A 2020 All Australian Team Picked By Stats

For a slightly different take on the yearly AFL All Australian team, we adopted an entirely stats based approach to select the team.
See our working here: docs.google.com/document/d/15...
afl.com.au/stats
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Created by Andreas and Zachary Baruhas
Music:
Chill Day by Lakey Inspired
/ chill-day

[@FootyA2Z]

What's this? An upload....!??

[@nickdurrant7047]

good to have you back, can we expect more finals content? I'd like to see this stats based approach done for the Brownlow, should Tomahawk get it if he is the most statistically dominant?

[@MVKreal]

I like the idea, but for example if a player like gunston who ranks top 3 in 3 categories but like 50th for contested marks cause thats not his game he will end up with points not reflecting his game, and someone who was 10th in each category will end up better than him, not rly fair, shouldve weighted them imo

[@maxwelldowling1716]

@@nickdurrant7047 I kinda agree, but then I realised Tom Mitchell dominated stats the year he won and he is a truly un-Brownlow level player

[@nickdurrant7047]

@@maxwelldowling1716 I think you should watch the video on Tom Mitchell by A2Z, they see it a bit differently

[@maxwelldowling1716]

@@nickdurrant7047 yeah it's definitely a compelling rebuttal to the 'high disposal low impact' criticism - but ultimately it's still completely stats driven, and having watched him play so many times I'm not convinced he was the best player of 2018, probably not even in my top 3.

[@classicbananamilk]

Why is Jack Macrae classified as a winger by seemingly everyone in the media when he's played exclusively as an inside mid for years? Truly one of footy's biggest mysteries

[@marnuscoreyempanadaslooseb6760]

I know it’s the exact same with Shiels and James Cousins from Hawthorn both are inside mids but are considered wingers

[@FootyA2Z]

Its a head scratcher. there was simply too many "mids" to take out on the search filter for wings so we just stuck with it, may look more into this next week when we're a bit more prepared

[@classicbananamilk]

@@FootyA2Z Yeah definitely not blaming you guys as you were just using someone else's classifications, just something that's been going on for a while that I've noticed

[@Chuckakhan]

Play him as the back up ruckman haha

[@manman7404]

Charlie thats josh dunkley

[@lebanesevineleaves775]

This is a really well made video. Must've taken a lot of effort and it is definitely well explained. Good job guys.

[@FootyA2Z]

Thanks mate! very humbling you appreciate the hard work :)

[@earthchicken2233]

@@FootyA2Z Art is great as well, must have taken ages

[@AussieTVMusic]

Probably what the AA should have been. How Dusty Martin got in there is a mystery.

[@joshclark4002]

Couldn’t agree more even as a tiger supporter he shouldn’t have been there

[@matthewbethune6410]

Especially as a forward pocket 🤣

[@richmondfcszn]

And Bont

[@RyanSmith-yv4lo]

you're all forgetting that dustin martin plays best as a forward, better than his midfielding, he's been doing it all his career and extra proof, his grand final performance of 4 goals.

[@kylecurphey8561]

That stat about Richmond and Collingwood shows that team orientated footy is best.

[@potershades912]

8th.....

[@_raza_khan_]

@@potershades912 Both in the Semi-Final rn

[@brodiesmith7730]

factsssss

[@Bobsyagod]

Good point, Both Moore and Roughy had great seasons individually, but probably stole stats from each other through good team work, costing them a spot in this team. Moore had 3 great stats for the defense spots, only lost out badly on 1

[@stealerknob3658]

@@_raza_khan_ and collingwood gets shit on and rich in priliminary

[@tomfrombrunswick7571]

This is brilliant. The official AFL all Australian was a joke. The forward line was appalling with the failure to actually select any small forwards. This actually selects players in a way which is not subjective like the selectors of the All Australian team relied on

[@CurtisSpiers]

Shows that stats aren't everything when you have that many Melbourne players in the team, individually they may look great but their cohesiveness to play as a team effectively is generally quite poor.

[@parkerstevenson9399]

Curtis Spiers Music AA is individual performance...

[@seashoree1]

If they had a key forward they could be quite dangerous

[@CurtisSpiers]

@@parkerstevenson9399 Im aware of that. Just saying it interesting that outstanding individual performers don't necessarily play in good teams.

[@chopsuey2363]

This aged well....

[@CurtisSpiers]

@@chopsuey2363 haha, it was true at the time. They finally got it together

[@OWP-likeandsubscribe]

This is a really good video mate, well done!!

[@FootyA2Z]

Cheers mate!

