Gary Ablett Jr averaged 12.9 possessions, 7.7 contested possessions, 1.3 goals, 1.9 clearances and 3.5 tackles per game in his first 50 AFL games. He did not have one 30-possession game.
Scott Pendelbury averaged 19.1 possessions, 9.9 contested possessions, 0.7 goals, 2.4 clearances and 3.2 tackles. He had one 30-possession game.
Joel Selwood average 22.9 possessions, 8.0 contested possessions, 0.3 goals, 3.5 clearances and 3.9 tackles. And he had eight 30-possession games.
Jobe Watson, Patrick Dangerfield, Josh Kennedy and Chris Judd had similar sorts of numbers. Slightly higher in some areas and slightly lower in others. And between them they had six 30-possession games in their first 50.
Through 49 games Adam Treloar has averaged 23.8 possessions, 9.2 contested possessions, 0.6 goals, 3.3 clearances and 3.8 tackles. And he’s had eight 30-possession games.
Treloar has averaged more possessions per game through his AFL infancy than every one of the aforementioned ‘Sensational Seven’. And he compares more than favourably in each of the key statistical categories for midfielders.
That’s not to suggest 21-year-old Treloar will be the next Ablett or Pendlebury, or anyone but his own man. But with his 50th game against Carlton at Spotless Stadium on Saturday he will undoubtedly complete one of the best 50-game openings to an AFL career of all-time.
While numbers are not everything, they are certainly an identifier of quality, and whichever way you look at Treloar’s numbers the former Dandenong Stingrays ace is quality plus.
Averaging 27.7 possessions per game this season, Treloar ranks 13th in the competition behind Ablett (32.0), Kennedy (30.4), Dion Prestia (29.4), Pendlebury (29.1), Matthew Stokes (29.0), Matt Priddis (28.7), Watson (28.3), Matthew Boyd (28.3), Nathan Jones (28.2), Dayne Beams (28.2), Dyson Heppell (28.2) and Steve Johnson (27.8).
Treloar averages 13.0 contested possessions to rank ninth in the competition behind Ablett (18.0), Kennedy (17.1), Nat Fyfe (15.5), Dangerfield (15.5), Priddis (14.2), Tom Liberatrore (13.9), GWS teammate Callan Ward (13.7) and Pendlebury (13.5).
Treloar averages 6.5 clearances to rank seventh in the competition behind only Ablett (8.2), Ward (8.0), Liberatore (6.8), Kennedy (6.8), Ben Cunnington (6.7) and Joel Selwood 6.7).
This excludes ex-GIANT Anthony Miles, who averages 9.5 clearances per game but has played only two games after finally breaking into the Richmond side.
Treloar averages 6.5 tackles per game to rank 11th in the competition behind Liberatore (9.4), Tom Rockliff (8.7), Ed Curnow (7.6), Ben McGlynn (7.5), Giants teammate Jacob Townsend (7.3), Matt Thomas (7.1), Jaeger O’Meara (6.7), Lenny Hayes (6.7), Priddis (6.7) and Reece Conca (6.6).
All that and he’s still only 21, with a football lifetime ahead of him.
Treloar will share his 50th game tomorrow with teammate Devon Smith as they become the fourth and fifth GIANTS players to this milestone, behind Jonathan Giles, Ward and Tom Scully.
Smith, too, boasts outstanding numbers for a 21-year-old in a developing side.
He is second in all-time goals for the GIANTS with 43, behind only Jeremy Cameron.
And he ranks seventh in all-time possessions for the club (17.1 per game), seventh in all-time contested possessions (6.4 per game), ninth in all-time clearances (1.8 per game) and third in all-time tackles (4.3 per game).
This year he averages 20.3 possessions, 6.8 contested possessions, 1.9 clearances and 4.2 tackles.
He collected a career-best 33 possessions against Essendon in Round 12, kicked a career-best five goals against St Kilda in Round 2, had a career best 15 contested possessions and an equal career-best 10 tackles against Hawthorn in Round 11, and a career-best six clearances against Melbourne in Round 3.
