Vale Ron Murray aka @LeetoRainestoRoach | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
  • IMPORTANT // Please look after your loved ones, yourself and be kind to others. If you are feeling that the world is too hard to handle there is always help - I implore you not to hesitate in contacting one of these wonderful organisations Lifeline and Beyond Blue ... and I'm sure reaching out to our PRE community we will find a way to help. T.

Vale Ron Murray aka @LeetoRainestoRoach

FitenFitenWin

Listen to the thunder RFC
Jul 30, 2009
3,228
1,439
Brisbane
If PREnders made up a fictional footy team – I would be one of the old boot-studders on the sidelines. Not saying much but just doing my role and luvin’ the place and the vibe. Ron (LTRTR) would have been the key stats adviser to the coach. Going places no one else dares to go – giving us tactical advantages no other club could get near to.

I feel like we’ve lost an important member of our team.
 
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TigerFlag2017

Tiger Legend
May 16, 2007
6,907
4,284
This news has saddened me. Never met the guy, but always read his posts, I was always chuffed when he responded to mine, respected his opinion and loved his statistical analysis.

RIP mate.
 
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Aegean Tiger

Tiger Superstar
Aug 27, 2008
1,820
1,073
Just saw this as well. Never knew the man but will miss his posts on this forum. RIP.
 
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leon

Tiger Legend
Apr 6, 2014
8,906
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I saw the sad news on Saturday night, responding to others' posts. However, didn't feel ready to post anything myself until now. I think I was just too stunned. Firstly that he should have passed on so much before time; not old at all, and much younger than I would have thought. But also at finding out who he actually was. And that, although I never met him, I easily could have given his constant attendance at the G for Tigers' games, and cricket associations.
Since then, typically all the great responses here have said it all so eloquently, and movingly. Similar story to many others for me; diametrically opposed to nearly all of his political/environmental opinions. Often felt that although we disagreed strongly, it was still kind of respectful and not at all personal - more a conflict of ideas and positions. Maybe it was even a way of connecting to others for Lee in an odd way.

But totally at one with his RFC love, dedication and loyalty. Loved his AFL critiques. As for his stats wizardry - it appeared close to a form of genius to me.
RIP, Ron. Tiger legend and PRE is going to really miss you.
 
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TOT70

I'm just a suburban boy
Jul 27, 2004
9,734
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OMG. I imagine that's typical of some of his conversations on here?!

Thanks for finding the RTB/LEE connection, I'm going to mention that next week.
Please accept my condolences for your great loss, Barbie. My thoughts are with you and your family at this terrible time.

I just wanted to make one small comment, if I could. I have been posting on this site for years and reading Ron's contributions for a long time. Whilst he could occasionally be abrasive with some of his political views, most of his posting was not like that at all. Whilst he could express strong opinions in a blunt manner, he was always highly respected for his views on most topics and was always generous with his time and his knowledge. His love for the Tigers shone like a beacon.

Almost daily, someone (me included) would ask a silly question requiring a statistical answer and Ron would always respond. We learnt so much about the average age of successful and unsuccessful teams, historical performances and free kicks. The latter was a particular bugbear of Ron’s (and pretty much anyone who has ever been passionate about sport!)


Did someone want to know who the oldest Captain ever was? Or who the youngest player was? Or perhaps someone would ask for a list of teenagers who have played AFL? Or a list of over 35s? Whatever, Ron always found out and shared his information, neatly formatted for clarity and absolutely spot on for accuracy. At least I think it was but how would I know anyway? Ron’s knowledge was beyond that of mere mortals.


His opinions on Football were always well-considered and strongly-articulated. In recent days there has been quite an emotional response on this site and that is because we will all miss Ron. Like the rest of us, he was a complicated person but he was highly respected for his knowledge and his interpretations of statistics. He brought a unique perspective to our little corner of the world.


I hope you don’t think I am speaking out of turn but I just wanted to make sure that someone respectfully stated this for you. Once again, please accept my heartfelt condolences for your loss.
 
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Harry

Tiger Legend
Mar 2, 2003
24,451
11,857
Always wondered how many players in VFL/AFL history aged under 23 years old have kicked 3 goals in the 3rd quarter, and had more than 30 possessions, in a losing side, playing at home the week after playing Richmond.

Now I'll never know.

RIP Lee
 
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spook

Kick the f*ckin' goal
Jun 18, 2007
21,919
26,433
Melbourne
Average list age, perhaps, but average team age has proven significant throughout football history. The chances of a team chosen at random defeating the opposition increase with the difference in age.