[@trodafo76]

This video randomly popped up in my feed. Great video guys really enjoyed it. Love to see this in season 2021 maybe with updates every 6 rounds or something. Great stuff 😊👍

[@utetopia1620]

No Dustin Martin? *AFL wants to know your location*

[@t_fayle1464]

This was a great video to watch!! Love the content and effort man keep it up!

[@lachchazhorton3158]

Love your stuff mate. keep posting its really entertaining and your footy knowledge is amazing!

[@lachlanknight3684]

Really enjoy the analysis, great work guys.

[@tomoliver2961]

Love this. Keep ‘em coming!

[@hayreddinbarbarossa661]

Great video. Excellent arguments made for all. Better team AA team selection than I've seen in years.

[@jordipluto100]

Love this put together very well and very well spoken about!

[@FootyA2Z]

Thanks Jordi!

[@TrueFootyAFL]

One of my favourite Footy A2Z videos yet. You guys are the pinnacle of AFL content!

[@FootyA2Z]

Too kind mate, but I think you might like the next vid better 😉

[@carletonclements4931]

I'm not kidding, but this is the best All-Australian team... by a mile. It's strikingly similar to what I had. I'm just so happy someone finally picked Liam Jones with me. Most underrated player in the league by a high-flying mile.

[@AlexWilliams-yd4dv]

Had a great year, commentators never got around him despite the fact he was clutching it in the last line of defense non-stop

[@antokhorneshart9678]

This is a pretty accurate experiment. However choosing a captain is not all about statistics. AFL should consider this statical technique in choosing the 40 man AA squad.

[@jontyrosenow9396]

The whole video was about statistics tho, why would they break the formula to choose a captain

[@jazw]

Such an interesting idea and video!

[@sackyJ101]

Love this kind of research, and you guys presented it well. I prefer how well rounded this team is, no Cats/Port spam and North gets a player included.

[@noahgoldenberg6510]

Thorough research. Would have taken a long time! Very interesting and well done!

[@campbellward362]

Love your work guys!

[@TeoGrehan]

I loved the switch up by starting with the forwards!

[@nicolasfonts3194]

Superb vid mate!

[@Hello-qd3uy]

Great idea, great system, great outcome. Awesome video

[@FootyA2Z]

Thanks mate! glad you enjoyed

[@jyec6303]

Great content mate. Keep it up

[@about24ninjas7]

Trac and Oliver have got to be the Dynamic Duo of any team IMO. Great vid btw!

[@maxwelldowling1716]

Your videos are so great. It's hard to know how the AFL picks it, but they should run this stat generator beside it to see what they're missing.

[@SCOTTshakedown]

Love this, great video

[@harryharris4057]

Congratulations on the commitment, skill and outright effort to put this all together. No matter what the outcome people will bitch about it.

[@haz486]

Sick video, subscribed!

[@patrickbateman4320]

As a Melbourne fan I was really surprised with the inclusion of Gawn and Lever. Also crazy that May wasnt on the Key Defenders Top 5 List. Great video!!

[@jlitza972]

Feel like Merrett and Macrae shouldn't be classified as wingers imo

[@FootyA2Z]

its a tricky one, we searched by wingers on fox footy but even then there's too many mids to take out so we decided to just stick with what they had. In the end we were satisfied that their stats fulfilled what we believed to constitute a good winger. Definitely a fair opinion though

[@aussiegodx8629]

Macrae had 4% time on the wing he's just not a winger...

[@Chayaroo21]

Merrett played plenty of wingtime this year mate.

[@iAsbestos]

Agree both are inside mids

[@luketheleg3296]

Jasper D averaged 26 disposals and only 8 of them were contested. Definitely wouldn’t call him a contested ball winner but at the same time it doesn’t feel right to put him on a wing.

[@tattedgiraffe5580]

Can't argue with anything you have said and think the AFL should implement this thinking for future All Australian teams. Great work mate

[@charlestthethird3005]

This is such a great video

[@elijahthomson5104]

Great video lads!

[@LoganMonday]

Great idea. Love the positions being chosen for actual roles preformed not the media narrative on a player. I do have a recommendation on the captain's and vc selection. As they are the ones that players are inspired by , motivated for and trust, (which is hard to quantify) I recommend you use the AFLPA selection for the Captain and VC. If no one on your list is on the AFLPA's list then select the guys who are captain/VC of their club.

[@leviwonnacott7798]

This vid deserves more appreciation

[@zakarymeakin6673]

I really enjoy your take on AFL. It was interesting to see what the stats show, however I dont agree it s all on stats (which you did say this was an experiment). For example Nik Nat was the most dominating and influential ruck for the season. Also I loved that Dan Bulter made your team. Great video mate.

