The numbers behind St Kilda’s dominant start to the 2023 season have been revealed by Champion Data’s Daniel Hoyne.
With Ross Lyon returning and leading the club to a 3-0 start, Hoyne says the Saints are moving the ball differently than any other team across the last decade.
According to Champion Data, St Kilda are moving the ball from end-to-end better than any team since Geelong in 2009 as Lyon employs a slow and steady approach along the boundary, with their elite runners continuously finding space to take uncontested marks.
“I’m just really interested in terms of what Ross and St Kilda are doing from a ball movement perspective at the moment,” Hoyne told SEN Sportsday.
“There’s no one that’s playing the ball movement game better than St Kilda are at the moment.
“Their ability to be able to move the ball from one end of the ground to the other, at the moment, is the best we’ve seen by any team since 2009 - that’s going back to Geelong in 2009, so 14 years ago.
“It’s how they’re actually doing it, they’re using the boundary more than any other team in the competition at the moment.
“If it keeps going this way, it would be the highest boundary use that we’ve ever seen by anyone in any season as well – more than Collingwood in 2010 and 2011 when they had that successful two-year period.
“It’s interesting to see what they’re doing with ball in hand, they’re pretty short in terms of what they’re doing but they’re still trying to get towards goal.
“They’re slowly building their way up, getting more territory towards goal … they’re using their runners to be able to create the space to find uncontested marks to slowly build the ball towards goal.”
While the Saints are doing new things going forward, they’re also proving similarly impressive in defence.
While the Saints have conceded the most marks against so far this season, Hoyne says the Saints have developed a system where opposition teams have refused to challenge them with the ball as they allow the fewest metres per disposal.
“I’m also interested the other way with how they’re actually defending ball movement at the moment,” Hoyne said.
“They’re actually the third-best team in the competition at defending it, but they’re not getting challenged back the other way.
“We spoke about that with Essendon last week – whether or not they were going to take 80 to 90 marks but actually charging at them, going forward and at speed or whatever – but we didn’t see that and that’s what Essendon have been doing so far this season.
“Their ability to actually stop the opposition (is impressive), they’re conceding the most marks in the competition St Kilda, but they’re conceding the fewest metres per disposal in the competition, they allow you to go nowhere.
“They don’t care if you’re having 400 disposals or taking 120 marks, you’re getting nowhere.”
While the Saints have faced sides that have refused to challenge their defensive system, he is keen to see how they hold up against a Collingwood side that will back their fast and flowing style going forward when the teams meet in Round 5.
“They’ve had three teams so far this year – Fremantle, the Bulldogs and Essendon – who haven’t challenged them,” Hoyne said.
“They face Gold Coast next, but the ultimate challenge comes in two weeks against Collingwood, they will challenge them.
“That will be interesting to see what actually happens there.”
Before that Collingwood matchup, the Saints host the Suns at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.