Here’s the final instalment of the Carlton player stats 1974-2012. Following the club’s dramatic and disappointing exit from the finals this year, this sheet has been posted a little earlier than I would have liked, but this gives me the chance to concentrate more on uni now the season’s over for another year. Yes, I’ll be following the finals with interest, hoping that some teams make it in favour of some others, but come the last Saturday inSeptember, I’ll probably be watching with a little less interested that I would otherwise have been.

This sheet, like the others before, is a snap-shot of the performance of every player to have appeared in the old dark Navy Blue during this short century, and features many players from the 1980s and 1990s as well as those who (would want to) don the jumper every week in this, the second decade of the 21^st Century.

You’ll also see, from 2009, Dreamteam (DT) scores and values. DT is one of two fantasy football leagues operated for AFL fans; the other being Supercoach (SC), which is run by News Limited separately and independent of the AFL. Many statistics websites, including those sourced for my stats spread sheets, show both the points and values for each of these leagues. I have only recorded the DT points and values because I played in that fantasy league during 2009 and 2010 but found that I couldn’t put the required amount of time into it to make it a good go of it.

The points and values are generated using codes and algorithms which are a closely guarded secret of those who wrote them. Each player is given a salary cap and can then choose any 25 players from across the AFL and pit them against teams either created by friends or other people in the league. Many players are well known commentators and former players and it was always interesting to see how the average Joe went up against these guys every week- I think I was up against Leigh Matthews, Dermott Brereton, and Barry Hall during those furtive attempts at fantasy footy.

In compiling these spread sheets, I find I am learning more about the players who generated these numbers. Why were some careers so short? What kept some players going and going and going? While these questions can’t necessarily be answered by these numbers, they certainly help explain the decisions made to delist or re-sign the players they do- that and following the game every week with a certain bias toward one of the League’s foundation clubs. A little more time, like fantasy footy, needs to be spent following the lower and other State leagues, the SANFL,* WAFL, and VFL, and the draft, to understand it more. This is also something I can’t do, but I get enough out of Australian football doing this!

Hopefully the URL that I generate for this sheet will lead to the page that I update every week next year. Otherwise I’ll just upload the next chapter with, more than likely, some deletions, some additions, and some old faithfuls that keep turning up each time to, hopefully, sing that famous song more than once of a weekend!

peterg
08Sep12

*I followed the SANFL during Rhys O’Keeffe’s final year at North Adelaide- the main aim of following this league was to follow both previous and former Carlton players like Rhys, Cain Ackland, Adrian Deluca, Mark Passador, and many of the current and rookie Port Adelaide and Adelaide player (Port players came mainly from the original Port Pies club, but Crows players played for all SANFL clubs when not selected for AFL Seniors duty). I compiled and posted statistical reports for Talking Carlton and got to know another stats nut at SA Footy who we might be able to mutually assist. But that’s another project for another lifetime….