[@flubbaham]

This is awesome content

[@Moz976]

Fantastic editing 👍🙌

[@FootyA2Z]

Thanks 🤗

[@neelgera9135]

As a Carlton fan Liam Jones surprised me as I was expecting Jacob

[@FootyA2Z]

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one ;)

[@carletonclements4931]

Then, you're completely ignorant. Liam Jones was our best player in 2020.

[@neelgera9135]

Carleton Clements Ik he was really good, but he wasn’t even in all Australian talks, that was only Jacob, I think Walsh was our best player though

[@carletonclements4931]

@@neelgera9135, so what he wasn't in All-Australian talks? THAT'S why he's so underrated! He's not just a boring player with decent stats - he's incredibly flashy and consistent. He was only beaten *once* this year, and it was to (pretty much) the best forward in the league: Dixon.

[@marnuscoreyempanadaslooseb6760]

Carleton Clements I understand you idiots think Tom Mitchell isn’t even a top 10 mid and yet he has won a Brownlow for me he has to be on Lachie Neale level Neale better in 19 and 20 and Mitchell 17 and 18

[@b_webb3353]

That’s how you do it, great job!

[@SGTPTI329034]

Absolutely brilliant. I like the fact you identified shortfalls with some of the stronger teams sharing the load, hence selection criteria may differ with additional data to draw from. With the inclusion of additional relevant data, your system should replace that of the AA selectors.

[@Bh73181]

Great video 👍🏼

[@prodlivewre]

Similar to the actual side but I think this team is a lot better than the actual AA Team. Only change I'd make is Liam Jones out for Darcy Moore.

[@AtTheDriveBy]

This is a really great concept and idea to do the AA team. Biggest talking points would definitely be the defence, 2/3 of the stingiest defences in 2020 used that team oriented approach - which may become the norm in future season . Interested to see how the team would look it the selection was designed around that style of defence.

[@maxpeddie8898]

Really good video 👍👍

[@Rusticc]

Good video boys

[@jasperschnoor1281]

Insane editing

[@FootyA2Z]

Cheers dude :)

[@ethanl4418]

Such a good vid

[@diannasosa3954]

This is great!

[@drewzy_]

So sick

[@spindoctor6385]

It is almost like you need 4 different metrics for 4 different midfielders or you could end up with Melbourne players in there (just kidding I am big Clayton Oliver fan)..... I would add the meters gained category to the wingers and possibly a disposal efficiency to everyone on the field maybe weighted less for the key backs. A fun experiment but lets be honest it is a shocking team.

[@nicolasfonts3194]

To be fair though, it would beat the current AA team

[@spindoctor6385]

@@nicolasfonts3194 We might have to agree to disagree on that, I worry about this teams ball use, especially in the middle of the ground. I would admit that this years AA looks weak compared to previous years.

[@jacobjoshi4426]

Considering Richmond were a top 4 team this year it is a bit surprising that no one was represented, but with the way the this was approached it does make sense.

[@newtonheathfan3745]

In every sport when you have more team oriented play styles the individual stats will take a hit therefore you'll see the midfield lineup consisting of Melbourne players despite Richmond's being the better group

[@SilkMMHA]

Definitely need to do this for the 2021 season!

[@FootyA2Z]

Can guarantee you we can’t wait to get the spreadsheet out again when the time comes

[@Worldmadicly]

I have to say i reckon 2020 was the best I've seen Tom Hawkins play (Didn't watch much until backend of season). His ruck work leading to goal opportunities was incredible and kind of evolved his game to reach new heights.

[@naveenperera5818]

Well done boys

[@Naeseraw]

Awesome idea! Getting those metrics correct though will be the key to accuracy.

[@FootyA2Z]

Yeah we feel like some of them worked well and others will definitely need a bit of tinkering for next year

[@judeappetite]

Very interesting video guys, surprising conclusions and great explanation of how you got those results & what did/didn't work well. Did watch it at 1.25x speed tbh, your clear speaking is appreciated but it feels a bit slow. Cheers!

[@popopopopogo]

Nice work

[@Taj-2452]

so good

[@yeahnahman4217]

Stacked team 👌 and Merrett finally got his spot happy days lol

[@murrayoversby5609]

It makes sense that Melbourne have so many players on here yet they haven't had a bunch of team success. Their midfield is filled with great players but it's unbalanced; Oliver, Viney , Brayshaw and Petracca are all contested ball freaks who do well on paper but they don't have the damaging outside players to capitalise on it. If you replaced some of them with players that aren't as good but played a different role the side would probably be better for it.

