AFL Rankings: Round 8 2023

The ‘little’ three

Last year North Melbourne and West Coast were two of the ‘worst’ AFL sides ever. Both came into the season with some hope they would improve; North Melbourne through the appointment of four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson, and West Coast through the return of experienced players. For the first couple of rounds at least, it looked like that might happen: the Kangaroos won their first two matches (though one was narrowly against the Eagles), and West Coast had an early win in Round 2. Since then however their results have taken a dive, and they are once again getting routinely well-beaten and looking like they will occupy the bottom spots on the AFL ladder.

Well, except for Hawthorn now being down there with them. The Hawks were not too bad last year, but the further departure of experienced players has seen them also suffer heavy losses this season, with their only win coming against the Roos. They currently sit at the bottom of the AFL ladder, just behind West Coast.

Is there anything to hearten supporters of these teams? For North Melbourne and West Coast it may be that they have actually been slightly less ‘bad’ this season, at least according to some main indicators. They are losing by less, gaining a bit more territory relative to their opponents, and getting more of the ball (see table below). In particular, North Melbourne has significantly improved its inside 50 differential, and while it is still not good, it is definitely a lot better than last year’s belting in this area.

Hawthorn is more of a curious case. They have significantly improved at winning the ball, in that their disposal, clearance, and contested possession differentials have improved from last season (see table above). Still their scoring and inside 50 differentials have dropped. The Hawks can win the ball with James Worpel and Will Day replacing Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara in the middle, but they are having more trouble keeping it.

Finally, these bottom teams are again making the rest of the competition look ‘better’ than usual. Two-thirds of the league now has above average or near-average rankings, according to my ranking system. The Roos, the Eagles – and now too the Hawks – all look like they still have a long way to catch up.