Saints Ahoy - Visualisations from game 2 and the season to date

This is the second post in my 2024 Super League data visualisation project (https://fulltimesportsfan.wordpress.com/category/saints-ahoy-rugby-league-project-2024/). Yes, I know I'm two days late, but there was a work trip in midweek 

Included will be the game 2 visualisations, and the visualisations covering games 1 and 2. What there won't be is the defensive visualisations, because Saints kept Huddersfield to nil in the game (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/match/EVP4369771), so there's still only one data point there. 

As a Saints fan, this pleases me immensely. I'm fully behind "Saints, the entertainers" but a lot of that flair comes naturally (The Saints Way etc), so defensive solidity is a nice addition. The best Saints teams have combined both. 

A fuller report on the Saints vs Huddersfield match can be found here - https://www.saintsrlfc.com/matches/2024/first-team/huddersfield-giants-v-saints-2024-02-24/ 

The game 2 dendrogram again shows that central core of players who play most of the game, the prop swaps, and that Saints are continuing the policy of wrapping Percival up in cotton wool once the game is won. I still approve. This time, Walmsley was the one with the short stint at the start. Which suggests that it's strategic, not injury related (despite the news about Matty Lees coughing up blood - https://www.saintsrlfc.com/2024/02/26/medical-update-on-matty-lees/)

 

Line chart showing when players were on the pitch when Saints scored 

Game 2 Matrix diagram

The darkest cluster are Whitley, Welsby, Sironen, Makinson, Lomax, Lees, Dodd, Clark, Bennison and Blake who played the whole game. Percival is the darkest orange but separated from them because he left the pitch early. Knowles, Matautia and Wingfield are the next shade down, reflecting the rolling substitutions, then Bell, then Walmsley the palest, reflecting his single stint. There are fewer players in the network diagram than last time (https://fulltimesportsfan.wordpress.com/2024/02/21/saints-ahoy-rugby-league-data-visualisation-2024/)

The network diagram:    

I hadn't realised how central Whitley was, but I can believe it. 

If we look at the combined data sets they look like this. 

Season to date data visualisations 

Who scored points for Saints - with the note that it's point-scoring moments, not number of points. Despite being taken off early, and all the missed conversions which will undoubtedly haunt us come the big matches, Percival has had the most point-scoring moments.

Combined dendrogram:    There are some clear prop clusters, Wingfield and Mata'utia, Walmsley, Hurrell and Bell. The Davies and Delaney cluster is pleasing to see because it suggests they're slowly blooding them in. It looks like the spine of the team are Dodd, Blake, Lomax, Makinson, Sironen, Welsby, Whitley and Clark. 

Percival is there for all the point-scoring moments until he gets subbed off at 50 minutes. 

This pattern is also seen in the matrix diagram The matrix reflects the dendrogram, but you can also see some interesting patterns, like Bell and Knowles not playing together, Hurrell playing less with Lees, Bennison and Knowles and so on. These patterns will both strengthen during the season and might get more mixed up as injuries (and suspensions) take their toll. 

The network diagram looks like this:  

It's interesting that two games in there's already a clear central core and then a secondary ring. 

Will have the data from the Leigh game inputted when I get an hour to spare.