STATISTICS can often be said to “lie” or not reveal the true reflection of a match. In Round 1 of the TAC Cup, this can certainly be the case of the Oakleigh Chargers vs Western Jets.

In that clash, the Jets came from behind to overrun the Chargers and totally dominate the last quarter, spurring themselves on to a solid 26-point victory. However when looking deeper into statistics, it has shown that the Chargers dominated most of the statistical categories both offensively and defensively, but for one reason or another, could not get the job done.

The last quarter stand saw the Jets overtake the Chargers in terms of disposals, but only by 11. They also had one more hitout and of course, two more goals. But that’s where the favourable statistics stop. The Chargers had a massive 27 more marks and 10 more tackles, showing that they had enough of the ball and were able to hit-up targets, but perhaps were stymied around the ground, forced to go for safer options such as side passes or shorter kicks.

On the otherhand, the Jets had much faster and more damaging ball movement, which required less possession and clinical hit-ups, but instead, resulted in taking home the four points. The other matches were more easy to comprehend from the statistics.

Eastern Ranges had a comfortable victory over the Calder Cannons, with more disposals and hitouts, less marks but getting home comfortably in the end. The Dragons surprisingly had less marks than the Knights in their 90-point victory. However, the Dragons dominated the hitouts 53-17, while also applying seven more tackles. It was remarkable considering they dominated the play, with 15 more goals.

Speaking of dominating, Murray Bushrangers smashed Bendigo Pioneers on and off the scoreboard. They had a whopping 77 more disposals, and the highest for the round with 361, while also having 17 more marks, 35 more hitouts and breaking even in the tackle count – a spectacular effort considering they had so much more of the ball.

Despite a relatively close contest for three quarters, Geelong easily dominated possession against the Rebels, winning 50 more disposals, along with five more hitouts and had 12 more tackles. The Rebels managed more marks, but ultimately could not get the job done.

Meanwhile in Morwell, Dandenong Stingrays might have got over the line in a thriller against Gippsland Power, but they dominated disposal on the day, with 53 more, as well as 18 more marks and more hitouts and tackles, a complete performance.

Statistical Ladder:

1 Dandenong Stingrays: 325 disposals (+53), 76 marks (+18), 39 hitouts (+8), 57 tackles (+3), 13 goals (+3)

2 Murray Bushrangers: 361 disposals (+77), 78 marks (+17), 45 hitouts (+35), 43 tackles (+0), 19 goals (+9)

3 Sandringham Dragons: 312 disposals (+5), 91 marks (-13), 53 hitouts (+36), 50 tackles (+7), 22 goals (+15)

4 Geelong Falcons: 294 disposals (+50), 61 marks (-5), 43 hitouts (+5), 65 tackles (+12), 16 goals (+2)

5 Eastern Ranges: 283 disposals (+21), 61 marks (-5), 56 hitouts (+22), 53 tackles (-5), 18 goals (+7)

6 Western Jets: 286 disposals (+11), 67 marks (-27), 30 hitouts (+1), 52 tackles (-10), 13 goals (+2)

7 Oakleigh Chargers: 275 disposals (-11), 94 marks (+27), 29 hitouts (-1), 62 tackles (+10), 11 goals (-2)

8 Calder Cannons: 262 disposals (-21), 66 marks (+5), 34 hitouts (-22), 58 tackles (+5), 11 goals (-7)

9 North Ballarat Rebels: 244 disposals (-50), 66 marks (+5), 38 hitouts (-5), 53 tackles (-12), 14 goals (-2)

10 Northern Knights: 307 disposals (-5), 104 marks (+13), 17 hitouts (-36), 43 tackles (-7), seven goals (-15)

11 Bendigo Pioneers: 284 disposals (-77), 61 marks (-17), 10 hitouts (-35), 43 tackles (+0), 10 goals (-9)

12 Gippsland Power: 272 disposals (-53), 58 marks (-18), 31 hitouts (-8), 54 tackles (-3), 10 goals (-3)

This ladder of statistical dominance shows why statistics should not be the only measure of a match. Gippsland Power put up the biggest fight of all teams, yet lost all statistical categories. So does that mean that the Stingrays did not capitalise on the scoreboard? Or were the Power ultra efficient with the little disposals they did have? Obviously more statistical data is required to paint a bigger picture, considering some of the teams that smashed others did not win every statistic.

Now to finish with the top disposal winners and leading goal kickers after one round:

Ball magnets:

Daniel Foley (Western Jets) 29 disposals, eight marks, one tackle

Kobe Mutch (Bendigo Pioneers) 29 disposals, three marks, one hitout, five tackles

Myles Poholke (Dandenong Stingrays) 28 disposals, four marks, one hitout, one tackle, one goal

Dylan Clarke (Eastern Ranges) 27 disposals, six marks, five tackles

Max Augerinos (Geelong Falcons) 27 disposals, four marks, three tackles, one goal

Will Brodie (Murray Bushrangers) 27 disposals, four marks, three tackles

Lochie O’Brien (Bendigo Pioneers) 26 disposals, 13 marks, four tackles, one goal

Lachlan Murphy (Northern Knights) 26 disposals, two marks

Luke Bunker (Northern Knights) 25 disposals, 12 marks, five tackles

William Donaghey (Murray Bushrangers) 25 disposals, five marks, one goal

Leading goal kickers:

Tristan Tweedie (Eastern Ranges) six goals

Hayden McLean (Sandringham Dragons) five goals

Jack Henry (Geelong Falcons) five goals

Brett Blair (Geelong Falcons) four goals

Jye Simpkin (Murray Bushrangers) four goals

Josh Battle (Dandenong Stingrays) four goals

Mickey Nicholls (Western Jets) four goals

Patrick Kerr (Oakleigh Chargers) four goals

Sam Fowler (Dandenong Stingrays) four goals