Even the most casual of football watchers could tell you that Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury have been two of the league’s finest players of the last 10 years.

But now it’s official, as confirmed by the game’s statistical gurus at Champion Data in their tenth edition of the AFL Prospectus.

In celebrating the book’s tenth instalment, Champion Data named Swan in the centre and Pendlebury on the interchange bench.

The team encompasses the past 10 AFL seasons, a period of time that covers Pendlebury’s entire career and charts Swan’s meteoric rise from bit player to Brownlow Medallist.

Using Champion Data’s statistical database, collingwoodfc.com.au looks at some of the features of the two champions’ games since the book’s inception in 2006*.

Statistical facts from the past decade that you may not know about…

Dane Swan
Games: 220
Goals: 188

1. He’s a ball magnet
Since 2005, Swan has averaged 27.8 disposals across his 220 games. In winning 6121 disposals, he has used the Sherrin more than any other player to have played a single game in the past decade of football. Next in line is Geelong/Gold Coast’s Gary Ablett Junior (5979 disposals), while Port Adelaide’s Kane Cornes (5868), Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell (5849) and Saint-turned-Roo Nick Dal Santo (5656) round out the top five.

Of Swan’s 6121 disposals, 2243 have been contested, ranking him fifth in the competition behind Ablett (2654), Eagle/Blue Chris Judd (2516), Adelaide’s Scott Thompson (2287) and Mitchell (2252).

2. Clearance king
In winning that much of the ball, it makes sense that Swan has flexed his muscles at the stoppages.

He has won a Collingwood-high 926 clearances since 2005, placing him sixth overall behind only Mitchell (1169), Judd (1147), Thompson (1056), Ablett (1034) and Western Bulldog Matthew Boyd (1002).

From his past 856 clearances, Swan has instigated 230 scoring shots, resulting in a total of 835 points on the scoreboard. He is at his best at centre bounces, from which he has created 102 scoring opportunities.

3. Owning the centre square
Do you think you can guess the Collingwood’s four most trusted players at the centre bounces during the past decade?

Hint: It blends the old with the new.

Veterans of the 2002 and 2003 Grand Finals Shane O’Bree (1734 centre bounce involvements) and Josh Fraser (1645) mix in with the current stars Swan (3663) and Pendlebury (3136).

Of Swan’s 3663 centre bounces, he has won the first possession on 505 occasions (13.8 per cent) and has won the clearance 425 times (at a rate of 11.6 per cent).

Only six players – Sam Mitchell, Essendon’s Jobe Watson, Chris Judd, West Coast’s Matthew Priddis, Matthew Boyd and Scott Thompson – have been involved in more centre bounces than Swanny.

4. “Get Swanny off the ground now!”
We don’t think Mick Malthouse or Nathan Buckley have yelled that down the line too many times over the past decade.

But the numbers tell a different story.

Dane Swan has been interchanged 1524 times since 2005, although most, you would expect, were a part of the player rotation that came into vouge in 2007.

This idea is supported by Champion Data’s numbers, which clocked Swan as being interchanged just 14 times in 2005 and a further 54 in 2006.

In 2007, his number jumped up to 94 and climbed year on year until 2010, when he was Collingwood’s most interchanged player with 238 rotations.

In 2011, he was interchanged a further 201 times. At yet he still managed to win the Brownlow Medal with a record 34 votes! Given he averaged one disposal for every 3.3 minutes he was on the ground, it makes sense.

5.  The best of Swanny (since 2005)
Most disposals: 49, Collingwood v Hawthorn, R17 2012

Most kicks: 32, Essendon v Collingwood, R23 2012

Most marks: 15, Collingwood v Adelaide, R1 2006

Most handballs: 26, Collingwood v Port Adelaide, R10 2009

Most goals: 5, Greater Western Sydney v Collingwood, R18 2012

Most tackles: 11, Collingwood v St Kilda, GF Replay 2010

Most clearances: 13, Collingwood v Essendon, R5 2012 (Swan has achieved this twice)

Most contested possessions: 20, West Coast v Collingwood, SF 2007 (Swan has achieved this four times)

Most uncontested possessions: 34, Collingwood v Port Adelaide, R10 2009 (Swan has achieved this three times)

Scott Pendlebury
Games: 192
Goals: 126

1. He’s been recording big numbers from a very young age
Pendlebury, the fifth overall selection in the 2005 National Draft, made his league debut on just the 148th day of the 18th year of his life. By the time he was 19 years old, he had finished runner up in the Copeland Trophy, finished second in the AFL Rising Star Award and had himself well on the way to stardom.

In just his second season of senior football (2007), Pendlebury was ranked sixth at the club for disposals (435) and tackles (75) and fifth for clearances (51).

Since 2007, he has not finished out six the top six of the E.W. Copeland Trophy voting, and only once has he ended the year outside the top three (2009).

2. He is a proven big game performer
This one is obvious, but the numbers provide a great illustration as to why Pendlebury is such a valuable asset when September rolls around.

He has averaged 28.9 disposals in his 11 finals since 2010, a period that includes the drawn Grand Final against St Kilda when he played while unwell (winning 19 disposals).

The draw, of course, was followed by the Replay, in which 22-year-old Pendlebury took home the Norm Smith Medal for his 29 disposals.

Add this to his two ANZAC Day Medals (29 disposals in 2010 followed by 34 disposals and three goals in 2011) and you have one of the best big game players of the past decade.

3. He’s not just a smooth mover
Don’t let Pendlebury’s on-field grace fool you. He does the hard yards as well as any of his contemporaries.

Pendlebury has laid 891 tackles since his debut in 2006, ranking him 17th in the entire competition during the past decade.

Notably, of the top 16, only Priddis (1103 tackles) and Geelong’s Joel Selwood (942) debuted after Pendlebury.

4. An umpire’s darling
Scott Pendlebury has received more free kicks than any other Collingwood player since 2005.

“And so he should!” we hear you cry.

Pendlebury has earned 257 free kicks, 57 ahead of Travis Cloke (200) and 90 in front of Nick Maxwell (167).

Importantly, he has only conceded 109 frees, putting him in tenth place at the club since ’05.

5. The best of Pendles (since 2005)
Most disposals: 42, Collingwood v Adelaide, R16 2013

Most kicks: 23, Essendon v Collingwood, R5 2011 (Pendlebury has achieved this twice)

Most marks: 12, St Kilda v Collingwood, R14 2006

Most handballs: 24, Adelaide v Collingwood, R9 2014 (Pendlebury has achieved this twice)

Most goals: 4, Collingwood v Geelong, R8 2012

Most tackles: 11, Collingwood v St Kilda, GF Replay 2010 (Pendlebury has achieved this three times)

Most clearances: 13, Hawthorn v Collingwood, R1 2012

Most contested possessions: 23, Collingwood v Essendon, R19 2011

Most uncontested possessions: 31, Melbourne v Collingwood, R11 2009

*Statistics cover all matches played by Swan and Pendlebury since round one, 2005.