2022 CBAs Trends: Players with the highest CBA%, preferred mid set-ups, Smith beneficiaries and Cogs, Titch & Merrett formlines

Centre bounce attendances (CBAs) offer fantastic fantasy point-scoring opportunities given a player is around the ball. Typically, the more CBAs you have, the more likely you are to score points.

It’s worth noting it doesn’t always translate that way, with some players struggling around the contest and better suited to uncontested possessions out wide, on a wing or flank with teammates looking for them due to their good ball use, but generally CBAs mean more points.

So Honeyball looked at some of the key CBA numbers across the 2022 season to help glean some useful insights from an AFL Fantasy and SuperCoach perspective.

View the 2022 CBA stats

Players With Highest CBA%

Two of the top three AFL Fantasy averaging players – Lachie Neale and Clayton Oliver – are among the top five for CBA% this season. Tim English, fourth for CBA%, is seventh overall for AFL Fantasy averages this season and the number one ruck/forward.

Neale and Oliver are the top two in SuperCoach for total points and averages. English is sixth for averages, while Witts is 10th and Cripps is 14th.

CBA Notes Of Interest

• Stephen Coniglio‘s move into the midfield has been well noted following GWS’s change of coach. Coniglio’s CBAs from Round 3 to Round 9 were at 14%, but since Mark McVeigh has taken over he’s had 59% CBAs. During this period Coniglio has scored 120/140, 85/108, 130/174 and 105/113 (AF/SC), including four of his six tons in AFL Fantasy this season and three of his five tons in SuperCoach averaging 115.75/128 (AF/SC) up on his season averages of 93.8/100.5. This is a classic example of a role change with CBAs impacting scoring positvely.
• Giants teammate Josh Kelly‘s CBAs are at 56% across the season, with a recent increase having had 61% CBAs since Round 10. But that hasn’t translated in a spike in scoring for him.
• The beneficiaries of the suspended Bailey Smith’s absence at the Western Bulldogs have been widely discussed although the data offers some insight having missed three games already this year (Rounds 2, 11 and 14). Adam Treloar (49% CBAs across the season) has generally had higher CBAs when Smith has been out with 64%, 59% and 62% respectively, scoring three of his six AFL Fantasy tons in those games and two of his six SC tons). Josh Dunkley (45% for season) was up significantly in Round 2 (70%) but not in Rounds 11 and 14, yet he scored exceptionally in the latter two games with 139/143 and 107/114 playing more forward. Tom Liberatore (52% for season) missed out in Round 2 (39%) yet scored 104/131, before enjoying the recent rise with 78% and 72% CBAs in Rounds 11 and 14, although the scores were only 81/102 and 99/102.
• Jayden Short has had a clear role change since Round 7, moving into the midfield and started brilliantly with a SC season-high against lowly West Coast with 123/152 (AF/SC). But that role change hasn’t led to bigger scores since, averaging 51% CBAs since Round 7, with his scoring averages of 98.1/104.2 during that stretch compared to 106.8/105.5 during the first six rounds. Playing in the backline is actually better for his scoring output.
• When Carlton have had their best midfield available – Patrick Cripps, George Hewett, Adam Cerra, Matthew Kennedy and Sam Walsh – the latter has been most often squeezed out of CBAs although it hasn’t greatly impacted his scoring. Carlton have only had all five available at once five times this season including when Walsh scored his SC season-high 149 playing on a wing in Round 9.
• Darcy Cameron has taken over as Collingwood’s number one ruck since Round 7 after Brodie Grundy‘s knee injury. Cameron had had 13% CBAs in the first six rounds from Round 7-13 he has had 63%, fueling a major increase in scoring. However, over the past two rounds Mason Cox has had a rise in his CBAs, up to 43%, seeing Cameron’s drop slightly to 57% in a major flag.
• Zach Merrett has had a curious year, with plenty of coaches becoming interested as his price fell in recent weeks. In Rounds 9 and 10 his CBAs dropped to 31% around his season-low of 51/57 (AF/SC) against Sydney. But over the past three rounds his CBAs have jumped up to 73% in a sign his role is improving, although his three-game averages are 95.33/103.66 compared to his season averages of 97.3/103 so that hasn’t translated bigger scores.
• Tom Mitchell hasn’t reached his previous sky-high levels in 2022, largely due to Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell moving him out of his predominant midfield role. However, Mitchell has had season-high CBAs in recent games in both Round 11 (79%) and Round 13 (66%). It’s worth noting Jaeger O’Meara was out of the side in Round 11. Neither resulted in any significant spike in scoring though.

View the 2022 CBA stats

Clubs With Most CBAs

Most Different Players Used At CBAs

Club-by-Club Preferred Four & Player/s of interest

Adelaide: R.O’Brien (89%), B.Keays (80%), R.Laird (77%), M.Crouch (68%); J.Hately (33%)

Brisbane: L.Neale (85%), J.Lyons (71%), O.McInerney (66%), H.McCluggage (54%); D.Zorko (16%)

Carlton: P.Cripps (80%), G.Hewett (74%), T.De Koning (66%), M.Kennedy (61%); S.Walsh (54%)

Collingwood: J.De Goey (76%), T.Adams (67%), J.Crisp (61%), B.Grundy (84%)/D.Cameron (41%); N.Daicos (6%)

Essendon: D.Parish (78%), S.Draper (71%), D.Shiel (66%), Z.Merrett (65%); B.Hobbs (11%)

Fremantle: A.Brayshaw (76%), S.Darcy (69%), W.Brodie (69%), C.Serong (68%); N.Fyfe (48%)

Geelong: R.Stanley (81%), P.Dangerfield (71%), C.Guthrie (67%), B.Parfitt (59%); C.Stephens (26%)

Gold Coast: J.Witts (84%), M.Rowell (81%), T.Miller (79%), N.Anderson (68%)

GWS Giants: M.Flynn (65%)/B.Preuss (62%), T.Green (62%), J.Kelly (56%), T.Taranto (47%); S.Coniglio (38%)

Hawthorn: N.Reeves (69%), J.Newcombe (67%), J.O’Meara (60%), T.Mitchell (56%)

Melbourne: C.Oliver (87%), C.Petracca (84%), J.Viney (77%), M.Gawn (65%); L.Jackson (36%)

North: J.Simpkin (87%), L.Davies-Uniacke (60%), H.Greenwood (53%), T.Xerri (53%); J.Horne-Francis (45%)

Port: S.Lycett (93%)/S.Hayes (81%), O.Wines (70%), T.Boak (63%), W.Drew (54%); Z.Butters (43%), C.Rozee (41%)

Richmond: T.Cotchin (70%), T.Nankervis (69%), D.Prestia (64%), S.Bolton (52%); D.Martin (39%), J.Short (28%)

St Kilda: J.Steele (80%), P.Ryder (66%), J.Gresham (64%), B.Crouch (62%); R.Marshall (47%), J.Sinclair (17%)

Sydney: P.Ladhams (77%)/T.Hickey (60%), L.Parker (66%), C.Mills (63%), C.Warner (55%); I.Heeney (18%)

West Coast: D.Sheed (88%), T.Kelly (85%), N.Naitanui (73%), J.Redden (64%); C.Jamieson (45%), G.Clark (20%)

Western Bulldogs: T.English (87%), J.Macrae (65%), M.Bontempelli (55%), B.Smith (54%); T.Liberatore (52%), A.Treloar (49%), J.Dunkley (45%)

View the 2022 CBA stats