Saint ups the effort
Warrick Todd
Mar 15, 2018 4:32PM
Inferential statistics is the new buzz term in AFL circles, and there is no better example of a player who emphasises the importance of these stats that St Kilda’s Maverick Weller. He won’t be in your Supercoach team and the often-maligned Weller doesn’t feature heavily in the old-fashioned analysis of possessions per game or one percenters or the newer incarnated pressure acts, he does however dominate inferential statistics across not only his club but the league.
Weller is currently top three (3) in seven (7) of the eight (8) inferential statistics monitored by AFL clubs over the past two seasons, so it is not hard to comprehend why he is rated so highly internally at his club and by his peers.
The older brother of boom Gold Coast recruit Lauchie Weller was reluctant to talk about the stats when contacted by AFL.com.au this week, but eventually opened up hoping to inspire a new generation of player. “Leading inferential statistics did not happen without a lot of hard work. You need to be impressing on the coaches and your teammates that you are putting in 100% effort, 100% of the time, and that’s not easy”
Weller by the numbers:
# 1 - Lunging with intent at opposition player who is in possession - without making contact
# 1 - Harassing opposition without impact
# 1 - Looking exhausted at a stoppage
# 3 - Running at full speed to the boundary to take your bench rotation
# 2 - Pointing down the field and yelling instructions to your team mates
# 1 - Huffing and puffing
# 3 - Leaping to spoil without contacting ball or player
Weller's trademark lunge at opposition Swan
Weller leaves no stone unturned and has spent hours in the coaches box surveying the playing surface while perfecting his techniques. “Giving the impression you are actively involved in the match and on a contest by contest basis is hard, coaches aren’t easily fooled these days and there are so many of them in the box on game day. Without great technique you could easily be exposed in replays or by your teammates, so keeping up the appearance of maximum effort with minimum impact is punishing in itself”, said Weller. Weller’s research has paid dividends as he has managed to understand and execute the angles on most AFL grounds to provide the coaches, fans and TV audience the impression he is a high-pressure competitor.
“It doesn’t hurt being ripped and a good-looking Rooster to boot” said Weller. “If you get the girls on side they are happy to tell their boyfriends they are jealous if they happen to catch you out if your effort didn’t look realistic enough”. Weller is looking for a return to his 2016 form after a disappointing 2017 season. “I’ve removed myself from the Leadership group now, there was too much expectation to speak at meetings and they got kind of annoyed when they asked me a question and I hummed and pretended to be in meditation”.
Weller expects to play as a pressure forward in 2018 with rotation though a midfield that will include highly rated first round draft choices Hunter Clark and Nick Coffield who Weller is mentoring. If they can turn out to be as successful as Weller in inferential statistics the saints could break an eight-year absence from finals action.
