#danielhoyne

Collingwood comprehensively outplayed by Hawthorn at the MCG on Thursday night week 22 of AFL season in 2025. In a game built up as a fight for finals the Hawkes left cold Pies at the ‘G’ indigestible. The Magpies have now lost 4 out of their last 5 matches. Daniel Hoyne told SEN listeners to ‘just chill’ in regard to worries about Collingwood’s form. Hoyne might be very wrong. A lacklustre Pie’s performance never showed signs of life. AFL seasons are long and is it a case of ‘age shall weary them?’ Daniel Hoyne told SEN listeners to ‘just chill’ in regard to worries about Collingwood’s form. Hoyne might be very wrong.

Collingwood Crap Effort Uninspiring at the MCG

The Fox Footy commentators were loath to criticise Collingwood, as they often are; but was it a brilliant Hawke’s performance or a really bad display by the Magpies? Hawthorn had more to play for in terms of securing their final’s berth. Still, losing footy is not good footy in anybody’s book. A 64 point defeat is a heavy loss. The Pies were beaten all over the ground. In the midfield, the Hawkes were mighty, as they created numerous forays forward via chains of handballs cutting the Magpies to bits. Small men in brown and gold ran amok. “In a 17.8 (110) to 6.10 (46) result that’s sure to have huge ramifications on the finals race, the polished Hawks put Craig McRae’s men to the sword.” - (https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/live-afl-2025-hawthorn-hawks-vs-collingwood-magpies-round-22-live-scores-and-updates-stats-blog-start-time-aest-and-how-to-stream/news-story/9d528fbeedc1beadd108eb5cd8072d69)

Magpies Murdered By Hawthorn In AFL Round 22 Confidence builds on the back of big victories, and the Hawkes were oozing class. There are real concerns about Collingwood now, according to footy expert Leigh 'Joey' Montagna. Coach Craig McRae condemned the lack of effort and pressure applied by his team on the night. Collywobbles are being mentioned by the pundits watching on. Life at the top is hard to maintain, it seems. The Magpies falter, as the Hawkes take great heart from this big victory. Even the umpiring, which is usually pro-Collingwood on the back of their big crowds and the influence of affirmation by tens of thousands of barracking supporters at the ground, turned against the Pies. Hawthorn players were making the play and everything else fell into line for them on this basis. Cold Pies at the ’G’ were indigestible. Magpie Umpire Special Treatment History “McRae was cautioned by the AFL this week over the comments, which came after the Magpies' finals hopes took a huge hit in a tense three-point defeat to Sydney last Friday night. The 50-year-old said a 50-metre penalty to Dan McStay, which went unpaid when Swans defender Tom McCartin stepped across the mark in the dying stages at the SCG, "would've been paid at the MCG".” - (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-15/afl-collingwood-coach-craig-mcrae-umpire-comments-selfish/104228556) “Most footy fans hearing about this death threat are appalled but assume it is from a disgruntled Blues supporter. Upon finding out that it was from a Collingwood supporter, yes, a few eyes roll back and heads shake. The Collingwood Magpies are on top of the ladder and multiple games clear of second place. A normal supporter in this position would be too busy gloating to bother with such god awful behaviour. The dangers of tribalism, when carried too far, are a retrograde step in the wrong direction.” - (https://www.golfdom.com.au/the-dangers-of-tribalism/) Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The Stoic Golfer; Money Matters and America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©GolfDom

There is a bloke named Daniel Hoyne and he is from Champion Data, which is a mob responsible for a lot of interesting AFL stats. In the current AFL media echo chamber, it is this chap who provides all the talking heads you hear and see with the basis of their insightful analysis. Those blowhard footy experts on Fox, Nine and Seven, with the pedigree of being ex-players, that many of us slavishly listen to. Hoyne and his fellow champions of AFL data are providing the real gold for footy analysis. The David Kings' and others may talk loudly and stridently on topic but the actual data is identified by Mister Hoyne.

