Damn the Worpedoes
Is our PCM winner the key to unlocking our midfield?
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One parallel with our decline in on-field performances over the past three years has been a correlation to the performance of our midfield unit.
Throughout 2019 with the absence of our Brownlow dynamo Tom Mitchell, we heard week after week about how our midfield was well and truly being smashed in most of the measured metrics.
It meant our forwards were freely excused based on quantity and quality of delivery, while our defenders were also reprieved - mainly because of the lack of defensive accountability in the middle of the ground, leading to a huge amount of ball coming into the backline.
While we were 3-4 after seven matches - including three games which were decided by less than a goal - the heat was on our mids.
So much so that even our very own club website put them in the spotlight:
“We hear you wondering… If our players are in such strong form, why are we sitting 13th on the ladder with only three wins from seven games?
Plainly and simply, the core of a lot of our issues is at stoppages.
We rank 14th for clearances league-wide with an average clearance differential of 7.3 less clearances per game than our opposition.
We have already had four games this year of losing the clearance count by double figures, with our worst game in this area coming against Carlton in Round 6 when they had a monstrous 18 more clearances.”
And by the end of the year some of the key stats were damning - we ended up ranked:
14th for total disposals;
17th for contested possessions; and
18th for clearances.
The plus side of course was the break-out form of our PCM winner in 2019, James Worpel, who in Titch’s absence was a shining light in the midfield.
And while Titch came back in 2020 and we had names like Worps, Jaeger O’Meara, Liam Shiels and Chad Wingard playing through the guts, we didn’t fare that much better:
15th for total disposals;
18th for contested possessions; and
18th for clearances.
2021 was a much more interesting study. Things started to improve through the middle of the ground, but what makes it even more intriguing is the performance through the second half of the season - after the ‘coach succession planning’, where the improvement could really be seen.
In 2021 we finished up ranked:
9th for total disposals;
11th for contested possessions; and
14th for clearances.
In the final five matches of the season we averaged:
Over 20 more disposals per game than the rest of the season;
Six more clearances per game than the rest of the season; and
A slight increase in contested possessions than the rest of the season.
It was a remarkable improvement and no doubt a large part of it could be attributed to the additions of Jai Newcombe, Conor Nash and even the injection of Lachie Bramble (notwithstanding the effect that a top-shelf Chad Wingard brought to the table) in the back half of the year.
This has Sammy Mitchell’s fingerprints all over it.
The Midfield State Of Play
So we fast forward to the current day and our midfield situation - one which has been so dire for a few years, is suddenly looking bright again.
We have heard through the pre-season already of how Josh Ward and Connor MacDonald could become generational midfield talents.
We have seen ‘Duke’ Newcombe ripping players down at training and even Dylan Moore dominating through the middle.
Shiels is apparently performing well, and that’s before we even discuss Titch, JOM and Chad.
But one of the really pleasing™ things of note being reported has been the strong off-season form of Worpel. And if it’s not the return of James Sicily, the debut of Ward or seeing Jack Gunston in full flight that gets you excited for the year ahead, the promise of Worpel in PCM-winning form should.
Can Worps and Titch play in the same team together?
The back end and in particular, last five games of 2021 should hopefully be a preview of what’s in store under the freshness that Sammy and now Robert Harvey at the club will provide.
Last season from rounds 6-20, Worpel went 10 from 13 games where he registered double figure contested possessions - he did it three times in his last five - though he was injured and subbed against the Pies in R21.
In 2019 during his PCM year, he went 19 / 22 games with double digit contested touches.
Removing the game where he injured himself against Collingwood, Worpel’s averages in his last four games were as follows:
Disposals: 27 (up 5 on career average)
Kicks: 14.5 (up 2.7 on career average)
Handballs: 14 (up 3.9 on career average)
Marks: 3.5 (up 0.7 on career average)
Tackles: 3.25 (down 1.35 on career average)
Clearances: 3.75 (down 0.35 on career average)
Worpel’s season stats were down on career averages, further highlighting just how good his back end of his season was
In his first 48 career games Worpel kicked 16 goals - in the next 20 that he played in 2021 he managed 10, including a stretch from round 15 where he kicked a major in seven matches on the trot. It was significant that he added the offensive weapon of kicking goals as a mid to his game.
Is it now or never for Worps?
There’s no sugarcoating it - this is a pivotal season for James Worpel. Following the emergence of Newcombe and the drafting of some top-end draft talent, his spot in the side is not a given and with competition for places he’ll need to perform at the high level he showed in the back half of the season week on week.
At the same time, Worps has proven his talent, and is of an age that he adds an important dimension and leadership qualities that will be crucial to our future success. The last five weeks of his season helped wipe away much of the doubt that has lingered since his PCM victory. It was also the first real stretch of games that we have seen him and Titch play consistently well together.
It certainly helped that we were winning games - just on Titch’s form, he racked up 12 Brownlow votes from the last six matches of the season with the team finishing that stretch with a three win, two draws and one loss record.
Hopefully the huge wraps on Worpel this summer together with Titch playing at his best will be contribute to the beginning of a new, exciting and shiny new era for our midfield.