[@FootyA2Z]

yeah absolutely, also I believe 10/18 on field players aren't in finals teams so that also shows why the beast "teamly teams" don't have many players on this list

[@bradantcliff2940]

Well done, I was just about to say "You have 4 Demons in the team, chuck it out - doesn't work"

[@jessefyfe9249]

Melbournes biggest issue is currently with our forwards the midfield works well enough because we get the most inside 50s in most of our games but can’t convert those entries to major scores

[@maximillianford9301]

You've gotten that one a bit wrong mate. Both Brayshaw and Petracca do a LOT of damage on the outside, particularly Petracca. Did you just flat out miss that Petracca was the most damaging player in the comp forward of centre? No, Melbourne's issue isn't with outside damage, they actually have a bit of that. (Petracca, Salem, Brayshaw, even Langdon when he doesn't butcher it). It's the drop off from their elite tier players to their bang average players. They don't have a good enough balance. And that shows through, particularly when you see teams like Richmond go at it.

[@kyledelaney4049]

I’m a Melbourne supporter and I’ve said this since 2018 even our back up mids like Aaron vandenburg and harms are all inside mids, and we have no out side presence, only may and Salem can hit a moving target 30 out but both play out if the backline, we kill teams through transition with hand ball but when the game is slowed down we crumble

[@aflkickers2032]

Great Video

[@jung135]

Love the art! is it done by you guys?

[@mathilde5643]

Hi as a swans supporter I vote you take control of selecting the AA team next year because it's going to take me easily that long to recover from the Papley snub.

[@kennnnys]

And lloyd

[@whydoilike]

Lets Get Footy A2Z to 10K!!! #RoadTo10K

[@FootyA2Z]

Yes please!

[@jamesbu1187]

Should comment this on the 2021 video but anyway; Are there any metrics to measure defense from wingers(metres ran per game maybe?) and inside mids(one of the areas where Trac and Oliver are very weak; opposition team clearance frequency feels like something that’s be quite revealing for the Dees)? Feel like defense is something that’s really hard to judge but still probably needs to be included in calculations(also really want Langdon in the team jks). Tough balance between choosing a presentable format(5 or 4 stats seems just right) and getting as much nuance as possible between each category, I think Bont showed up in the 2021 wing category and that just can’t be right I feel lol. Amazing vid. Maybe you could do more stats and make your selection based on that but maybe publish that as a separate document/article or something, and try simplify the KZbin video release?

[@jamesbu1187]

But overall love what you’re doing here mate really bang on job love showing love to all different players in the league. Never going to be able to make a perfect stats based squad probably anyway, basketball analytics are up there for non Baseball team sports but even they struggle to account for things like scheme, differing contexts etc.

[@dominic6867]

Jack Gunston is a Medium Forward, should be in this side and i would've had score involvements as one of the stats and Gunston as a lock!

[@marnuscoreyempanadaslooseb6760]

Fallen Sports I know

[@FootyA2Z]

It all really come down to whether we wanted 3 talls, in the end we opted for the extra mid

[@cama30]

@@FootyA2Z but you have 3 talls in defence and Luke Ryan who also plays tall?? Looks like an unbalanced side too me, to fit in everyone's love child Dangerfield!!

[@dominic6867]

@@FootyA2Z No but he's not a tall tall, he plays a Bruest size role sometimes but can play tall aswell he's a medium/tall and the best at that.

[@MVKreal]

@@FootyA2Z yeh but gunston doesn't rly play as a tall considering his ability on the ground hes more of a medium sized player, look at cripps hes the size of a kpp but plays mid cause of his gorund ball ability but ur not gonna consider him a tall are u

[@rew6184]

for the key forwards, which tom lynch was 4th? RICH or ADEL?

[@FootyA2Z]

Richmond :)

[@rew6184]

thats what we like to hearr

[@abdimohamed2945]

This is deffo better than the actual AA team as all of the players in your AA are deserving of spots. Bontempelli, Dusty and arguably Danger took spots from more deserving forwards. *edit*: Boak is a big miss from your team however stats are stats

[@runthejam4959]

Could a team success category for every position work? e.g. Hawkins gets +4 for Geelong being fourth on the ladder and Papley getting +16 for Sydney's performance.

[@alexgravy]

The All Autsralian is based on individual performance, not as a team.

