But let’s flesh it out, it'll be healthy for some of the less analytically inclined:
What are we trying to measure? - Who should be the AA ruck. So the data needs to be ruck specific.
What is the time-frame we're measuring within? - 2017 data only as AA is obviously seasonal.
What are the known biases? - Supporter bias the main one, so we can’t use supporters polls or other crowd source type data
What are the available sources of data? - Difficult to ascertain, a lot of the more specific ruck measurements are not publicly available so we need to use anecdotal reporting
What is the quality of that data? - Good but not fit for use
One poster used hit outs - as was discussed, this is a poor choice as it doesn’t indicate the quality or difficulty of the hit out. It’s far too macro.
Another poster used kicks marks and handballs. Another effective disposals and goals. Good but not ruck specific. Is Charlie Dixon better than Patty Ryder as ruck if he averages more than him? No.
Another poster used team clearances – better, as it can indicate the success of the hit out, but is also reliant on the quality of the midfield. Also doesn’t indicate the quality of the clearance.
Another poster used AFL Player ratings and was duly asked to log out of his account as it isn’t reflective of the 2017 AFL season. Also flawed as its pretty much the same as fantasy points.
Another poster used Coaches’ votes. Problem with this is it’s not ruck specific. But is seasonal. Non biased. Anecdotal. Expert – AFL coaches tend to know what they’re talking about. Good quality - aggregated from micro sources. Would be my choice. Which is why I posted it.
The best way, perhaps, is to use all of these, calculate them into a z score -
http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Z-Scores - weight them and return the average results.
I’m posting this before I’ve worked it out for transparency. I will compare – Ryder, Kreuzer, Grundy, Jacobs, Mumford
This will be known as the Safooty.net Weighted Averaged Ruck Score Metric (SWARM)
Individual Hit outs – 20%
Disposals – 10%
Effective disposals -5%
Goals – 5%
Team clearances – 10%
AFL Player ratings – 0%
Coaches’ votes – 50%
