How the Brisbane Lions are letting themselves down with the two most important kicks in the AFL

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Brisbane Lions News

Gold Coast Suns,Afl,Q Clash

With just two wins from seven starts this season, the Brisbane Lions need to nail the fundamentals if they are to turn around their fortunes, writes Cody Atkinson and Sean Lawson.

It's always the siren, followed by the silence and then the song that gets the brain ticking about what just happened and — more importantly — why it happened.

For example, they lead the league for inside-50 differential. They are also in the top four in generating front-half intercepts, vital to the success of every team. While Cameron's tackle inside-50 numbers have dipped, his forward-half pressure acts have increased. Cameron remains one of the best defensive small forwards in the game.

"The problem in the first six weeks has been scoring accuracy, dropping marks inside 50, things like that," he said. Most kicks coming inside 50 come from about 20-30 metres from the arc, enough distance out to either launch a short chip towards a leading player or bomb it on the head of someone leading back towards goal.The effectiveness of these kicks change based on the location of the launch. Generally scores get higher the closer to goal a launch is, but not dramatically after the 60-80 golden zone. Bombs from beyond that are more speculative.

There have been knock-on declines in the effectiveness of other players as they take over more of the role. This has especially hit Dayne Zorko, but also most of the midfield core.Overall, the Lions have struggled to undertake 'quality' kicks inside 50. These are the kicks that end in uncontested marks or marks on leads. The share of those quality kicks has dropped while the number of kicks to packs has increased.

It's the sort of multifaceted forward-entry centrality formerly seen with Lance Franklin. Unfortunately, while Daniher's efficiency was above league average in both aspects last year, he's slipped significantly this season. Part of this is also down to how they are filling the third tall option, with Gardiner not showing more than flashes in that spot. He's also operating well below league average when being targeted.

The first public version of xScore for the AFL was developed by Melbourne FC football staffer Rob Younger on his website Figuring Footy in 2017. This comparison can be important intelligence for teams who need to separate the result of their forward craft from the method behind it.

Gold Coast Suns Afl Q Clash Chris Fagan Charlie Cameron Joe Daniher

 

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