Seventeen is the new 30

IN AN attempt to compare statistics between AFL and the AFLW games, Champion Data has come up with a benchmark for what is deemed to be a strong statistical performance from an individual.

The mark of a quality individual effort at AFL level is around 30 disposals, which one in 15 players achieve each round.

The equivalent mark at AFLW level – logged by one in 15 players each round last season – is 17 disposals, which primarily reflects the shorter game time (15-minute quarters).

Western Bulldogs midfielder Emma Kearney leads all-comers with the highest disposal tally in a match (30, recorded against the Brisbane Lions in round six last season).

AFLW players to average more than 17 disposals a match in 2017 were Melbourne skipper Daisy Pearce (21.9) and teammate Karen Paxman (21.7), Kearney (21.4), Adelaide’s Erin Phillips (20), Bulldogs runner Ellie Blackburn (19.4), Melbourne’s Elise O'Dea (19.3), Carlton defender Brianna Davey (19) and Fremantle best and fariest Dana Hooker (17.3).

The only player to average 17 disposals in last year’s NAB AFLW Under-18 Championships and to be drafted was Brianna Walling, an Adelaide rookie.

Odds and ends

Collingwood may have targeted elite youth in last year’s NAB AFLW Draft, but will still have the oldest list in the competition (26.3 years) when games start on February 2.

The Pies’ average age decreased by a full year, after starting the 2017 season with a list that was two-and-a-half years older than the competition average.

On the flip side, last year's runners-up, the Brisbane Lions, will be the youngest list in 2018, with an average age of 23.5.

Boosted by the likes of the competition’s tallest player, ruck Erin Hoare (194cm), Tegan Cunningham (186cm), Alyssa Mifsud and Lauren Pearce (184cm), and Eden Zanker (183cm), Melbourne has the tallest list in the competition, with an average height of 172.9cm.