Wrapping up 2024
The final siren blows on the first year of One Percenters
I’ve learnt a lot from the first year of writing One Percenters. I learnt more about the game of footy itself. Knowing you need to fashion some semi-intelligible thoughts about nine games a week has a way of focusing the mind. And I learnt more about myself – how I analyse footy, what I find important about it, and the limits of my own discipline.
But one discovery stands out above everything else – the discovery that there’s an audience of people out there who hunger for a higher standard of footy coverage. They love the game, learning more about it, and they want analysis which treats the game with the same reverence and respect they do. I was aware of this in an inchoate sort of way. I would talk to friends, scroll Twitter, browse the AFL subreddit, and encounter frustration with the quality of most mainstream commentary and analysis. And while there was a burgeoning ecosystem of excellent podcasters and smart data analysts enriching our understanding of the game, no written product had quite filled that niche. That got me thinking. Maybe I could try to fill that niche myself. I was already spending slightly embarrassing amounts of time watching and thinking about footy – why not take the next step?
One Percenters is by no means the only footy writing worth reading. Another thing I’ve learnt in 2024 is that there is actually a decent amount of it already out there. Ricky Mangidis sets the bar very high over at The Shinboner. Cody Atkinson and Sean Lawson write outstanding statistically-informed analysis at the ABC. One of the best pieces of writing I’ve read all year, in any genre, is Clare Cosy’s oral history of the North Melbourne AFLW team. Jonathan Horn is probably the most gifted stylist in the industry. Lots of talented and committed folks are writing great stuff about the AFL (and AFLW )draft. And the major newspapers are capable of producing interesting work. But the response to some of what I’ve written has made me truly believe that One Percenters could be part of that conversation and, ultimately, part of a community of independent writers which elevates the way footy is discussed and understood. Year 1 has been very exciting.
That’s enough for the retrospective. Let’s look ahead to 2025. I’m currently mulling over the shape One Percenters will assume next year. There’s a lot I don’t know. But here’s what I think I do know:
I’ll publish two longer pieces in January. One will be a spiritual successor to my conversation with “Bailey”, an AFL club analyst, about how clubs are incorporating analytics into how they operate. The second will be a profile of the supporters who attend their clubs’ pre-season training sessions. I’m very committed to continuing to produce longer, in-depth pieces throughout the year.
Once those pieces are done, I’m going to turn my attention to the club-by-club season previews. This year, I spent several weeks and about 35,000 words on assessing each club’s prospects. I’m looking forward to going into as much depth in 2025. I’m currently looking for people to read and provide feedback on drafts. If you’re the kind of person who likes the sound of that, then please email me at hello [at] onepercenters [dot] net [dot] au to express your interest.
Writing previews and reviews of each Home & Away season is pretty exhausting, and takes time away from more in-depth pieces. So I think I’ll consolidate it down to just one weekly piece analysing the round’s games. Not quite sure at this stage if I’ll opt for previews or reviews!
I’ll begin introducing paywalled pieces for paid subscribers. So far I’ve leaned very strongly in favour of making everything free so it’s easier for people to read and share my work, but it's important to create an incentive for people to upgrade their subscription, and offer a reward for those who already have (a loving shout-out, by the way, to the paid subscribers – the Point One Percenters!).
I’ve not quite figured out where my main home will be on social media. Being on Twitter makes me feel bad about the state of the world. And I’m very bad at Instagram (which probably isn’t a great medium for a newsletter in any case). So at this stage, I’m leaning towards Bluesky – although I’ll probably cross-post to Twitter too, at least for a while. I made a One Percenters Bluesky account a while ago, so please feel free to follow.
I’ll also probably become more active on the social feed of Substack itself with notes, reposts and comments. That seems to be an effective way for authors to generate engagement and conversation, so I’ll at least give it a go.
I’ve looked backward, and I’ve looked forward. To finish, I want to stop and say thank you to everyone who’s read, shared and/or subscribed in 2024. It means the world. I hope you stick around for at least a little while longer. Because we’ve only just scratched the surface of what One Percenters can become.
I hope you and yours have a safe, restful and joyous holiday season.
- Mateo