[@laineryan6653]

This was really good, I'd like to see this style of "best players from all teams" used across other sports and officially in AFL, ye sit isnt 100% on the best possible team. But it's still brilliant

[@lendmeyourears7001]

Cool vid

[@guymcpherson8144]

Doesn’t matter who you put in the park, if Jake levers playing full back the teams losing

[@pepeclutch8018]

That’s sick man! Should of done a comparison from the actual team though! Good video though 👍

[@evan08rhys09]

This video popped up on my feed so thought id give it a watch and so glad i did as its well worth a watch and this team is 10 times better than the official AA team. My only thought is that instead of a second ruckman on the bench, i would of used a forward/ruckman. So being a crows fan and as an example someone like Elliot Himmelberg, someone who can play both forward and ruck. Makes the team more rounded than just 2 ruckman

[@marleylambert]

Possibly a paddy Ryder?

[@evan08rhys09]

@@marleylambert yes, I'd have Paddy over NicNat

[@leftovercrass5210]

Brilliant because Wallis and Libba had a fantastic year

[@bolehtahan]

I'd be interested to see this same stats analysis for each team to see if it actually matches up with the best 22 picked each week...

[@PlatinumHo]

Uploading schedule is actual fire lol

[@FootyA2Z]

don't expose us!!

[@mattnoble3444]

should be picked this way, good job.

[@Chuckakhan]

I also think the bombers play snelling primarily as a hugh half forward and they also struggle for goals

[@Inspirez01]

Loved this video! interesting that the stats say that melb have 3/4 starting middies... knowing the stats i still wouldn't have picked 3/4.

[@henrydelly9806]

This is actually a great team

[@fyrthhjgff8931]

ive been wanting to know what a 1 percenter is for over 2 years now

[@FootyA2Z]

hahah we'll have to make a vid on it

[@jamesb7205]

Stuff like shepherds, blocks, coming in as an extra man to a contest, dummy leads etc. Would be ridiculous to keep track of

[@thomasgillespie17]

I think you'll find Brisbane's ability to share scoring around this season worked against them. They regularly had 7-8 scorers on the sheet, meaning there were far more avenues to goal.

[@marnuscoreyempanadaslooseb6760]

How is Butters a pressure forward? He is a mid/ small forward

[@FootyA2Z]

We're not saying he necessarily is a pressure forward, but he ranks highly in the stats categories we used for non-key forwards when finding our team's pressure forward

[@marnuscoreyempanadaslooseb6760]

Footy A2Z oh ok

[@marnuscoreyempanadaslooseb6760]

Footy A2Z great vid as always and my number one info AFL you tuber on par with tifo football

[@HYP3R47]

epic

[@andrewstrongman305]

As you suggested, the stats don't explain teams like Richmond, or weapons like Dusty (and perhaps Bolton). 'On paper' the Tigers shouldn't have been able to win 3 Grand Finals in 4 years, but their system resulted in 3 emphatic victories.

[@slaterbug2010]

I won’t question the stats because I don’t have the time to confirm them, but interesting as always I feel this every time of the year, when it comes to picking the all Australian side I can pick a side that will beat the official AFL selectors side.

[@alexmansell8385]

Poor Adam Saad being third in both the defensive pocket role and the back flanker role. Has all the hallmarks of an unnecessarily busy season for a defender

[@FootyA2Z]

Very unlucky not to make the side, if we only had 3 tall backs he'd probably be on the interchange

[@matthewmcleod7319]

I like how even Steven May was left out of this side

[@bradenferris]

It’s just stats

[@mrspindles7994]

we getting a 2021 version of this?

[@FootyA2Z]

Yup!

[@gusvile6992]

ummm i'm not sure if I saw Steven May anywhere and idk how

[@lunch2102]

Submit this method the the AFL Select players based on their football, not their team

[@timnicholls19]

Wingers and rebounding backs number of bounces. I might be a bit bias here as I just love a running game. But with bounces added to them then all the other positions need a 5th category. Midfielder maybe add total disposals or meters gained. Backs turn overs or effect on forwards (a little difficult but if you can find 1 on 1 match ups and want to waste some time you be able to find how they track on average against opponents case and point Ryan Crowley for freo back in the day) and forwards shot accuracy (to me that's a clear one but so many are bad these days

[@FootyA2Z]

Thanks for the input Tim, plenty of good points in here!

[@lukenicholls4312]

I really like this. I think its insightful and it's hard to disagree with statistics (sometimes). However, as a mid sized defender, i'm not sure that defensive half pressure acts is a good statistic. These types of players will play off their man or loose in defence. Therefore, pressure acts do not really play into it. I think effective disposals or disposal efficiency should be considered instead.

[@lukesinn1698]

would love to see a video about the transition of footy into slower, more system-oriented football