From The Notebook: Round 5, 2022

We’re building to a period where there could be several breakout topics in the space of a week or two. The ‘long-term’ tab on my whiteboard is filling up at a rate of knots.

Until then though, it’s a trusty regulation format for the Notebook this week…

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The Shinboner Patreon is up and running this year from March 1 to October 31. The $5+ tiers get you early access to the weekly Notebook pieces on Monday morning (except for this week and next week, when they’re Monday night), before they’re free to all from Monday night (or Tuesday morning this week and next week).

Overall there are four different tiers. It starts at $2.50 per month and goes up to $10 per month for all the benefits. A huge thank you to everyone who’s signed up so far, it’s allowing me to do much more this season.

Here are all the details and how to sign up.

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The little parts of a process

This is probably going to be interpreted as a whack at Taylor Walker, so before getting into the point can I emphasise he’s simply being used as a placeholder to contrast against the positives of Isaac Heeney and Sydney.

Here we have two nearly identical situations. The results of each are the same, but what I want to focus on is the process before it.

Heeney and Walker both have a shot at goal late in a quarter, on an angle which lends itself to running around for a snap.

First, Heeney. Watch as he immediately looks to the bench for clarification on what approach to take. Does he have time to play on? Will the siren blow? Everything is so clear, so controlled.

If the clip won’t play for you, click here to view

Next, Walker. Because this isn’t supposed to be a shot at him or Adelaide, simply note how different the process is to Sydney’s in nearly every way.

If the clip won’t play for you, click here to view

The results aren’t the point in this case. Heeney’s – and Sydney’s – process is going to end with more little wins over the journey because they’re clear on how to approach every situation.

Put the effort into little things, they add up, big things take care of themselves.

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For those who have missed any posts over the last few days, here are links to catch up with – and share around.

Saturday 16th: North’s Round 5 Review
Friday 15th: What To Watch For: Round 5
Thursday 14th: Why Good Friday is so important for North Melbourne
Monday 11th: From The Notebook: Round 4
Sunday 10th: North’s Round 4 Review

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A speed run of notable quarter by quarter performances

Melbourne’s first quarters: 5-0, 104-41, +63

It’s been nearly 52 minutes of game time since Melbourne have conceded a first quarter goal.

There have been a number of behinds conceded since then – 12 of them, to be exact. There have been very few quality shots though, and it’s amusing to watch Melbourne suffocate teams right out of the gate. For everyone except the opposing fans, anyway.

Carlton’s third quarters: 0-5, 53-157, -104

If this trend continues it’ll need a lengthier explanation with vision, but at the moment it looks as if it’s Carlton’s offence causing problems in the third quarter, and after half time in general really.

When the run, carry, and general speed on the ball disappears, Carlton can’t get the ball into dangerous areas. Then when the inevitable turnovers come, they’re in positions on the field hard to defend from.

Essendon’s third quarters: 0-5, 95-173, -78

Another area getting close to a proper, in-depth video breakdown. Not that Essendon have been good defensively in any other quarter, but a common theme this year has been their inability to switch on structurally immediately after half time, particularly around contests.

The Bombers’ best defensive third quarter this year has been 4.2.26 against Adelaide. The others: 5.5.35 (R1 v Geelong), 6.3.39 (v Brisbane), 5.4.34 (v Melbourne), 6.3.39 (v Fremantle).

Other undefeated or winless quarters remaining

Fremantle’s first quarters: 5-0, 100-47, +53
West Coast’s second quarters: 0-5, 69-143, -74
Melbourne’s third quarters: 5-0, 163-69, +94
St Kilda’s third quarters: 5-0, 133-66, +67
Fremantle’s fourth quarters: 5-0, 138-60, +78
GWS’ fourth quarters: 0-5, 71-142, -71
North Melbourne’s fourth quarters: 0-5, 63-173, -110

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A reminder about some of the Patreon benefits if you sign up:

  • For those on the $7.50 Patreon tier (or above), there’s exclusive access to the Stat Suite page
  • For those on the $10 Patreon tier, they have exclusive access to everything on the website, including the List Management suite

Here are all the details and how to sign up.

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Rolling monthly stats

Much like the player minutes section last week, yes this is a blatant plug for part of the Patreon offering.

Now we’re five rounds in to 2022, we’re seeing trends reveal themselves. I promised the stat suite would have further elements to it, and here is one of them.

In addition to the season long stat rankings being updated every week, there’ll also be rolling monthly updates.

This way we can see which teams are improving – or the opposite – as we get deeper into the campaign.

Here’s an example of how it looks from Rounds 2-5:

Next week on the stat suite page, that’ll update to Rounds 3-6, and so on. In the second half of the season, there’ll be extra columns added to note major differences between monthly rankings and season rankings.

As always, if there are any suggestions for extra features you’d like to see, feel free to let me know.

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