What has changed this season which has let to greater midfield averages?

[Spite]

Just curious as to why you think last year there were 3 115+ averages but this year, there are 11 113+ averages? (Before the start of this round)

I know it is a long season, but I never remember mids to be scoring so highly, so often.

The 5 premium mid starting team would have been awesome this year if you picked 5 of the 11 players with 113+ averages, especially since forward scoring and ruck scoring is lower than previous years.

Are they getting more of the ball, kicking it more, tackling more? I'm not sure :s Discuss :D

[kilbluff1985]

actually the games are getting noticeably longer

[disco1992]

actually the games are getting noticeably longer

i thought the opposite ( first quarter of bombers eagles was only 24.5 minutes)
i think they are just being looked for more and players like swan and kennedy and such are going forward and kicking more goals

[McRooster]

Two schools of thought.

1. Teams are adopting Hawthorn's kicking style game plan

2. the sub rules are forcing high end point earners to rest forward and they are cashing in

[tbagrocks]

tackling and contested ball, the more contests and pressure the more tackles

1 tackle = 4 points 8)

[TheHanger]

more class in the mids, all the stars (GAJ, Swan) plus new boys picking it up (Stanton, Ebert, Murphy)

[Mr.Craig]

There's probably a lot of factors going on.

The non-competitive teams are giving up a lot of points. Players are rotating heaps and I've noticed a lot of players scoring in quick bursts of 20-30. There appears to be more man on man happening which can lead to high premo scoring (sometimes disrupted by a tagger though).

Most of these top guys are hardened, wise and know how to find the pill. Also, the majority of the top scorers are in Top 8 sides so they have teammates who know how to get the ball to them and give them the space to get a kick off rather than a handball.

I'm sure there a bunch of other reasons/theories people could come up with.

[kilbluff1985]

on another note it's probably because the competition is more evenly spread this year as in it's not just 2 team dominating

[disco1992]

on another note it's probably because the competition is more evenly spread this year as in it's not just 2 team dominating

collingwood still seem to be the team with the most must haves even though they are not dominating the comptition

[kilbluff1985]

on another note it's probably because the competition is more evenly spread this year as in it's not just 2 team dominating

collingwood still seem to be the team with the most must haves even though they are not dominating the comptition

not really the question though was it he is asking why are there so many mids doing well

[disco1992]

on another note it's probably because the competition is more evenly spread this year as in it's not just 2 team dominating

collingwood still seem to be the team with the most must haves even though they are not dominating the comptition

not really the question though was it he is asking why are there so many mids doing well

yer i know and i answered before  ;) also there seems to be less midfield defensive pressure this year

[Nails]

I think you'll find this year there would have been easily more than 3 players w/ 113 averages.

[disco1992]

I think you'll find this year there would have been easily more than 3 players w/ 113 averages.

+1

[disco1992]

is the total dt points higher this year as well would be interesting to know!!

[tbagrocks]

still convinced its the total No of tackles per game increasing