Stats what I'm talkin' about: BFNL finals week one

The definition of a game where the stats don't paint the best picture.

Golden Square dominated the first half against Strathfieldsaye before the Storm worked their way into the contest following the break, albeit making their run far too late.

Strathfieldsaye won contested possession (153-152), uncontested possession (230-173), hit-outs (45-35) and marks (91-90) while being equal for turnovers (70-70) and only losing clearances 40-36 and inside 50s 59-51.

But for anyone at the QEO, there was no doubt who was the better side.

Read more: Fast start sets up Golden Square's BFNL qualifying final victory

The Bulldogs' pressure was ferocious, especially early, and it didn't allow the Storm to get their high-possession game in flow.

Bulldogs coach Christian Carter said there was a "big focus" on stopping the Storm's run and carry, which they did superbly.

While they only had one handball receive themselves for the entire day, the Bulldogs limited the Storm to ten, which is down on their season per-game average of 17.6

The Storm's desire to chip the ball and hold possession was also stifled, with Darryl Wilson's men recording 91 uncontested marks, down on their 2023 average of 108.6.

The best first-quarter side in the competition did the damage again early with a six-goal to-two first stanza.

Square finished the term having won contested possession (45-42), clearances (14-11), uncontested marks (24-18), inside 50s (18-14), ground ball gets (34-23) and tackles (18-14).

Bulldogs skipper Jack Geary was everywhere in the first stanza, collecting nine disposals, two inside 50s, three rebounds 50s and a clearance.

The evenness of the Bulldogs was on full display, with only Jake Thrum assembling more than 25 disposals and three others (Jack Hickman, Tom Toma and Ryan Hartley) having 20 or more.

While his stat line doesn't immediately jump out at you, Hickman was the most damaging player on the ground with 20 disposals, six effective tackles, five clearances, six inside 50s and 111 ranking points.

Only four players cracked the ton for the Bulldogs, one of whom was Joel Brett with 107.

Brett's dual with Storm defender Mitchell Hallinan was one of the afternoon's highlights.

Both had superb first halves, with three of Brett's four goals coming before the main interval.

Hallinan would have stopped three or four more throughout the match, and his second quarter was immense, with seven possessions.

Jake Moorhead was the highest possession-getter on the ground with 34 and also topped the ranking points with 161 after accumulating 14 marks, four clearances, five inside 50s and two goals.

Luke Webb (33 disposals), Callum McCarty (30 disposals), and Lachlan Gill (29 disposals) spent plenty of the time with ball in hand but lacked their usual damaging impact.

Eaglehawk's 33-point elimination final win over South Bendigo was built on a dominance around contested possession and the Bloods' inability to stop their opponents from getting look-ins on goal.

The Hawks comprehensively won the contested possession count 162-135, and while they had less inside 50s (55-50) - from those entries, they had 34 shots at goal.

With Macgregor Cameron's dominance in the ruck (71-14 hit-outs), it was poor for the Bloods to lose contested possession and clearance (44-42).

BFNL 2023 top-ranking point collector Brody Haddow tried his hardest and again top-scored for the weekend with 164 points after racking up 34 disposals, 12 clearances, seven effective tackles, seven inside 50s and a goal.

But it was opposition counterpart Billy Evans who had the most significant impact on the contest.

Evans accumulated 29 possessions, going at 89 per cent efficacy, even with 15 of those being contested.

He also had eight clearances, three inside and rebound 50s and kicked two goals.

Elsewhere across the ground, South Bendigo had far more uncontested possessions (202-164) and uncontested marks (98-66) but was poor from turnover, giving the ball away 73 times to the Hawks 59.

Read more: Hawks outplay South Bendigo in BFNL elimination final

While the Bloods' disposal was poor in general play, the Hawks will have to improve their goal-kicking if they're to beat the Storm this Sunday.

A better opposition like the Storm would have made them pay for a third quarter where they kicked 4.9 (33).

If the Hawks can flip that around, they are still right in with a chance of going deep in September because everything else in that term was fantastic.

The Hawks were up comfortably in contested possession (42-28), clearances (13-6) and inside 50s (16-10) during the term.

Lewin Davis amassed 11 of his 26 disposals for the afternoon in the third quarter, tearing the game to shreds with four clearances and three inside and rebound 50s.

Ben Thompson's pressure around the ball was something to behold, with the big-bodied midfielder having nine effective tackles for the match along with his 22 disposals, six marks, five clearances, eight inside 50s and 142 ranking points.

Michelsen Medal hopeful Noah Wheeler was damaging as usual with 29 possessions, seven inside 50s, a goal and 115 ranking points.

The role of the Hawks most important player, Clayton Holmes, seems to have been defined for the finals series.

After playing forward in the last month of the regular season, he returned to his natural habitat down back and also pinch-hit in the ruck.

Read more: Bulldogs, Borough bloom in grand start to BFNL finals series

Holmes had 25 disposals, five hit-outs, five clearances, ten rebound 50s and 101 ranking points.

His reinstalment as a defender coincided with tall forwards Darcy Richards and captain Cameron McGlashan returning, with the pair combining for six majors.

Oscar White ran hard for the Bloods all day to amass 31 touches, six clearances and 133 ranking points, while Cooper Leon's second game back from Europe ended with 25 disposals and 112 ranking points on his stat sheet.

Read more: Catch up on the latest local footy news

RANKING POINTS

DISPOSALS

CONTESTED POSSESSIONS

MARKS

CONTESTED MARKS

INTERCEPT MARKS

CLEARANCES

INSIDE 50s

GOAL INVOLVEMENTS

TACKLES

SPOILS

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