Simple scoring statistics demonstrate the significant improvement the GWS GIANTS have made in their third season in the AFL in 2014.
Despite sitting at the bottom of the AFL ladder at the mid-way point of the season with a 2-9 win/loss record, the GIANTS' percentage has gone from 46.2 in 2012 and 51.0 in 2013 to sit at 71.3 at the halfway mark of 2014.
The average GIANTS score has increased from 57.7 points per game in 2012 and 69.3 in 2013 to 80.3 in 2014. And the average opposition score has fallen from 125.0 points per game in 2012 and 135.9 in 2013 to 112.6 in 2014.
After the GIANTS’ average for-and-against improved just 0.7 of a point from 2012 to 2013, this year the improvement has been a massive 34.3 points.
All this equates to a positive outcome in the most fundamental of statistics – wins. With 11 games still to play the 2014 GIANTS already have matched their 2012 win tally (2) and doubled their 2013 win tally (1). And there has been significant improvement right across the board.
After winning a total of 15 quarters in 2012 and 19 quarters in 2013 the GIANTS have already won 13 games to the midway point of the 2014 season. And after winning just one half in 2012 and five halves in 2013 they have already won five and split one in 2014.
Mathematically the biggest improvement in scoring for the young GWS side has come in the final term. While they are 5.0 points better overall in the first quarter, 6.2 points better in the second quarter, and 3.6 points better in the third quarter, first-year coach Leon Cameron has seen his side get 19.5 points better overall in the fourth quarter.
After going two years without winning the second half of an AFL match the GIANTS have done so twice this year – against Sydney in Round 1 and Melbourne in Round 3. And they split the second half against premiers Hawthorn at the MCG.
After having nine matches in 2012 and 2013 in which they lost all four quarters, the GIANTS have suffered this ignominious fate just three times in 2014. And that included the back-to-back 100-point losses to West Coast and Richmond.
In the key team statistics, too, there has been significant improvement.
Total Possessions: After having had more possessions than their opposition three times in 2012 and twice in 2013 they’ve done so three times in half a season in 2014. Their net possession count has improved from -1189 in 2012 and -1264 in 2013 to -285 at the mid-point of 2014.
Scoring Shots: After having on average 17.8 fewer scoring shots than their opposition in 2012 and 15.6 fewer scoring shots in 2013 this year that figure has dropped to 5.1 in 2014.
Tackles: After having had more tackles than their opposition 11 times in 2012 and seven times in 2013 they’ve topped the tackle count seven times in 11 games this year. Their net tackle count has gone from -42 and -12 to +87 this year.
Inside 50s: They’ve beaten their opposition for inside 50 entries as many times in 11 games this year as they did in 44 games in 2012-13. Their net inside 50 count was -42 in 2012 and -13 in 2013, and this year it is +87.
Clearances: After beating their opposition in clearances eight times in 2012 and seven times last year they’ve done so five times in 11 games this year. Their net clearance total has gone from -45 in 2012 and -53 in 2013 to +22 in 2014.
Contested Possessions: Their contested possession win/loss ratio hasn’t varied, but their net contested possession figure has improved from - 300 in 2012 and -392 in 2013 to -129 in 2014.
Contested Marks: Similarly, their contested mark win/loss ratio this year is on par with their first two years but their net figure has improved from -72 and -101 to -49.
Marks Inside 50: The GIANTS have out-pointed their opposition for marks inside 50 as often in 11 games this year as they did in 44 games in 2012-13. And their net result in this this telling statistic has improved from -192 in 2012 and -244 in 2013 to -50.
Bounces: The GIANTS are running more this year. While their win/loss ratio for running bounces this year is on a par with the past two years, their net result has gone from -110 in 2012 and -80 in 2013 to +22 in 2014.
Individually, too, there has been a lot of standout performances which underlines the enormous potential of the young GWS list.
GOALS: It remains the ‘Jeremy Cameron Show at the top of the GIANTS all-time goal-kicking list, with the 2013 All-Australian leading the way with 110 goals from Devon Smith (43) and Jonathan Giles (39), with Adam Treloar (27), Rhys Palmer (26), Jonathon Patton (22), Will Hoskin-Elliott (21) and Callan Ward (21) making up the next bracket. But there’s a race on for 2014 goal-kicking honors, with Devon Smith (17) hot on the heels of Cameron (19), and Patton (13) right in the mix too. Patton has jumped from equal 13th on the all-time list to 6th this year to be the big mover. Cameron’s single game club record of seven goals against Collingwood in 2013 remains unchallenged, with Smith’s five-goal haul against St Kilda in Round 2 the best by a GIANTS player this year. Cameron’s season record of 62 goals last year also looks safe.
POSSESSIONS: Callan Ward, Toby Greene, Adam Treloar and Tom Scully have retained their rankings at the top of the all-time GWS GIANTS possessions list through the first half of the 2014 season. The order has not changed from the end of last season, with Ward (1266) leading from Greene (1149), Treloar (1139) and Scully (985). But below that there has been some movement. Stephen Coniglio, ranked 8th at the end of 2013, has climbed to 5th with a GIANTS total of 826 possessions, one spot ahead of Devon Smith, who has jumped one spot to 6th at 819. Dylan Shiel (769) has dropped from equal 5th to 7th in a season severely disrupted by injury, while Curtly Hampton (685) has climbed from 11th to 8th and Adam Kennedy (643) has sky-rocketed from 15th to 9th. Ward (289) leads the 2014 possession count from Treloar (279), Scully (221) and Shaw (221) and Coniglio (220). Ward has had a stellar year statistically. His 40 possessions against Port Adelaide in Canberra in Round 7 was a club record, topping Greene’s twin 38-possession games against Melbourne and North Melbourne in 2012. And with two other 30-possession games this year Ward has taken his total number of 30-possession games in GIANTS colors to 12 and to the top of this list ahead of Greene (11) and Treloar (8). Greene (41) still has most 20-possession games, followed by Ward (39), Treloar (37), Scully (25), Coniglio (22), Shiel and Adams (20). Greene, serving a five-match club suspension, still heads the all-time average possessions list at 25.53 per game, with Ward (24.35) and Treloar (23.73) hot on his heels. New signing Heath Shaw (22.10), Coniglio (20.65), Adams (20.61) and foundation co-captain turned assistant-coach Luke Power (20.45) are the only other players to average 20+ possessions per game in GIANTS colors among the 64 who have represented the club. Shiel (19.72) and Scully (19.31) sit just outside this group.
