DO YOU think Adelaide's midfield has been poor this season? You'd be right, even after Sunday's come-from-behind five-point victory over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
Scott Thompson's effort in carrying the Crows' midfield was again highlighted when he had 38 disposals against the Lions. Nathan van Berlo was the next best, with 26.
If you look across the board, Thompson is leading most categories at Adelaide by the length of the Morphettville straight.
He's had 125 more disposals than the next best player (van Berlo). That's an average of seven a game.
He's had 44 more contested possessions than the next best player (Pat Dangerfield). That's 2.5 a game.
He's had 50 more clearances than the next best player (Dangerfield). That's almost three a game.
He's had 22 more tackles than the next best player (Brent Reilly). That's a bit more than one per game.
You'd expect that Thompson would be leading Adelaide's best and fairest count by a fair margin.
Blowouts aplenty
THE AVERAGE winning margin for the weekend's round was a whopping 60 points - 10 goals a game! - Despite the fact that Essendon defeated Sydney by a point.
The weekend's two margins of more than 100 points - Geelong's 150-point win Collingwood's 138-point victory - brought to nine the number of victories this season by three figures.
In 2010 there were four victories by more than 100 points. In 2009 there was just one.
Don't tell Mick Malthouse that we still have four rounds to go.
Ruckmen hit rare mark
WEST Coast achieved an unusual statistic during its 57-point victory over Richmond on Sunday when three Eagles players - Dean Cox, Nic Naitanui and Quinten Lynch - had double-figure tap-outs.
Naitanui had 19, Cox had 13 and Lynch 10.
This adds up to 39 hit-outs, which is precisely the average number of hit-outs a team this season.
Lynch replaced Cox, who was grounded by a hip injury, in the ruck in the second half.
Champion Data was unable to ascertain whether three players had had more than 10 hit-outs in a previous match, but said it was likely to be a rare occurrence.
Cat Christensen coming of age
GEELONG might have had two blow-out wins in the past fortnight (186 points over Melbourne and 150 points over Gold Coast) but those margins fail to take away from the recent improvement of Allen Christensen.
In the nine games that Christensen had played for Geelong's until round 17, his averages included nine disposals a game, six contested possessions and two inside fifties.
In the four weeks from round 17, he's averaged 24 disposals, nine contested possessions and six inside fifties.
His game against Gold Coast on Saturday was the best of his short career.
He had 28 disposals, 16 contested possessions, two goals and two score assists.
Port Adelaide, Gold Coast, the Lions and others should be heartened. Young players can improve dramatically in a short period.
Bock to the future
GOLD Coast defender Nathan Bock is back in All-Australian form.
While his first half of the season was ordinary, courtesy of a limited pre-season, it's all changed for him since round 11.
Since then Bock has ranked second in the competition for marks (behind Collingwood's Travis Cloke) and fourth in kicks.
He leads the field in effective kicks, uncontested possessions and rebound fifties.
Through Bock, the Suns are getting strong and constant - and accurate - delivery from their backline.
Bock earned his previous All-Australian jumper in 2008.
Demons need to look forward
IT WAS a surprise after Carlton's 76-point victory over Melbourne on Saturday to read that the Blues ended with only five more inside-50s (52-47).
The Blues, however, were much more efficient when they had the ball in their forward line.
They had 41 kicks effective kicks in their forward 50 compared to Melbourne's 12.
The Blues' kicks in the forward line were effective 67 per cent of the time.
The Demons were effective 27 per cent of the time.
Seems the Demons have some work to do up forward.
Ryder among the elite
ESSENDON ruckman Paddy Ryder's disposal rate has remained much the same over the course of the season, but his performance regarding hit-outs has risen sharply.
Until round 14, Ryder was averaging 10 hit-outs a game. Those hit-outs went to advantage 19 per cent of the time, which is about average.
Since round 15, he's averaged 18 hit-outs a game and they've been to advantage 34 per cent of the time.
That means that his hit-outs go directly to a teammate one in three times, putting him in the elite category.
His figure for hit-outs to advantage over the past four weeks is the best of the top 25 ruckmen.
