If you enjoy reading The Rugby League Eye Test content here and on social media, please consider supporting the site. Content on The Rugby League Eye Test will always be free and available to everyone. One of the aims of this site is to improve the data analysis and literacy within the rugby league community and democratising data. Thanks for reading The Rugby League Eye Test. Subscribe below to receive new posts in your inbox That said, a considerable amount of time and energy goes into producing content for the site, which is difficult to find as someone with a...
Continue reading...December 2020
The Eye Test’s Most Adequate of 2020 – The rule change affecting time in play that’s rarely talked about
This article was originally posted as part of NRL Round 14 notes and trends, August 18, 2020. One of the things I’ve noticed over the past few rounds is that the average time of ball in play has dropped slightly to the pre Rugby League 2.0 levels. This comes after a decent increase earlier in the season once the rules were changed. Focusing just on time in possession, the last NRL three rounds haven’t had more than 57 minutes of ball in play, the three lowest rounds this season and both before V’Landysball was introduced in Round 3. This led...
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The Eye Test’s Most Adequate of 2020 – The statistical improvements that back Todd Payten’s Cowboys appointment
This article was originally posted as part of NRL Round 17 notes and trends, September 8, 2020. The North Queensland Cowboys announced interim Warriors coach Todd Payten as their coach for 2021 on Friday, and using the Eye Testtm it’s easy to see why. The Warriors have improved on the field under his watch and are showing a lot more enthusiasm and commitment, even after a coach they supported was removed. Their fightback against the Eels showed a desire that Warriors sides haven’t shown late in a game for quite some time. This led me to have a look at...
Continue reading...The Eye Test’s Most Adequate of 2020 – Set restarts: if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying
This article was originally posted as part of NRL Round 9 notes and trends, July 14, 2020. In last weeks trends and notes post, I showed there was a negative correlation between set restarts and margin, which had been positive from Round 3 to Round 7. With another week of matches completed, I thought I’d dig a bit deeper into this to see if I could find out what was leading to this. The reason I find this so interesting is that it doesn’t conform with traditional rugby league thinking. Possession is treasured, and statistics like run metres correlate with...
Continue reading...The Eye Test’s Most Adequate of 2020 – Why volume statistics aren’t always your friend
This article was originally posted as part of NRL Round 15 notes and trends, August 25, 2020. This week should have been a fantastic matchup of halves, with Shaun Johnson of the Sharks facing up against the Panthers and Nathan Cleary. Cleary has been one of the standouts this season, whilst Johnson is having a great season, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the way he’s often covered by the mainstream media. I’d pointed it out previously with a radar chart comparison in early August: Johnson ended up missing the game due to some minor injuries and the birth...
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