On raw numbers Melbourne have suffered the worst injury run of any team. This is not an excuse for the fact they have gone from top four to bottom four, it is just the numbers.

In an unqualified sense Melbourne’s injuries are the most damaging in the league – they have missed 113 games through injury.

When you qualify those lost games and relate them to the standard of the players missing, not just the total number absent, Melbourne’s injury toll is better but still rates as the worst. They have missed 89 games by those whom Champion Data define as in their best 22.

But the bigger impact from overlaying this qualitative measure of games lost by the best 22 is that the Giants move from having the 14th worst injury run to the second worst. The club’s better players have been the ones going down.

Richmond have had the 11th worst total injury run which is not bad until the overlay of best 22 was taken into account. Then they moved to the fourth worst.