CaptSnooze,
I don't think thats the whole story. I think a lot of that comes down to skill levels. When you can reliably hit a target down field, you tend to look faster and fitter that teams who are a bit behind the play.
Fitness has an important role, no doubt but a team playing more effectively always looks fitter than a team chasing. WC are a case in point. They are supposed to have a crap midfield but they can and do hit targets. That makes their forwards look much better. JK and Darling wouldn't look as good if their mids kept missing their leads.
If we were as effective in delivering the ball, Tabs and Cox would look pretty good as well. Of course, then they would need to kick straight
