Footy is back and with its glorious return comes a whole heap of stats.
It’s time to dissect those stats and pull out the ones that could influence the GIANTS clash with Adelaide on Sunday with the Stats That Matter.
The GIANTS travel to Adelaide Oval where they’re yet to play their best brand of football.
In their four matches there they’ve won just one game, against Port Adelaide in round 18, 2016.
For the Crows the Adelaide Oval is fortress, they won 11 of their 13 games at the redeveloped stadium last year, five of those by more than 50 points.
However, the GIANTS can take confidence from their 2016 campaign that saw them win seven of their 10 matches interstate.
The game shapes as a potential shootout with 2016’s two top scoring teams going head to head.
Adelaide led the completion scoring 112 points per game last season while the GIANTS were close behind with 106 points per game.
The Crows’ potent forward line was on full show in 2016 with the likes of Eddie Betts, Josh Jenkins and Taylor Walker scoring from 44.7 per cent of inside 50s, the best in the competition.
Betts finished the 2016 season third on the AFL’s goal kicking list after finals with 75 goals, Jenkins (62 goals) finished 5th and Walker’s 47 goals saw him finish equal 10th.
The GIANTS will be extra cautious of Walker and Betts in particular, after the duo combined for 10 goals last time the two sides met in round 10, 2016.
Adelaide’s forwards can thank their midfield for the great supply with the Crows third in the competition for inside 50s throughout 2016.
Despite sitting 15th in the competition for hit-out differential (-5.8 per game) they were fifth in clearances and will only be aided by the new third man up restrictions.
The GIANTS were pretty good around the clearances too, leading the competion with an average of 41 per game.
Callan Ward and Dylan Shiel were both ranked inside the top 15 of the AFL for clearances won last year.
The Crows conceded the least number of uncontested marks in 2016 (77 per game) and will again looks to stifle the GIANTS’ creativity when they meet on Sunday afternoon.