CONTESTED POSSESSIONS: Callan Ward continues to show the way for the GIANTS in contested possessions, collecting 153 to the halfway mark of the 2014 season to head Adam Treloar (133), Tom Scully (94), Stephen Coniglio (77) and Devon Smith (70). This has taken his GIANTS total to 614 and seen him open up a sizeable lead at the top of the all-time list from a surging Treloar (433). Having started the season ranked 4th, he has jumped past Toby Greene (433) and Jonathan Giles (401), while Scully (362) and Dylan Shiel (317) have swapped positions from the end of last year. Ward had a GIANTS record 24 contested possessions against Sydney in the season-opener, surpassing his own previous club mark of 18 in 2012. Treloar, with 21 CP’s against Melbourne in Round 3, and Ward, with 22 against Hawthorn in Round 11, also have bettered the previous club best. Ward and Treloar are on target to top Ward’s club record for most CP’s in a season, set in 2012 at 248.
CONTESTED MARKS: Jonathon Patton has been the big mover in the contested marks category this year. He has taken 15 this year, while Jeremy Cameron (6), Heath Shaw (6) and Callan Ward (5) are the only other players to top four. Patton, who had eight contested marks in 2012 and none last year, has surged from equal 14th on the club’s all-time list to 5th with 23 in total behind Cameron (52), Jonathan Giles (43), Phil Davis (35) and Ward (31). A repeat of his strong hands in the second half of the season will see Patton top the club record of most marks in a season, set at 26 by Cameron and Giles in 2012. Cameron (twice) and Giles also share the club record for five contested marks in a game. Patton, with three contested marks against the Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast this year, heads the 2014 single-game list with Cameron, who also had three CM’s against the Gold Coast.
MARKS INSIDE 50: Just as he has done in the ‘contested marks’ category, Jonathon Patton has thrown down a challenge to Jeremy Cameron in the critically important ‘marks inside 50’ category. Not that Patton is about to topple the club’s runaway all-time leader. Cameron has 96 to lead Jonathan Giles (28), Devon Smith (27) and Patton (26). But this year’s it’s Cameron (18) by a whisker from Patton (17), with Will Hoskin-Elliott (11) next best. Already Cameron’s club record 47 marks inside 50 the 2013 season looks safe, although Cameron and Patton could challenge Cameron’s next best 2012 tally of 31 marks inside 50. Cameron’s club record of five marks inside 50 in a game, set against Essendon and Geelong last year, also remains safe. The best this year has been Cameron’s four against Adelaide and Gold Coast in Rounds 5-6. Patton (three times), Cameron and Jed Lamb have taken three marks inside 50 in a game this season.
TACKLES: Adam Treloar made a club record 14 tackles in Round 3 against Melbourne, topping Callan Ward’s previous best of 13 against Hawthorn in Round 11 last year. Ward, with a total of 263 tackles for the GIANTS, Tom Scully (220) and Devon Smith (208) have retained their rankings at the top of the all-time list and are the only GIANTS to have topped 200. Ward also heads the 2014 tackle count with 69, followed by Treloar (64), Scully and Stephen Coniglio (51). All four are on track to better Ward’s club record for most tackles in a season of 100, set in 2012. Jacob Townsend (47) and Smith (42) are 5th and 6th on the 2014 tackle list ahead of Shane Mumford, who has made a big hit in this department in his injury-disrupted first season at the club. He’s made 38 tackles in six games for a game average of 6.3. This tops the club’s all-time average list from James McDonald (5.2), Mark Whiley (5.1), Ward (5.0), Tom Downie (5.0) and Round 12 debutant Rory Lobb (5.0). Other players to post a double-figure tackling effort this season have been Coniglio (11), Ward (11), Townsend (10 & 11) and Smith (10).
BOUNCES: Heath Shaw has thrown down an early 2014 challenge to perennial club leaders Adam Treloar and Curtly Hampton in the running bounces category. Shaw has had 27 bounces in 10 games this season at 2.7 per game – easily the highest average in GIANTS history. Treloar (1.5), Hampton (1.4), Will Hoskin-Elliott (1.1) and Devon Smith (1.0) are the only other players to average better than one bounce per game. Midway through 2014 Treloar (74), Hampton (65), Tom Scully (48), Smith (46) and Callan Ward (33) have retained the top five positions they held on the all-time list at the end of last year, but Shaw has surged to 8th all-time. He is already within striking distance of the GIANTS record for most bounces in a season, held by Hampton at 33 last year. Treloar’s 2012 and 2013 total of 28 is the only other mark ahead of him even now. Treloar’s eight bounces against Melbourne in Round 19 last year remains the club record, but has been pushed by Treloar’s seven bounces against Gold Coast in Round 7 and Adam Kennedy’s seven against West Coast a week later.
