The efficiency of clearances plays a large part in a team’s performance each weekend. There’s little use in winning the contest if the ball is going straight back to the opposition.

This week’s Scouting Report breaks down what goes in to an effective clearance – an area which will be critically important to the result at Metricon Stadium on Saturday.

Obviously every stoppage starts with the contest between the ruckman. With Todd Goldstein leading the way for the Kangaroos, they win the hit-outs more than almost every other team in the league – a major advantage considering Gold Coast’s standing in the same statistic.

There is one step between the hit-out and the clearance which may not be well known to most. It’s called the ‘first possession’.

An example: If Andrew Swallow receives the hit-out and then handballs to Jack Ziebell standing next to him, the skipper had the first possession. However it isn’t a clearance, because the football hasn’t left the area of the stoppage.

It’s the area where a team’s pressure can prove to be the most important. Even if an opposition midfielder is the first to lay hands on the ball, an immediate tackle or harassment can force a quick turnover.

North has been excellent in evading said pressure when it has got hands on the ball. It ranks equal-first in the league in turning its first possessions into clearances. On the flip side, Gold Coast sits in 15th position, creating a potential opening if the Kangaroos bring their A-game around the packs.

Once those two steps have been completed, the focus turns to the clearance itself. It isn’t too much of an exaggeration to suggest the team that is cleaner in this aspect will win.

In 2015, both sides have struggled to clear the ball effectively. The Suns and the Kangaroos rank in the bottom five of the competition. The AFL average for effective clearances this season sits at approximately 83 per cent – a mark above Gold Coast and North.

Despite the numbers, North has been able to score relatively well from clearances in recent weeks and also defend when it has conceded.

Although Gold Coast’s short-term numbers are slightly skewed by the rain-affected Round 11 loss to Fremantle, it has struggled to score from clearances. If North continues its defence from stoppages, it will take a big step towards notching back-to-back wins for the second time this season.

All stats courtesy of Champion Data