Beware the unbridled Blues.
Key statistics from the past six weeks indicate that Carlton– unlike ladder-leader and premiership favourite Collingwood, which has fallen away – is displaying the ultimate premiership profile as the finals series looms large.
Champion Data’s Core Four formula, which evaluates a team’s performance both with and without the ball, has analysed every team’s status throughout the season, with a focus on form over the past six weeks.
Over recent years, the eventual premier has ranked in the top six teams in the competition in three of four key elements in securing the flag – work with the ball, without the ball, at clearance and post-clearance.
Champion Data considers work without the ball the top priority.
And for Carlton, which sits inside the game’s top four in all core flag criteria, the past six weeks are a clear…