Bloody short weeks in the AFL. Just two footy-free days to get everything done, this week. Great for viewing… not so great for a bloke that writes five columns recapping the previous weekend’s footy.
Aaaanyway, usually in this spot, I’d have the Wigman of the Year results. However, given I am a busy man who has made a lot of dumb commitments with this site, I also wanted to cover the best small forwards in the game and decided to run the X-Factor Rankings about once per month. I’ll still attempt to get the Wingman column done, but we may end up with a double-helping next week.
So, with that out of the way – The X-Factor Rankings… what are you doing, HB?
Good question.
The X-Factor Rankings are a little system I have developed to accurately assess the impact of the mid-sized and small forwards in the league. There are a set of statistical triggers for the smaller forwards that also extend to midfielders, if they’re good enough.
One rule we have with this system is that no key forward can qualify. No Jeremy Cameron. No Charlie Curnow. No Buddy Franklin, even though when he was at his best, he had X-Factor written all over him.
And also oozing ,and in some cases, shooting out of him in the early days.
Secondly, players must be averaging a goal per game. Slip under that mark and you slip out of the rankings.
Finally, the only other rule is that in order to qualify, players must have participated in OVER 50% of the games played. So, at this stage, two are not enough to get a guernsey. Are we clear on that, Kysaiah Pickett fans? Don’t worry, he is bound to be in the next round of the rankings if he stays on the park.
The criteria is pretty simple – a range of stats and coaches’ votes that, when combined, give us an overall number for each player. We continue to monitor each week and present the rankings every month.
So, without further ado, let’s jump into the first of our X-Factor Rankings of 2023 and see which of the non-key forwards are having the biggest impact.
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