'Star' dogfight - KB returns fire
By Geoff McClure
The Age
September 2, 2005
AND we thought that football award voting disputes were limited only to the Brownlow Medal. What about the stoush that erupted yesterday between Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade and former star Kevin Bartlett over the former Richmond champion's assessment in the AFL Rising Star award of Doggie teenager Ryan Griffen.
The 19-year-old South Australian finished second in the award with 34 votes, nine behind the eventual winner Brett Deledio, but no thanks to Bartlett, one of the nine judges, who was the only one not to have him in his top five, a decision Eade said he was "amazed and gobsmacked" by.
"Here's a bloke who's meant to know a bit about footy," thundered Eade. "Everyone said it was too close to call between the two of them (Deledio and Griffen). I have no idea how Bartlett came to his decision to leave him out."
Well, here's how, Bartlett hitting back at Eade yesterday, and doing so with the help of a set of charts that not only appear to support his argument but - depending on how much importance you place on statistics, of course - even indicate that the other eight judges may have got their voting wrong.
The stats we speak of are respected stats firm ProWess' personal Rising Star rankings, based on 17 different categories, from possessions, to contested and uncontested kicks, right down to the "one percenters". The bottom line is that not only did Griffen not finish in ProWess' top five, but he only narrowly made the top 10, finishing ninth, with 652 points, 296 behind the top-placed Deledio.
"I think Griffen will be one day an outstanding player, but in the context of this year I rated him sixth in the Rising Star," said Bartlett.
For the record, ProWess placed Griffen 13th in kicks, eighth in handballs, 14th in contested-ball gets, 11th in uncontested-ball gets, 16th in marks and 10th in tackles.
PROWESS' RISING STAR (rankings)
1. B Deledio (Rich) 948
2. J Adcock (BL) 842
3. B McLean (Melb) 836
4. K Bradley (Ess) 729
5. J Sherman (BL) 688
6. D Mundy (Fre) 662
7. J Lewis (Haw) 662
8. A Corrie (BL) 658
9. R Griffen (WB) 652
10. A Selwood (WC) 647