Understanding how player interactions impact sporting success can be a complex process, but it's a topic Deakin University PhD candidate Chris Young has tackled at length. Young's study sets about proving why the most successful teams are also commonly the ones that work best as a collective. It might seem commonsense but Young's research means coaches can remove the guesswork on this subject.

From playing in the TAC Cup alongside Josh Gibson and Andrew Carrazzo to coaching the Canadian national team and interviewing the sharpest minds in world sport, Cody Royle leads a fascinating life. Royle is now an author, podcast host and international keynote speaker who has extensively researched what gives the world's leading sports teams, including the New England Patriots, their competitive advantage. Within that work, he believes there are four key puzzle pieces that lead to sustained success.

The AFL finals are upon us and everyone has an opinion on how this week's four matches will go. But setting aside all of our biases, what do the raw numbers tell us? Champion Data analyst Corey Mobilio has run his eyes over the key statistics to deliver you the ultimate finals preview.

Seth Partnow spent three seasons as the Milwaukee Bucks' director of basketball research before accepting a job this year with media juggernaut The Athletic. He rose from part-time blogger to in-demand NBA analyst, using his deep analytics knowledge to develop on-court and recruiting strategies for the Bucks. And he knows more about Australian football than you might think.

There aren't many people better positioned to discuss the structures in place to produce future AFL draftees than Ryan O'Keefe. The ex-Swan came through the then-TAC Cup competition and transformed himself into an AFL star, before working in development coaching at Adelaide and now being in charge of the Western Jets' under-18 program. O'Keefe has firm beliefs on how the system can work better and what can make the next batch of footballers a greater success.

Daniel Giansiracusa has transitioned from Western Bulldogs playing great, to one of Luke Beveridge's coaching lieutenants, to now being in charge of the club's VFL team. There have been challenges at every stop, but the man they call 'Gia' had a line-in-the-sand moment before his coaching hat went on that set him on the right path.

Whether you're organising the backline or telling the forwards what to do, outsiders might think every coaching job is the same. St Kilda assistant Henry Playfair quickly discovered otherwise. He started his coaching journey overseeing Sydney's forward line before later switching his attention to the other end of the ground. Throughout those experiences, Playfair learned the value of understanding a player's personality before even thinking of the practical elements.

The AFL's new kick-in rule has largely gone under the radar compared to the debate about the 6-6-6 starting positions. Teams are finding it harder to go inside 50 from a kick-in, and scores are down for the defensive and offensive team in that scenario, so have the changes failed? We speak to the AFL's game analysis and stakeholder manager Brett Munro on that topic, and we also explore the different ways teams are succeeding in season 2019.

Cohesion: the action or fact of forming a united whole. It's a word former Wallaby and Gain Line Analytics co-founder Ben Darwin has become an expert in as he challenges the way professional sporting teams chase success. The less teams change, the better they become, according to Darwin, with average players and even coaches often made to look greater in a cohesive environment. It's what Darwin calls the 'Melbourne Storm Mirage'.

When people hear the words virtual reality, they often relate them to video games. But this sophisticated technology actually has the potential to change the way elite athletes prepare. Damian Farrow, a former AIS skill acquisition specialist, is using VR to improve AFL umpires' decision-making and says it could also help footballers perform better in high-pressure moments on the field.