MELBOURNE’s GPS king has done it again, topping the rankings and running the equivalent of eight in-game marathons across the 2024 AFL season.
Running machine Ed Langdon’s 17.5km effort in Round 16 against Brisbane was his highest distance ever recorded in a game and the 11th highest effort ever recorded by an AFL player.
His 17.4km outing two weeks later in Round 18 was the 15th highest distance all-time, as the marathon man continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in four quarters of football.
Melbourne’s Top Five 2024 Distances
Langdon 17.5km R16
Langdon 17.4km R18
Langdon 16.9km R21
Langdon 16.8km R24
Langdon 16.7km R20
Langdon missed the top five players on the ground for distance in only one match this season, recording over 350km of running across the season.
The 28-year-old Demon also stood out when it came to distance ran at speed, featuring in the top five players on the ground in every match he played this season.
Distance ran at speed is considered to be speed above 18km/hr.
Alex Neal-Bullen and Tom McDonald were the other distance kings at the club, featuring in the top five players on the ground for total distance 13 and 12 times respectively.
Times Featuring in Top Five Players for Total Distance in 2024
Ed Langdon 21 times
Alex Neal-Bullen 13 times
Tom McDonald 12 times
Tom Sparrow 4 times
Adam Tomlinson 2 times
When it came to the club’s speed Demons, Kade Chandler topped the charts with a scintillating 35.2km/hr sprint recorded in Opening Round against Sydney.
Caleb Windsor and Kysaiah Pickett were the other Demons to feature in the top five speeds recorded by a Melbourne player in 2024.
Top Five Speed Demons in 2024
Chandler 35.2km/hr OR
Windsor 34.4km/hr R5
Pickett 34.1km/hr R13
Windsor 34.1km/hr R19
Pickett 33.7km/hr R8
The Telstra tracker also records offensive and defensive work rate, highlighting players’ average running speeds in attack and defence across the entirety of a match.
When removing matches affected by injury or substitutions, Alex Neal-Bullen was the defensive work rate king and Tom Sparrow the offensive running champion of the club, while also securing a podium finish for defence.
Ed Langdon, Kade Chandler and first-year player Koltyn Tholstrup were other strongly-performing Demons when it came to work rate.
Matches Featuring in Top Five Defensive Work Rate
Alex Neal-Bullen 16 times
Tom Sparrow 12 times
Ed Langdon 10 times
Kade Chandler 7 times
Koltyn Tholstrup 5 times
Matches Featuring in Top Five Offensive Work Rate
Tom Sparrow 9 times
Ed Langdon 7 times
Alex Neal-Bullen 7 times
Kade Chandler 6 times
Koltyn Tholstrup 4 times