Six wins on the trot and back in the top six — things are all of a sudden looking rosy at Seymour after a catastrophic 1-5 start to the season.
Now the Lions are set up beautifully for a charge towards finals and many will be asking the same question: what has led to this mid-season revival at Kings Park?
And while the most common answer you will receive will be an influx of senior players returning to the side — at the height of its injury crisis, Seymour had more than a dozen starters out of the team — here at GVL Data, we have chosen to delve a little deeper into what has made the Lions click over the past two months.
Looking at the way Seymour plays, it is clear coach Ben Davey likes his team to possess the footy and control the tempo of the game.
And to be able to do this, you need to take a lot of marks.
This was seen in the Lions’ victory over Benalla at the weekend, as they took 119 marks to the Saints’ 79, leading to them winning the uncontested possession count by a whopping 83.
Prior to last weekend’s game, Seymour found itself second in the competition for marks per game with 97.3 and top of the tree in uncontested marks with a cool 86.5.
Key stats
GVL’s leading markers
Marks per game (prior to round 12)
Echuca: 99.5
Seymour: 97.3
Euroa: 90.6
Benalla: 85.6
Uncontested marks per game (prior to round 12)
Seymour: 86.5
Echuca: 86.2
Euroa: 78.0
Benalla: 77.1
But if you wind the clock back two months, marking was anything but a strength for the then struggling Lions.
Across their five-game losing streak from rounds two to six, they only managed to eclipse 100 marks once (106 against Echuca in round five) and averaged just 82.2 a game.
Seymour was not able to get its uncontested, running game going and teams like Mansfield, Euroa, Mooroopna and Kyabram were making it pay.
But if you look at its past six games, which has yielded six wins, you will see the number of marks skyrocket.
Across its seven victories this year, Seymour averages a staggering 111.1 marks per game, a cool 28.9 difference from its losses this year.
Key stats
A major difference
Seymour marks per game in wins: 111.1
Seymour marks per game in losses: 82.2
Who have been the ones to excel in this area, you ask?
Leading the way is young gun Riley Mason with 8.8 a game, while Lachlan Waite (8.2), Michael Hartley (8.1) and Jack Murphy (7.6) closely follow.
Looking at the numbers, it is clear that Seymour’s strength lies in its ability to move the ball by foot and rack up marks.
What is yet to be seen, however, is whether it can bring this high possession game against the competition’s elite teams, something it will be hoping to prove come September.