Matter of Stats

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2018 - Team Ratings After Round 4

Both MoSSBODS and MoSHBODS are unforgiving about hefty losses in the early parts of seasons (it's how they prevent themselves from hanging on too long to their memories of teams' form in the previous season), which has led to some significant team rating and ranking changes this week.

Those movements included:

  • for the Crows, a five spot fall on MoSSBODS and a six spot fall on MoSHBODS
  • for the Dees, a three spot fall on MoSSBODS and a four spot fall on MoSHBODS
  • for the Pies, an eight spot rise on MoSSBODS and a six spot rise on MoSHBODS
  • for the Hawks, a three spot rise on MoSSBODS and on MoSHBODS
  • for the Eagles, a two spot rise on MoSSBODS and a four spot rise on MoSHBODS
  • for the Roos, a tnree spot rise on MoSSBODS and a two spot rise on MoSHBODS

That left MoSSBODS with a Top 3 of Richmond, GWS, and Collingwood, and MoSHBODS' with the same Top 2 but with West Coast in 3rd, and sees the two Systems differing by more than two places only in the rankings of Port Adelaide (5th on MoSSBODS and 8th on MoSHBODS) and West Coast (7th on MoSSBODS and 3rd on MoSHBODS)

Turning next to the component offensive and defensive ratings we find significant team re-ratings and re-rankings here too.

MoSSBODS and MoSHBODS agree, however, that the Top 2 teams on offence are Richmond and GWS. MoSSBODS has Geelong in 3rd, while MoSHBODS has West Coast.

On defence they both agree on a Top 3 of Richmond, GWS, and Collingwood.

Looking across all 18 teams we find that:

  • on offence, only Sydney, ranked 11th on MoSSBODS and 8th on MoSHBODS, West Coast, ranked 8th on MoSSBODS and 3rd on MoSHBODS, and (still) the Western Bulldogs, ranked 5th on MoSSBODS and 12th on MoSHBODS, are ranked more than two places differently by the two Systems.
  • on defence, it remains true that no team is ranked more than two places differently by the two Systems.

Next, our weekly look at how the 2018 teams' MoSSBODS Ratings compare with those of previous Grand Finalists and other teams at the same point in the season (ie after Round 4). 

Perhaps the most striking feature of this chart is the absence of a truly dominant offensive team in the 2018 crop. Even MoSSBODS' best, Richmond, has a rating of only +2.2 Scoring Shots. This is, in large part, a reflection of the generally low scoring so far this season during which the average score has been just 88 points per team per game.

Next, let's take a look at MoS' MARS and ChiPS Team Rating Systems where we find some quite stark differences, foremost among them the ranking of Adelaide, who now sit 10th on ChiPS but 1st on MARS, despite shedding a significant number of Rating Points under both Systems. I can't recall a time when ChiPS and MARS have ever ranked a team differently by as many as nine places.

In terms of ranking changes, the big movers were:

  • West Coast, up five places on ChiPS and two places on MARS
  • Hawthorn, up five places on ChiPS and one place on MARS
  • Collingwood, up three places on ChiPS and one place on MARS
  • North Melbourne, up three places on ChiPS and two places on MARS
  • Port Adelaide, down five places on ChiPS and two places on MARS
  • Adelaide, down six places on ChiPS (and steady, though now with only a slender lead over Sydney on MARS)
  • Melbourne, down six places on ChiPS and two places on MARS

Across the two Systems we now have Hawthorn (4th on ChiPS and 8th on MARS), Sydney (5th on ChiPS and 2nd on MARS), Sydney (5th on ChiPS and 2nd on MARS), and Adelaide (10th on ChiPS and 1st on MARS) as the only teams ranked more than two places differently by the two Systems.

Broadening our comparison to looking across the team rankings of all four Systems and comparing them with the current competition ladder, we find that:

  • North Melbourne's and Collingwood's ladder positions are most different from their average Rating System ranking. Collingwood is lower, and North Melbourne higher on the ladder than their ratings would lead us to expect.
  • Adelaide (1st to 10th) is ranked nine places differently across the Rating Systems.
  • Collingwood (3rd to 9th) is ranked six places differently across the Rating Systems.
  • West Coast (3rd to 7th), Hawthorn (4th to 8th), Sydney (2nd to 6th), North Melbourne (9th to 13th), Geelong (6th to 10th), and the Western Bulldogs (11th to 15th) are all ranked four places differently across the Rating Systems.
  • No other team is ranked more than three places differently across the Rating Systems.

Clearly, Round 4 represented a step-change in the 2018 season, and the different Rating Systems reacted to different extents to that transition. We'll know in the next few weeks who over-reacted, who under-reacted, and who got it about right.