Losing three of the Goulburn Valley league’s leading 2022 ball winners hasn’t had a significant impact on Rochester’s disposal average in the early stages of this season.
In round one the Tigers possession count was just seven less than its average from last season, when it was the ranked as the fifth-highest user of the ball in the competition.
Shaun Atley, Christopher Jansen and Jordan Harper were among the top 20 possession winners in the competition, on average, last season in the GVL.
Atley, from his 12 games, averaged 30.8 possessions (third in the league) and Jansen averaged 29.9 disposals from his 15 games.
Jordan Harper averaged 25 possessions in his 19 games to finish at the elite end of the ball-winning list.
Add the injured Hugh Hamilton (21.1 disposals from his eight games), Lachlan Harper (17.6) and Nathan Kay (17.1) into the mix and there is a signiciant amount of ball eining ability lost to the Tigers.
Last year the Tigers ended the season as the fifth most prolific user of the ball, having an average 218.3 disposals every week. They were only 25 possessions behind the top-ranked team and eventual premier, Echuca.
In this year’s round one loss to Kyabram that figure was down by just seven and the Tigers had the ball in its control the fourth most of any team in the opening round.
Kyabram and Echuca were 40 disposals better at the top end of the disposal table in that first week of GVL football.
While the disposal count does not seem to have been significantly impacted, three areas of concern are clearances, inside 50 entries and contested marking.
Jansen and Atley were again top five players in the clearance category, responsible for (on average) 15 a week for the Tigers. Add former ruckman Dan Russell’s clearance average of four a week and that is a significant loss.
In round one against Kyabram the Tigers lost the clearance count 16-45, compared to its average of 34 clearances from 2022.
Joe Atley and Adam McPhee had three clearances apiece in the opening week of the season, but no other Tiger had a major influence at stoppages.
Rochester also averaged 50 inside 50 entries a week last season, but had only 30 in week one. The other area of significant drop off was in the contested marking space.
Last season the Tigers averaged 11 contested marks, but in round one took just six.
Mitch Cricelli, who will be spending more time in the ruck this season to support rookie Charlie Palmer, and former coach Steve Stroobants almost took five a game (on average) between them every week last season.
Rochester also had 30 less contested disposals in the opening week and just four players had in excess of 20 possessions — Joe Atley (33), Blake Evans (29), captain Nathan McCarty (25) and key defender Jacob Atley (21).
Atley averaged 27 disposals in his four games for the Tigers last season, while Evans was almost double his 2022 disposal average of 15.9 (from 17 games).
As the season continues to unfold the Campaspe News will continue to dissect each of the Tigers statistical categories to provide readers with an understanding of just where the team’s strengths and weaknesses are impacting on the final scoreline.