Those that played junior football would have memories of their coach screaming from the sidelines to "go in harder," or "kick the ball!". Every good coach has a set game plan that they want their players to follow.
Whether it be racking up more contested possessions than the other team or running the ball for more metres, the coach is always trying to preach why their style of play helps the team win. Have you ever stopped to ask though, how often does the team that wins the contested possession count, win the game? Is it true that if your team were to get more hard-ball gets, would they win every time?
Here are the percentages of how many games a team won as they beat their opposition in a certain metric. The following numbers are from the 2117 games played between 2007-2017, courtesy of James Coventry's Football Logistics.
| Metric | Won or tied the metric | Included ties |
| Kick | 77.90% | 1.40% |
| Inside 50 | 74.20% | 2.70% |
| Uncontested possession | 69.50% | 0.70% |
| Contested possession | 69.40% | 1.80% |
| Mark | 69.20% | 1.10% |
| Gather | 65.20% | 5.80% |
| Loose-ball get | 63.30% | 3.80% |
| Contested mark from team | 62.40% | 10.00% |
| Clearance | 61.00% | 4.60% |
| Handball receive | 60.90% | 1.10% |
| Running bounce | 59.60% | 5.90% |
| Handball receive | 58.90% | 1.00% |
| First possession | 57.30% | 4.40% |
| Hard-ball get | 56.20% | 3.60% |
| Tackle | 55.60% | 2.50% |
| Contested mark from opposition | 55.50% | 13.00% |
| Hit-out to advantage | 54.20% | 7.50% |
| Smother | 52.50% | 10.90% |
| Free For | 52.40% | 7.60% |
| 50-meter penalty for | 51.60% | 30.70% |
| Hit-out | 51.40% | 2.40% |
| Spoil | 45.20% | 4.40% |
| Rebound 50 | 39.40% | 3.60% |
| Turnover | 26.80% | 4.10% |
What every coach needs to look to do is encourage their players to kick the ball more. In over 77% of the games from 2007-2017, the winning team had equal to or more kicks than their opponents. It can't be argued that a team needs to kick the ball in order to win games.
Secondly, the inside 50 count comes in with 74% of teams coming out victors in games where they have as many or more than their opponent. Uncontested and contested possessions are nearly identical both leading just over 69% of teams who record more than their opponents to victory.
Surprisingly, at the bottom of the list is hit-outs. Just over half the time a ruckman wins the contest between the big men does his team emerge victorious.
