Next up on the Bendigo Advertiser's look at each BFNL club's season stats, according to Premier Data, is runners-up Sandhurst.
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Team and player statistics from the home and away season will be analysed to see what worked and what failed.
WHAT WORKED:
A lot went right for the Dragons in 2023.
They had the best record of anyone in the regular season, winning the minor premiership with a 16-1-1 record before coming up six points short in the grand final against Golden Square.
The Dragons had the best defence in the BFNL throughout the regular season, conceding 777 points - far fewer than the next lowest Bulldogs, who gave up 917.
Their defensive structure and zone were excellent, and while it doesn't translate to many stats, that strength can be seen with their intercept marking prowess, ranking second for average intercept marks per game with 19.3.
Many would think co-coach and gun defender Bryce Curnow would be the Dragon's number one interceptor, but young gun Tanner Nally upstaged the elder statesmen, taking 44 to Curnow's 38.
The Dragons were also dominant at stoppage, ranking second for average clearances per game (47.1), handballs (155.4), inside 50s (58.2) and hit-outs (51.3).
Ruckman Hamish Hosking - who was arguably the most influential player in the BFNL in 2023 - was the fire-starter for the Dragons out of the middle.
He amassed the most clearances for the season with 207, which was 55 ahead of the next best in Brody Haddow.
Hosking also gathered the third most contested possessions (291) and second most hit-outs (783).
WHAT FAILED:
Looking at the stats, there's very little to suggest the Dragons failed in any area consistently over the season.
At worst, they ranked ninth for tackling, averaging 55.6 per game, but most of the best sides were in the bottom echelon of that statistic.
What they probably need for 2024 is a bit of X-factor up forward like Strathfieldsaye had with Lachlan Sharp or Joel Brett at the Bulldogs and Brock Harvey for South Bendigo.
Lachlan Wright led the Dragons goalkicking with 45 majors but only kicked 13 from eight games against fellow finalists.
Andrew Collins was next best with 32 majors, but even he couldn't crack the top ten on the Ron Best Medal leaderboard.
Their defence was strong enough to pick up any slack, but the Dragons ranked third for scoring in 2023, amassing 1790 points, which was only marginally ahead of South Bendigo (1772) and Eaglehawk (1713) as well.
PLAYERS:
Wright amassed the equal most contested marks this season, taking 44 while also having the sixth most inside 50 marks (48) and forward 50 tackles (23).
Nicholas Stagg led the league for forward 50 tackles, collecting 31 while ranking ninth for tackles overall with 103.
Sam Conforti returned from the Essendon VFL setup mid-season and became the Dragon's most damaging player, averaging 28.15 disposals while nailing 18 goals from ten home and away season appearances.
STATS LEADERBOARDS:
RANKING POINTS:
Hamish Hosking 2199
Noah Walsh 1849
James Coghlan 1834
Nicholas Stagg 1684
Bryce Curnow 1664
Cooper Smith 1491
Sam Conforti 1488
Lachlan Wright 1335
Tanner Nally 1263
Matt Wilkinson 1225
DISPOSALS:
Noah Walsh 437
Cooper Smith 399
Bryce Curnow 366
James Coghlan 365
Hamish Hosking 356
Nicholas Stagg 344
Sam Conforti 296
Zac Pallpratt 288
Caleb Connick 288
Lachlan Hood 270
CONTESTED POSSESSIONS:
Hamish Hosking 291
James Coghlan 197
Nicholas Stagg 170
Noah Walsh 167
Sam Conforti 146
Zac Pallpratt 141
Cooper Smith 116
Lachlan Wright 110
Matt Wilkinson 109
Lachlan Hood 101
SCORE INVOLVEMENTS:
Nicholas Stagg 124
Lachlan Wright 108
Hamish Hosking 102
Sam Conforti 101
Noah Walsh 94
James Coghlan 94
Andrew Collins 83
Cooper Smith 81
Matt Wilkinson 71
Caleb Connick 71
MARKS:
Bryce Curnow 100
Tanner Nally 96
Lachlan Wright 92
Noah Walsh 87
Caleb Connick 84
Cooper Smith 80
Matt Wilkinson 75
Sam Conforti 69
Matthew Thornton 66
Nicholas Stagg 64
CONTESTED MARKS:
Lachlan Wright 44
Matthew Thornton 24
Cobi Maxted 24
Tanner Nally 16
Bryce Curnow 14
Nicholas Stagg 13
Matt Wilkinson 13
Andrew Collins 11
Noah Walsh 9
Liam Ireland 9
INTERCEPT MARKS:
Tanner Nally 44
Bryce Curnow 38
Liam Ireland 23
Cooper Smith 21
Isaac Ruff 20
Noah Walsh 19
Isaac Carracher 19
Lachlan Hood 19
Sam Conforti 19
Caleb Connick 16
CLEARANCES:
Hamish Hosking 207
James Coghlan 82
Nicholas Stagg 70
Noah Walsh 66
Sam Conforti 53
Zac Pallpratt 48
Cooper Smith 32
Lee Coghlan 31
Matt Wilkinson 30
Lachlan Tardrew 28
INSIDE-50s:
James Coghlan 72
Sam Conforti 72
Cooper Smith 68
Zac Pallpratt 64
Caleb Connick 61
Noah Walsh 60
Hamish Hosking 59
Nicholas Stagg 53
Matt Wilkinson 44
Jace McLean 40
TACKLES:
James Coghlan 109
Nicholas Stagg 103
Zac Pallpratt 84
Isaac Carracher 58
Noah Walsh 46
Lachlan Wright 45
Sam Conforti 45
Lachlan Hood 39
Joel Wharton 34
Cooper Smith 32
SPOILS:
Bryce Curnow 56
Liam Ireland 43
Tanner Nally 43
Isaac Ruff 14
Lachlan Hood 14
Jacob Nihill 14
James Coghlan 13
Darcy Mills 9
Jake Wilkinson 8
Caleb Connick 7
