HERE is football's real Holy Trinity.

Only one team – Geelong against West Coast in round three – out of 30 this year has lost when it won contested possessions, disposal efficiency and pressure factor in the same game.

That equates to 96.7 per cent of the time, the highest winning percentage from the stats three-pack in six years.

The number never dropped lower than 86.9 per cent in that period, emphasising just how important they are to success in the modern game.

It's the sort of hit rate the Cats' greatest optimists might have hoped for out of their own so-called Holy Trinity: Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Gary Ablett.

The three categories also stand strong in isolation this season: contested possessions (65.6 per cent success rate), disposal efficiency (69 per cent) and pressure factor (62.2 per cent).

Sides win 90.9 per cent of matches when they win contested possessions and disposal efficiency; 81.8 per cent with contested possessions and pressure factor; and 73.5 per cent from disposal efficiency and pressure factor.

Queen's Birthday combatants Collingwood and Melbourne are the only top-eight teams to rank in the top 10 in all three categories in 2018.

Interestingly, second-placed reigning premier Richmond comes in no higher than 12th in any of them.

Top-eight season rankings

Three other statistics are more important to team success this year compared to last.

Hit-outs (the ruck revolution), shot-at-goal accuracy (amid 50-year lows in scoring) and handball metres gained (the Tiger effect) have all rocketed in statistical influence on victories.

The club with more hit-outs wins 57.3 per cent of the time in 2018 (43.7 per cent in 2017), better shot-at-goal accuracy is 72.6 (up from 60.3), and extra handball metres gained is 57.1 (44.4).

But having more effective metres gained than the opposition (86.7 per cent) continues to have the highest correlation with success of any one statistic outside points scored.

The stats that matter

The game's most underrated player?

It's the question without an answer, but Richmond premiership star Shane Edwards is certainly in the endless discussion.

Edwards won the Yiooken Award for best player afield in the Tigers' landslide Dreamtime at the 'G win over Essendon on Saturday night.

He was a deserving winner after racking up game highs of 30 disposals, 11 score involvements, seven inside 50s, four score assists and 681 metres gained.

No-one who played more than three games is averaging better than Edwards' 1.3 goal assists since the start of last year.

The Kangaroos bound on

Another week, another big North Melbourne win.

Only top-four teams Melbourne and Richmond match the Kangaroos' effort of winning three matches by more than 50 points this year.

North would have finished stone motherless last if it lost to Brisbane in the final round last year, but Sunday's 54-point cakewalk over those same Lions has the Roos just one win outside the top four.

They rank second for points against this season (16th in 2017), fifth for points scored (ninth), third for scores per inside 50 (13th), third for contested possession differential (14th) and fourth for points from intercepts differential (15th).

Now that's a transformation.