If Kaine Herbert is Kyabram’s Batman, star recruit Toby Wooller is quickly developing a reputation as his Robin.
Herbert, despite the Bombers statistical data being compromised by the poor video quality of its round-five match against Mooroopna, has more inside-50 entries than any other player in the Goulburn Valley competition (despite giving the league’s best mid-fielders a one-game head start).
From the six games recorded by Premier Data he is averaging nine inside-50 entries a game, two more than than any other player. Next best is the league’s leading possession winner, Euroa’s Will Hayes.
Herbert is averaging 26 disposals (ranked 11th) a game, three more than his 19-game average of 2022 — when he finished runner-up in the league’s Morrison Medal, losing by just one vote to Seymour’s Ben Rigoni.
He also had the most inside-50 entries last season, but his average this season is two more than the hot pace he set in 2022.
Herbert had ample support last season from Nic Denahy, ranked top-10 for inside-50s in 2022, and Zac Norris (ranked 33rd in the statistical category with an average of 3.4 a week).
This year Denahy has only played one senior GVL match, but given more opportunity he is certain to feature again in the category. Five of the long-kicking winger’s eight kicks against Euroa went inside 50 in his round-six season debut.
Wooller is the next best inside-50 player (by the averages) for Kyabram, with 4.4 a week from his five statistically measured games. He has a season-high of nine from round one, which Herbert has bettered on three occasions this season (twice with 10 and one with 12 entries against Echuca, Seymour and Shepparton).
The smooth-moving Wooller is only marginally behind Herbert in relation to disposals, averaging 25.4 touches a week (with a pair of 30-plus games to his credit). Last weekend was his quietest weekend when he had just 12 disposals.
He is yet to kick a goal this season, something that was part of his make-up at NAB League and VFL level with Oakley Chargers and Brisbane Lions.
His best-and-fairest-winning season of 2017 saw him kick 43 goals from 16 games with the Chargers and edge out in-form St Kilda goalsneak Jack Higgins for the club’s best and fairest award.
Kyabram will be hoping to add another string to its “superhero” bow with the return of Zac Keogh, capable of more than matching the feats of Herbert and Wooller in the midfield.
Dynamic duos are nothing new in the world of football, in the AFL there is the undisputed number one partnership of Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca at Melbourne, the rising stars of the “dynamic duo” conversation in Gold Coast’s Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson and the constrast of the smooth-moving Marcus Bontempelli and hard-nosed Tom Liberatore at the Western Bulldogs.
For the record Petracca is number one in the league for inside 50s this season and Oliver is ranked fifth. Both are also top-10 players for disposals and contested possessions.
Bontempelli is ranked second in the AFL for clearances and has laid the second most tackles this season, while the Gold Coast number one and two draft picks of 2019 have enjoyed breakout seasons.
They are fourth and fifth for clearances this season, Rowell has laid 20 more tackles than any other player and Anderson is top 20 for disposals.
And who could write a statistical story of any worth without mentioning Nick Daicos, the leading disposal winner in the AFL this season (10 more than Oliver).
He and his brother, Josh, are also ranked top five for uncontested possessions this season.