HOW DID a relatively healthy tally of 27 hitouts and 21 disposals result in Tom De Koning recording Champion Data's second lowest player rating of all time?
A brief glance over De Koning's stats from St Kilda's narrow victory over Greater Western Sydney – where he was primarily facing Kieren Briggs – seems incongruous with his final rating of -10.1.
After all, Tom Lynch's nightmare 2.7 last round netted him an overall player rating of -6.2, while the dubious overall record is held by Sydney's Joel Amartey, whose 0.6 against Port Adelaide last year resulted in -10.5.
De Koning recorded 27 hitouts against the Giants (to Briggs' 16), but only four were to advantage. Along with that, De Koning finished with 21 touches, two marks, two clearances and 0.3.
He had five groundball gets, seven score involvements, four inside 50s, three intercepts but just one pressure act, with only the injured and stat-less Anthony Caminiti recording fewer.
But those 21 touches? They went at only 19 per cent disposal efficiency, comfortably the lowest on the field (bar Caminiti), and that's what dragged De Koning's player rating down.
Champion Data defines the player ratings, which have been calculated since 2010, as "an objective, single-number metric that measures a player's direct impact on the scoreboard and game, known as 'equity ratings'.
"They calculate the value of every action based on location, pressure and how it changes the team's chance of scoring. It rewards positive play, and punishes turnovers and poor accuracy."
De Koning's ball use was rated at -16.7, which is also the second lowest on record, but positive acts across the match lifted his overall rating to -10.1
De Koning's player rating breakdown
- 0/10 effective kicks, 4/11 effective handballs
- 27 hitouts – four to advantage, nine sharked by the Giants midfield
- Six first possessions, but only two clearances
- Four shots for 0.3
- 1 pressure act
- Six turnovers
