One percenter (Australian football)

A one percenter (1%er) is a statistic kept in Australian rules football, and relates to a variety of actions which benefit the team, but are infrequent or defensive.

It has been standard for a long time for a coach to tell his team to "keep doing the one percenters," and this essentially meant that players should keep applying pressure on opponents, by doing the little extra efforts which make turnovers more likely. They have always been seen as the "little extra effort" which went unrewarded on the statistics, and they received the name "one percenter" to represent this. They may not individually affect the outcome of the game, but collectively they can, hence they are regarded as a percentage of the overall performance of the team. Coaches have always liked to see their teams put in the effort and get plenty of one percenters, and the captains and spiritual leaders of teams are most often skilful players with the most one percenters. At the beginning of the 21st century, one percenters were officially recognised as a statistic. In 2007, the AFL Army Award was struck to reward, among other defensive skills, one percenters.

There are four actions which constitute a one percenter according to official AFL statistics: knock-ons, spoils, smothers, and shepherds.

A knock-on is using the hand, either clenched or open, to tap the ball to the advantage of a team-mate, without ever taking possession of the football (except out of the ruck). It has the same advantage as a quick handpass or kick, but is not recognised as a disposal because the player never has possession. (Australian football knock-ons, which help the team, are not to be confused with rugby football knock-ons, which are negative.)

A spoil is preventing an opposition player from taking clean possession of a pass from a team-mate. This is most usually done by punching the ball away from the contest. In the 2011 semi-final against Sydney, Hawthorn defender Josh Gibson compiled an AFL record 21 spoils.

A smother is the act of using the arms or body to get in the way of an opponent's kick, as it leaves the player's boot. A player who smothers the ball is generally seen diving across in front of the kicking player, hoping to trap the ball as it is kicked. Smothers sometimes lead to turn-overs, but not always.

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