Throughout his career at Memorial Oval, Euroa star Ben Giobbi has often been regarded as one of the Goulburn Valley League’s top ball winners.
But in 2022 it is up forward where the pocket rocket is having his biggest impact, as Euroa rides an eight-game winning streak.
Starting the season in the midfield, Magpies coach Scott Rowan made the positional shift prior to their crucial round six clash with Mooroopna, as his star on-baller returned from a foot injury.
Giobbi’s influence on the Magpies’ attacking setup was immediate, kicking two first-quarter goals as they defeated a previously-undefeated Cats team away from home.
Offering an exciting new look to his forward line, Rowan has stuck with the change over the past month, with Giobbi rewarding him with a string of good performances.
None stand out more than his game against Mansfield in round nine however, as he set the Eagles’ home deck alight with five goals, 21 disposals and three inside-50s in Euroa’s statement 64-point win.
At a glance
Ben Giobbi’s day out in Mansfield
Goals: 5
Disposals: 21
Inside 50s: 3
Marks: 3
Score assists: 2
And trawling through the statistics courtesy of GVL Data the role change is clear to see.
Since going forward in round six, Giobbi has booted 13 goals and recorded eight score assists.
In the three games he played as a pure midfielder earlier in the year, he kicked just one goal and had no score assists.
As a result of the move, Giobbi’s disposal numbers have gone down from 24 touches a game from rounds 1-3, to 20.8 between rounds 6-11.
Meanwhile, despite a nine-clearance game against Tatura last week, his work around stoppage has decreased, recording just six clearances across a five-game span from rounds 6-10.
Key stats
Switching roles
Goals
Rounds 1-3: 1
Rounds 6-11: 13
Score assists
Rounds 1-3: 0
Rounds 6-11: 8
Disposals
Rounds 1-3: 24 per game
Rounds 6-11: 20.8 per game
Clearances
Rounds 1-3: 5.6 per game
Rounds 6-11: 2.5 per game
As for how this change has impacted the team’s scoring, since round six the Magpies average a whopping 113.6 points per game, compared to just 87.8 over the first five weeks.
So as Euroa continues to charge towards September, maybe it is Giobbi’s impact up forward that will guide it to that coveted drought-breaking premiership.