NRL Round 9 is complete which means we can look at some advanced statistics. This time it is Tackle %, which estimates the percentage of opponent plays that a player completed a tackle whilst on the field. You can find the article discussing the thoughts behind it here. It should be used to estimate effort in defense.
Firstly, let’s look at all players for Round 9
Nat Butcher pulls off a rare double – hitting the top of the all minutes and more than 40 minutes played list. Tackling at a rate of nearly 45% in 46 minutes is a monumental effort that is usually only seen for interchange middle forwards in very limited minutes. Teammate Jake Friend wasn’t too far behind in his limited minutes before he went off for a head injury assessment. The other name of note on here is Jazz Tevaga for the Warriors, who returned from injury with 26 tackles in 32 minutes at a rate of 36%.
Butcher again tops the list for those who played more than half a ame, one of the only times that I can recall this being done in the few years I’ve been compiling this statistic. With the Raiders forward stocks down due to an injury crisis, it’s not a shock to see Dunamis Lui and Siliva Havili take second and third spots, as they will be picking up the slack.
For the season Jarrod Wallace is still leading the way but his rate is decreasing. Down from 42.3% to 40.5%, it is now looking unlikely he will crack the never broken 40% barrier for the season, and at this rate may not beat out Daniel Alvaro’s 38% in 2017. Butcher may end up pushing him for the lead as well, moving up to second overall for the season at 37.3%.
