So says Champion Data who claim Buddy is just average lol while Richo, Browny and Petts are ranked as above average---------------------------------------
Rankings damn Hawks forward line as AFL's worst
Mark Stevens
February 04, 2008 12:00am
HAWTHORN has the worst forward line in the competition - even with Lance Franklin on patrol.That is the opinion of the AFL's official statistician Champion Data.
The 2008 AFL Prospectus analyses each club list based on performance rather than potential, and the findings are damning for the Hawks.
Players are grouped in four categories on their performance over three years - above average, average, below average and not classified.
Points were then awarded on a 3-2-1 basis, with three points for an above-average player and one for below average.
Champion Data does not rate a single Hawthorn forward as above average, including Franklin, who has been marked hard for what are classed as "undisciplined acts".
Last year he had a competition-high 91 clangers, including frees conceded and 50m penalties.
Champion Data rates Franklin's performance as average, worth only two points.
It points out that 2007 makes up only 60 per cent of the classification under a rolling three-year formula.
Mark Williams has shown himself to be a class act, but the Prospectus states he is rated only average because he missed most of last season.
Jarryd Roughead has only been given half points as a forward because Champion Data considers him a utility who can also be used in defence.
The other six players classed as forwards on the Hawks list are either below average or unclassified.
"Tim Boyle has proven himself over half a season only," the Prospectus says, giving him a below-average rating.
Players such as Mitch Thorpe, Beau Dowler, Jarryd Morton and Cyril Rioli are not given points. Any player with fewer than 10 games in three years is unclassified.
The formula penalises the Hawks for having so many untried forwards on their list.
They finish with only seven points, well below the 16.5 earned by the competition's top-rated forward lines.
"Sure, they have lots of potential. But potential is a dirty word, as they say," AFL Prospectus publisher Glenn Luff said yesterday.
"It should be noted that despite ranking second in the competition for inside 50s last season, the Hawks ranked eighth in goals.
"They converted inside 50s into scores 49.2 per cent of the time, and that's 15th in the competition.
"This is all about performance over three years. This is a tool to measure a team's depth in each position."
According to Champion Data, Richmond has the most above-average forwards.
It puts Matthew Richardson, Nathan Brown and Kayne Pettifer in that category, based on performances in the past three years. Collingwood is classed as having seven average forwards and none above average.
But its strength in the middle ground of ratings makes the Magpies equal first in the forward-depth ratings with the Kangaroos, Melbourne and Richmond on 16.5 points. Champion Data has also rated each team's defence, midfield and ruck strength by classifying each player. The Hawks are rated fourth for midfield strength and sixth for defence.
"With list management becoming more important at AFL clubs, we've had a crack at analysing each club's list by not only their attributes but also the quality of players," Luff said.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23154229-11088,00.html
