Average number of games by player at the end of each season

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The commitment required to play SANFL footy, compared to monetary reward, favours commitment heavily. The salary cap does not increase with inflation. So, I thought it would be good to take a look at the number of games each player played up to the end of each year from 2000, on average. In this table, the number of players who played 200, 150, 100 and 50 matches.



I only have the data from 1991 onwards for players to take out the night series matches. There were 24 players who played prior to 1991 who played from 2000 onwards. Only 11 of those would have much bearing on the averages, and two of the 24 do not have night series included - Ben Hart and David Niemann. Another thing to consider is the 2010 average assumes that no-one else makes their debut this year.

I think it has made a small impact, taking all things into consideration. Whether or not the average will fall to 40-42 within ten years remains to be seen. If the salary cap does not increase, I can see that happening.