Introduction
This is a fourteenth post about performance against ranking in three football codes in Australia.
The codes are Australian Rules, Rugby League and Rugby Union
You can find some background information about this project here.
Australian Rules
There were nine games in Round 14 of the AFL this week. All teams have had one bye week.
This week Essendon, Richmond and Port Adelaide continued their progress with wins against higher ranked opponents (against West Coast, Collingwood and St Kila respectively). Essendon overcame a 17 point end of third quarter deficit against west Coast to win. The other lower ranked team to win was Melbourne. Their second win of the season came against the Western Bulldogs.
Average cumulative season and Round 14 profiles for winners were:
For losers:
Rugby League
There were eight games played in Week 16 of the NRL season. It was a big week for lower-ranked 2012 teams. Wests, Knights, Roosters, Warriors and Panthers all defeated higher ranked opponents. The Rabbitohs and the Cowboys were the two teams to play to 2012 rankings this week. The Warriors extended their winning run to five games. The Bulldogs and the Eels had byes this week.
Rugby Union
There were five games in the Super 15 competition this week. Teams from New Zealand and South Africa all played to their 2012 rankings. This is the third time this season that an entire round followed 2012. Rounds 11 and 16 were the other two occasions. Australian teams are awaiting the conclusion of the Lions’ Test Series before recommencing the Tournament.
Photo Credits
Richmond Tigers v GWS Giants (Aff, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Crowds at the game (Shami Chatterjee, CC BY-NC 2.0)
Watching from the Sidelines (Johnysweb, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
