Introducing: Team Structures on The Shinboner

It’s probably not a unique opinion to say the best 22 format is barely fit for purpose these days.

There’s really no such thing as a back pocket anymore. A half forward flank could mean an actual forward, or it could be an extra midfielder to solidify those rotations. Meanwhile some teams have two midfield rotations on their starting interchange. Others have two defenders. It might even be two forwards on certain weeks. The list goes on.

Looking back at recent team submissions tells you next to nothing about how a team actually set up on the day, so the only way to fix it is bite off precisely way too much and figure out a new way to illustrate a team’s setup from week to week.

Introducing the imaginatively titled Team Structures. It aims to track every team’s setup, line-by-line, week-by-week. Here’s how it works:

– Each team is split into three lines: defence, midfield, forward
– Within those lines, there are three categories, which alter slightly depending on the team
– All players are listed in their primary starting position
– For those who have a secondary role, it’s listed with a letter in brackets
– The key for those letters is in the heading section for every team
– Changes for each line are listed from week to week, importantly noting all lines have their own section

This has been collated through a range of sources. Primarily it’s the eye test, but in addition centre bounce attendances, heat maps – both for movement and possession – along with separate message board threads with individuals tracking positions have all been more than useful.

(The one thing that would have made it about a five-minute job if publicly available is Champion Data’s specific minutes played by position. But alas.)

Two things that aren’t illustrated are the role of substitutes and forced in-game changes due to injury. Two examples of why highlighting the latter would confuse matters:

a) In Round 2, Jake Lloyd was supposed to be largely on a wing, but ended up down back for cover after Harry Cunningham’s concussion.
b) In Round 2, Nick Coffield’s injury forced Bailey Williams to move down back. But Williams started the game on a wing, making for a logical assumption that would have been his primary role on the day.

I can’t stress enough; this isn’t supposed to be the 100 percent final authority on every single team. There are surely a handful of missed roles from my end – between camera angles, relying on the eye test for a lot of this, along with all the different stat tools used – it’s tricky to nail nearly 400 players every week.

The more suggestions to come through – whether it’s via the comments, Patreon, Twitter, or anywhere else – the better. Ideally this becomes a feature consistently open to feedback and improvement, given how new it is. If you see something you disagree with, tell me and it’ll be listened to (as long as it’s done respectfully of course).

Of all the moving parts to conquer in getting this project off the ground, by far the hardest is the mid-forward role. Or maybe it’s forward-mid, depending on how you look at it. Without advanced stats available, what’s the threshold to make the primary position a midfielder with forward time as opposed to the opposite? Anyway…

Note: This will be updated every fortnight on its own specific page. While it’s currently free for all to see, from the first update onwards – the end of Round 6 – it’ll transition to a feature available exclusively to Patreon subscribers on the $10 tier.

Let’s get into it.

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Let’s be honest, half this post is basically an ad saying, ‘if you want to see more of this, flick through some money’. But here’s the formal part of that in a plug for the Patreon.

For those who are keen to sign up to The Shinboner Patreon for extra benefits, there are three tiers available in 2024:

$2.50 – Debutant – To show support for the site without receiving any extra features
$5 – Rising Star – The first level where there are extra features and early access for certain things
$10 – Brownlow – First access to everything and anything set up for Patrons

To find out more details and sign up, head here for the Patreon page.

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Some teams are self-explanatory, while others need a couple extra paragraphs to highlight potentially confusing listings…

(Clicking on the image gives you a full size version to make everything a little bigger)

Adelaide

Brisbane

A large shoutout to this BigFooty thread on the Brisbane board that tracks not only centre bounce attendances by quarter, but wing attendances as well. An invaluable resource to crosscheck the Lions’ positions.

A secondary note: Deven Robertson’s midfield listing in Round 3 despite no centre bounce attendances is based on the eye test and watching him come up to contests as often as possible. It’s probably technically not a correct listing but I’m rolling with it for now.

Carlton

Much like the Robertson listing in Brisbane, Matthew Kennedy’s midfield for Round 4 is based on the eye test and also heat map. Despite minimal centre bounce attendance, it was clear to see him operate largely as a midfielder in general play.

Overall, the Blues were one of the four toughest teams to figure out alongside Geelong, Sydney, and the Western Bulldogs for the way their general forwards play. Maybe there’s something in that for a piece in the medium-term…

Collingwood

One of the tricker roles to illustrate with this format is when a team basically splits their ruck duties instead of a clear first/second designation.

In many games, Mason Cox is just as much a ruckman as Darcy Cameron, right down to the ruck contests attended. If anyone wants to argue their roles should be switched in certain matches, it makes sense.

Essendon

Those words I wrote about Cox and Cameron? Just replace their names with Sam Draper and Todd Goldstein, because the same applies here.

Fremantle

Geelong

Mark Blicavs is on a one-man mission to completely ruin this project. It is so hard to figure out his primary position from game to game. How much midfield time does it need to be to outpoint the wing? Or vice versa?

Not to mention at points this season they’ll all but certainly ask him to plug a hole as the primary ruck, and even down back if there are a couple of injuries to key players.

That general flexibility which permeates through the Geelong squad – rotating wingers through, forwards pushing up, midfielders going outside then inside – it all increases the margin for error for this graphic.

If this section reads as a general plea for sympathy, it’s interpreted correctly.

Gold Coast

GWS

Hawthorn

The Hawks’ graphic is one of those situations where you’re convinced you’ve forgotten or missed something relatively straight forward. Changes in roles and personnel as they look to settle on a structure has probably caused that.

Melbourne

North Melbourne

Port Adelaide

Richmond

St Kilda

Sydney

This tweet after Opening Round hinted at some of what was to come here. And just as I thought I had the rotations down pat, Taylor Adams returned to increase the degree of difficulty.

The change in Sydney’s format compared to others is in the forward line where the two non-key categories read as general and smalls/defensive. It’s a bit of a square peg in a round hole, but Robbie Fox’s role is so different to Will Hayward that it didn’t feel right to have them in the same category.

West Coast

This one’s going to get really messy as the year goes on and coaches roll through different looks. Thankfully for now it remains in check. Just.

Western Bulldogs

Much like Carlton, Geelong, and Sydney, the Bulldogs were wildly tough to get started on because of their players rolling through different areas. Along with that, the extra degree of difficulty here came with players being asked to perform in slightly different roles to what they’re listed as.

For example, Buku Khamis isn’t really a traditional key defender, but he’s being asked to play much like one at this stage. It’s why he’s listed under the keys category, even though if we were being true to the player’s own skill set he’d fit more in the general category.

The same with Laitham Vandermeer listed in the general forward category instead of small. On paper he fits the smalls, but he’s being asked to do a variety of things which don’t necessarily fit into the traditional small forward role.

And on that note, we come to the end of the initial Team Structures post. A reminder from here on out, it’ll be updated fortnightly on the specific Team Structures page.

It’ll be free for all to view until the first update at the end of Round 6, at which point it becomes exclusive to Patreon subscribers on the $10 tier. The only public sightings after that will come here and there with the odd tweet, Notebook article, or mention in a standalone piece.

To the handful of people I reached out to to ask for feedback and improvements, you know who you are, and it’s appreciated.