For all VFL/AFL matches:



Age Diff M W L D Win %

----------------------------------

0.01-0.25 2240 1131 1085 24 51.0%

0.25-0.50 2235 1159 1060 16 52.0%

0.50-0.75 2001 1100 879 22 55.5%

0.75-1.00 1813 992 801 20 55.3%

1.00-1.25 1503 853 633 17 57.3%

1.25-1.50 1141 675 450 16 59.9%

1.50-1.75 960 590 360 10 62.0%

1.75-2.00 694 442 246 6 64.1%

2.00-2.25 521 339 174 8 65.8%

2.25-2.50 371 247 120 4 67.1%

2.50-2.75 274 186 84 4 68.6%

2.75-3.00 153 106 47 - 69.3%

3.00+ 260 201 56 3 77.9%

----------------------------------

Totals 14166 8021 5995 150 57.2%



It's only a descriptive measure, i.e. you'd never let it influence selection and choose one player over another because of their DOB. But if you knew nothing else about two teams other than which one was older, you'd win handsomely in the long run taking even money about the older team. Quite powerful for such a simple statistic.



Richmond has been older than their opponents only 8 times under Hardwick (from 66 games). We're about to find out whether Dimma can coach.
 
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TygerTyger

oh yeah!
Oct 17, 2006
626
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Hosting wouldn’t be an issue. It’s moving it and his sisters agreeing to it. It would need someone close to Ron to make contact.

looking at the format of the data he'd post, I'd guess he was running queries directly in the console. And without have any idea how the data is structured, I would assume most of the smarts were in the queries. In other words, the raw data - whilst valuable - only gets you so far. As angry ant said, the ability to turn someone's question into a query ... now that's where the magic happens (Ron seemed to a gift for that )
 
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Mr T.

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Aug 11, 2007
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looking at the format of the data he'd post, I'd guess he was running queries directly in the console. And without have any idea how the data is structured, I would assume most of the smarts were in the queries. In other words, the raw data - whilst valuable - only gets you so far. As angry ant said, the ability to turn someone's question into a query ... now that's where the magic happens (Ron seemed to a gift for that )
There is no chance of me understanding how to config and manipulate the data like Ron.
 
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AngryAnt

Tiger Legend
Nov 25, 2004
27,017
14,794
There is no chance of me understanding how to config and manipulate the data like Ron.

The other consideration is how he was pulling data from The Final Siren - through an API or doing a webscrape. Both of these options require regular maintenance - as sites change, their data models and presentations change.

Hate to be a downer on this but yeah, Lee did all the magic in this area and it's hard to see how someone could take that over without spending a lot of time on it.

@Barbieup I'm one of the lefties that often did battle with Ron on politics and it's to my regret that we had a bad run in a few weeks before he passed and essentially ignored each other, not for the first time either. I definitely played a tough game with him and wound him up many times, but like I told him I always respected his pluck in sticking up for his ideas when outgunned. Since his passing I've tried to be kinder and gentler in my responses to others on this forum.

On his football postings I had the utmost respect for him and he's essentially irreplaceable in that regard.
 
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23.21.159

A Tiger in Denmark
Aug 9, 2003
6,116
2,283
Denmark
www.dafl.dk
The other consideration is how he was pulling data from The Final Siren - through an API or doing a webscrape. Both of these options require regular maintenance - as sites change, their data models and presentations change.

Hate to be a downer on this but yeah, Lee did all the magic in this area and it's hard to see how someone could take that over without spending a lot of time on it.
I asked him that question a few years ago and here are his exact words:

"Database is SQL Server, and there’s an MS Access front end to run queries (bit easier to drag & drop, rather than writing them all out in SQL). Stats are copy/pasted into an Excel spreadsheet; I open a form in the MS Access database, click a button, and everything is updated about 20 minutes later."

I am in IT by profession and I know SQL but mostly from a mainframe perspective and the Access/Excel stuff is where I get off the bus.

But it sounds like he had designed an MS/Access form to import the data from Excel to Access. Given how complex I imagine it would be in terms of the data structures that might be involved, I wonder about that.
 
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Baloo

Delisted Free Agent
Nov 8, 2005
44,116
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I asked him that question a few years ago and here are his exact words:

"Database is SQL Server, and there’s an MS Access front end to run queries (bit easier to drag & drop, rather than writing them all out in SQL). Stats are copy/pasted into an Excel spreadsheet; I open a form in the MS Access database, click a button, and everything is updated about 20 minutes later."

I am in IT by profession and I know SQL but mostly from a mainframe perspective and the Access/Excel stuff is where I get off the bus.

But it sounds like he had designed an MS/Access form to import the data from Excel to Access. Given how complex I imagine it would be in terms of the data structures that might be involved, I wonder about that.
I stopped reading at MS Access
 
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Brodders17

Tiger Legend
Mar 21, 2008
17,666
11,709
Whilst he could occasionally be abrasive with some of his political views, most of his posting was not like that at all.
Occasionally? :)

I must admit, i was one, like many, who had a few good discussions with L2R2R on the politics boards, but I always respected that any disagreements we had there didn't carry over to other threads. we could be winding each other up over our views on Indigenous people, but if i asked a question on the footy boards he would answer with respect. while I disagreed with many of his views it was obvious he was a man with a good and big heart.

RIP
 
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UKTiger

Tiger Legend
Jul 11, 2010
9,220
7,384
Shipston on Stour, UK
I never met him but did correspond with him a couple of times and he helped me get some memorabilia shipped to the UK without the extortionate packing and postage charges. To me he was a good bloke so will miss him and his posts
 
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