Hoyne The Champion Of AFL Data

If these footy faces in the media give you a headache, then, going directly to the source might save you the need for relief in terms of your hearing. Daniel Hoyne is on SEN on Tuesday night and sharing the data driven gospel for fans of a more scientific answer to many of footy’s most pertinent questions. What do they say, ‘opinions are like arseholes, as in everyone’s got one.’  Many of us love to talk AFL footy with friends and family. This is, I think in part, our homage to the game we love. Personally, however, I get sick of the shared regurgitation among the AFL footy media. Few have anything original to say and even fewer anything worth banking upon in terms of wisdom. The game moves so fast these days in its evolvement that past players are soon mere spectators like ourselves. Their cache exists in the smell of liniment and real personal experience but game plans and tactics have left them in their wake. All I can say, is thank goodness for Hoyne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e31Zr5qV0U8 Rule Changes Are The Name Of The Game & Hoyne The somewhat sad fact is that AFL is morphing into soccer at a rapid rate. Daniel Hoyne tells us that the modern game is all about moving the footy. The top teams move it with aplomb and do it fast. The best players and most valuable to their teams are those that can move the ball exceedingly well. Hitting targets is the name of the modern game. I would add that 4 field umpires are turning the contest into round ball football. Concussion protocols mean that you cannot bump because of the risk of making contact with the head and getting rubbed out for minimum 3 weeks. You cannot tackle like you mean it for similar reasons, as dangerous tackle definitions are getting broader by the week. The contact nature of this contact sport is waning. AFL has long been about running, with the best players being great runners. AFL player body types have evolved into lean, tall, running machines. Squat little blokes are a rarity. Wide fellas, built like brick shithouses, are very thin on the ground too. https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-hoyne-006747256/?originalSubdomain=au

Zoning & Too Many Umpires Zoning defences have changed the game too, if you have not noticed. Opposing players do not play on each other, as they used to, they stand a few metres off each other. I think this works well and has evolved because the majority of young players recruited are midfielders and midfielders don’t play on any one. I remember Paul Roos talking about how young players coming into the Swans team were often put in defence, so that they could learn defensive skills. The Swans had a ‘man on man’ defence for much longer than most AFL teams in the modern era. These days, even this option is not really open to modern coaches. The people who have changed the game by modifying the rules to create a higher scoring game with less mauls want to see this new version of AFL. They think that the fans prefer the free flowing game rather than the defensive style of lots of rucks and mauls. The 6-6-6 rule. The ‘stand on the mark’ rule. The tackler not being rewarded ethos, which always favours the ball carrier. These rule changes and interpretations are shifting the game toward soccer, in my view. 4 field umpires mean that the number of free kicks in minor infringements in the ruck contest, marking contests, high tackles and such like are greatly increased. The influence of referees in soccer matches are huge and AFL is fast heading in the same direction. A bunch of free kicks in front of goals can change the momentum of a contest, as it did for the Suns over the Swans recently. Umpires have far more impact on matches than in previous eras.

Players Don’t Play On Opponents Anymore Some folk wonder how players like Patrick Cripps can get so many umpire votes in the Brownlow and so many possessions each week. The reduction in contest produces more uncontested possessions. The emphasis on moving the ball and hitting targets magnifies this even further. ‘Man on man’ contests are rarer and are savoured by fans the few times they happen in a match. The changes forced upon AFL by concussion are very real and there is no responsible avoiding of this. The concerns of civilisation are greater than cavemen beating the shit of each other with clubs. I suppose it is surprising that contact sports have survived in their violence for so long. Soccer can be an exciting game to watch. AFL will maintain a four limbed advantage over the round ball game for some time yet, I would imagine. Although the prevalence of a lot of swinging arms of late is not good for the game. Watching the footy now, involves being exposed to short lectures by ex-players throughout games, as to why teams are losing plays. Calling matches, back in the day, was a shared process of unfolding accounts of the on-field action. Games were more exciting because there weren’t a raft of commentators pretending that they know the answers to everything happening on the ground. In truth, much of what these expert announcers put forward as gospel is pure speculation. https://wordsforweb.com.au/young-men-let-a-lot-of-people-down/ There is a bloke named Daniel Hoyne and he and his mob are providing real data for our analysis. More than mere opinion and bluster. Crunching the numbers can reveal a cache of insightful stuff about the game and where it is heading. https://x.com/hoyney35?lang=en Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©WordsForWeb