Five ways Daniel Wells can resurrect the Magpies

COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley says he's not the saviour, but many Magpie fans are still praying recruit Daniel Wells can kick-start the team's season.

That's because the 32-year-old showed his match-winning capabilities during his career at North Melbourne, with Collingwood supporters watching him destroy their mob in round 18 last season.

So how can Wells transform the Pies as he makes his keenly anticipated Anzac Day debut in black and white stripes?

1. Hitting up Magpie forwards

Even his skipper hopes Wells can fix this problem for the Magpies, whose ball use was particularly ordinary in rounds one and four.

Of course, his targets last season included Ben Brown, Jarrad Waite and Mason Wood, who all averaged more marks inside 50 last season than Collingwood's Darcy Moore or Jesse White.

2016 Wells stat: Kicks inside 50 marked by teammates: 28.2 per cent (13th of the top-100 AFL players including finals).

Will he help? Like the old dial up internet, it might take time to connect

2. Accurate goalkicking

Wells might have missed his three set shots in 2016 but his career numbers are much better.

He has kicked 150 goals in 243 games, including 61 of 92 set shots for a 66 per cent accuracy.

2016 Wells stat: 0.3 from set shots, 5.2 from general play.

Will he help? He can't hurt. The Pies are ranked last for set shot accuracy this season, with a woeful 38.7 per cent conversion rate in front of goal.

3. Clean ball use

Collingwood ranks 13th for kicking efficiency, so adding a midfielder with an elite kick rating can only help.

2016 Wells stat: Elite kick rating of +5, indicating he hits targets far more regularly than the competition average.

Will he help? It's like having two Scott Pendleburys.

4. Score involvements

The Pies needs goals, having kicked just 41, their lowest tally in four rounds since 1968. Only four times has a Magpie player had 10 score involvements or more in a game this season.

2016 Wells stat: 7.1 average score involvements per game. Those are elite numbers, given that anything around 10 score involvements in a single game rates is usually considered fantastic. Wells is also elite when it comes to score assists, averaging 1.8 per game.

Will he help? Wells might lead a horse to water but he can't make it drink.

5. Clearances

Breakaway speed from stoppages has not been a Magpie strong point, with Adam Treloar playing a lone hand since Dale Thomas left for Carlton.

Wells will change that. With Brodie Grundy in good form at boundary throw-ins, Wells will hit the ball at top speed and give the Pie forwards a chance one-on-one.

2016 Wells stat: An above average 5.4 clearances per game.

Will he help? He will turn dropping a Datsun off at the garage into Formula One pit stops.

It's a fine line between pleasure and pain (and don't the Roos know it)

While the Kangaroos are hopping mad at having lost three games by less than a goal in the first five games, they came up against master finishers Fremantle on Saturday night.

The Dockers have won 73 per cent of their games with a single-figure margin since 2010.

The Kangaroos? Just 30 per cent.

All aboard the Tiger hype train

Only once since 2001 has a team started 5-0 and missed the finals.

That team was Essendon, when it was kicked out of the 2013 finals in the wake of the club's supplements scandal.

Adelaide, Geelong and Richmond remain undefeated this year.

No rhyme, no reason, just the Eagles' travel woes every season

Having begun the season with a promising win at Etihad Stadium against the Kangas, the Eagles are back to old ways.

With two MCG defeats in three rounds, West Coast's win rate on the road has slid to just 50 per cent under coach Adam Simpson. That compares to 75 per cent at home.

Of the major venues, the MCG is comfortably the Eagles' worst under Simpson. Though they're lucky they don't play more often at the Cattery.  

Adam Simpson as a player at the MCG?

108 games: 69 wins, 38 losses, one draw.

One surprising stat from round five

Only two modern teams have started more effectively than the hungry Lions against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.

It took the Lions just 14 inside 50s to kick 10 straight goals.

That's one more than the record jointly held by Richmond and Port Adelaide, since the stat was first collected in 1999.

Fewest inside 50s to yield first 10 goals

The Coleman curse

98 is proving something of a bogey number when it comes to long-term injuries.

Brisbane Lions' midfielder Allen Christensen is the second player this year to cop a season ending injury on 98 AFL games.

Gold Coast's Sam Day, who hurt his hip in the JLT Community Series, is the other, while Tiger Shaun Hampson (back) is on the long-term injury list, also marooned on 98 games.

Sydney forward Sam Reid spent 2016 on 98 games battling an Achilles tendon complaint. Reid rejoined the Swans in time for his teammate Dane Rampe to beat the curse, only to trip on a fence after his 99th game.

The most famous player to end his career on 98 games? AFL legend John Coleman, who kicked a remarkable 537 goals before a dislocated knee ended his glittering career.

Want more?

• Read more from the Stats Files

• After the siren: Eagles must cure their MCG-phobia

• Who starred for your club in this weekend's state leagues?