In Part I it was observed how the volume of shots dropped from the 2014 high of 30.9 a game back to 27.8 in 2015 (in line with previous averages from 2012 & 2013). With the quantity down was the quality affected? Yes – but in a positive manner.
The overall accuracy on all shots increased. Between 2012 and 2014 (3 years, 74 games and 4,246 shots) 51.2% of shots were converted with little year-on-year variance; 51.7% in 2012, 50.5% in 2013 and 51.3% in 2014.
2015 saw a 5.2% increase on this three year average to 53.8% (26 games & 1,446 shots). Like the deadball increase observed in 2014 (more on that below) I would be loath to read too much into one year’s worth of data however it is a noteworthy movement given (a) the size of the jump and (b) the fact that there was a jump at all after the steadiness of the previous three years.
So how was this increase achieved? Shots are broken down into three main constituent parts; deadballs account for 26% of all shots, goal attempts account for 9% with the remaining 65% coming from attempts for a point from play. The 2015 returns for all three are reviewed below.
Deadballs
| Shots | Scores | Success Rate | |
| 2012 | 347 | 232 | 66.9% |
| 2013 | 389 | 259 | 66.6% |
| 2014 | 328 | 239 | 72.9% |
| 2015 | 347 | 240 | 69.2% |
One of the main findings from the 2014 review – expanded upon here – was the fact that deadball accuracy jumped after three years of remarkable consistency (although not shown in the above table the 2010 season had a Success Rate of 66.3%).
Whilst that increase was not sustained in 2015 the overall returns were still very good in a historical context. To be of an average intercounty standard your team needs to convert 70% of deadballs assuming a normal spread of distances & type.
So how is this 70% achieved?
| Shots | Scores | Success Rate | |
| Frees | 304 | 215 | 70.7% |
| 45s | 34 | 19 | 55.9% |
| Penalties | 7 | 6 | 85.7% |
| Sidelines | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Only 47 penalty & sideline attempts have been charted since 2012; much too low a number to make any concrete conclusions on. [As an aside 83% of the penalties were converted and 28% of sideline attempts]
The number of 45s converted continues on its upward curve (40% Success Rate in 2012, 50% in 2013, 52% in 2014 and now 56%) to give an overall average of 49.4% over the four years. This increase has little effect on the overall deadball Success Rates however as 45s only account for ~12% of all deadballs.
So that leaves free kicks. As ever with deadballs it is free kicks where the real movement happens. They account for ~85% of all deadball attempts (and 21% of all shots in total).
In 2014 the Success Rate for free kicks jumped to 76% from 70% & 71% the two previous years. There was no real trend as to why this was except to say that accuracy improved across the park. This year? That accuracy dropped back to 70% – bang in line with previous norms. Hello regression to the mean.
From play – for a point
Two thirds of all shots are attempts at a point for play. Though the Success Rates in the other shot types are important a team’s bread and butter can be found here.
| Shots | Scores | Success Rate | per game | |
| 2012 | 887 | 419 | 47.2% | 17.74 |
| 2013 | 888 | 397 | 44.7% | 17.76 |
| 2014 | 1012 | 453 | 44.8% | 21.08 |
| 2015 | 963 | 468 | 48.6% | 18.52 |
2015 saw a drop of ~2.5 shots per game which, though dramatic, is still ~0.75 shots higher than observed in 2012 & 2013. This lower volume did produce a higher quality however with a Success Rate of 48.6%. That is a ~8% increase on the previous two years.
Although there was a similar return in 2012 I had a look at where the shots originated to see if there was any discernible change in pattern (more shots from easier sectors). There wasn’t – if anything there were less shots from the easiest sector – Sector8 – just in front of goal.
| Sector | Outside 45 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| ’12 – ’14 | 2% | 23% | 24% | 17% | 12& | 13% | 9% |
| 2015 | 1% | 24% | 24% | 18% | 13% | 11% | 9% |
Seeing as the ease of shot hasn’t changed the conclusion is that the quality haS increased. Ignoring shots taken from outside the 45 – which only account for ~2% of all shots – the Success Rate increased for all sectors bar Sector5 which remained stable.
| Sector | Outside 45 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| ’12 – ’14 | 37% | 37% | 50% | 35% | 42& | 71% | 46% |
| 2015 | 27% | 43% | 49% | 41% | 47% | 75% | 52% |
From play – for a goal
The first thing to note is that the prevalence of goal attempts has not changed in any real sense. In 2015 goal attempts made up 9.4% of all shots; it was 9.6% the two previous years.
What has changed, and in truth has been a noticeable trend since 2012, is the accuracy of these goal attempts. In 2012 a score (a goal or a point) was returned from 39% of goal attempts. This has risen year on year to 52% in 2015. When we only include goals as a score (probably a more accurate measure of goal attempts!) there is still a noticeable upward trend.
| Shots | Scores | Success Rate | per game | |
| 2012 | 117 | 40 | 34.2% | 2.34 |
| 2013 | 136 | 44 | 32.4% | 2.72 |
| 2014 | 142 | 52 | 36.6% | 2.96 |
| 2015 | 136 | 56 | 41.2% | 2.62 |
Teams are getting more scores, and more goals, from their goal attempts.
So there you have it. An overall increase fuelled by better accuracy from play – both in point & goal attempts – though the increase was somewhat dampened by a drop in free kick accuracy.
Dublin
Do Dublin, given the volumes they achieved during the year, have an overbearing affect?
The answer is probably in the question – of course they do. Taking goals only Dublin scored 16 on 32 attempts in 2015 meaning that the remainder of teams converted at a 38.5% clip. In 2014 Dublin only converted 28% (9 from 32) with the remainder returning 39%. Whilst not wholly reliant on Dublin’s returns (Mayo put 6 past Sligo whilst Kerry put 7 past Kildare) the fact that they have been responsible for 24% of all goal attempts means that the year on year increase has followed their outcomes.
Similarly when going for a point Dublin converted 57.3% on 17% of all attempts recorded with all other teams converting 46.8%. It is not just Dublin here however as Mayo converted 56.7%.
We use averages as a starting point as, with a large enough sample size, these “outliers” will be subsumed by the whole. However when viewing the Grade A teams (Dublin, Mayo, Kerry) a premium needs to be added to the average when reviewing their play whilst Grade B teams – those trying to break through (Cork, Tyrone, Galway) – need to aim far higher than the average.
Tags: 2015, championship, Deadballs, Frees, from play, Goals, Review
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