overall win rate, 70.6 per cent in the rain) and Gold Coast (19.7 per cent overall, 33.3 per cent in the rain).
The worst teams were two Marvel Stadium tenants - which makes some sense - in St Kilda (36.4 per cent win rate overall, 14.3 per cent when wet) and the Western Bulldogs (46.3 per cent overall, 25 per cent when wet).
Perhaps not coincidentally, previous research has found the Saints and Bulldogs play the fewest games of any clubs in rainy conditions.
AFL CLUBS’ PERFORMANCE IN WET WEATHER (2017-19)Club - Overall win percentage/Dry win percentage/Wet win percentageAdelaide - 56.5/61.6/40
Brisbane Lions - 38.2/36.8/45.5
Carlton - 22.7/22.2/25
Collingwood - 58.3/60/52.9
Essendon - 52.9/53.2/50
Fremantle - 37.9/37.7/38.5
Geelong Cats - 63/64.9/56.3
Gold Coast Suns - 19.7/17.5/33.3
GWS Giants - 60/61.3/53.8
Hawthorn - 52.9/53.6/50
Melbourne - 47.8/49.1/41.7
North Melbourne - 42.4/41.9/50
Port Adelaide - 55.2/50/70.6
Richmond - 75.7/71.2/93.3St Kilda - 36.4/39/14.3
Sydney Swans - 53.6/55.4/46.2
West Coast Eagles - 65.8/66.7/60
Western Bulldogs - 46.3/49.2/25
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-afl-club-performance-in-rain-best-wet-weather-teams-richmond-research-into-afl-weather/news-story/95ba978bb4c777f40abed87af954a56a
