The Rugby League Eye Test

I’ve been covering set restarts on the Eye Test now for over a year and have been wanting to look at restarts in a few different ways. What minute they’re called, the margin when they’re called, which referee is awarding them, where on the field they’re called and which tackle the infringement occurs on. Some of this I can’t do with public data unfortunately, so they will have to be put on the back burner. Thanks to the Origin break and no need to post any content during the shortened NRL Rounds, I can finally tick off the first three....

Another quiet week for rugby league. I’m not going to use any time trying to explain the numerous factors what was behind the one sided results during Round 16. Friend of the site Liam of PythagoNRL fame has already penned an amazing post on the subject, and everyone should read it, if you haven’t already. I’ll be here when you’re finished. It’s a far more nuanced situation with multiple factors at play than the myopic argument that either rule changes or bad teams being the root cause alone, and Liam summarises it with his usual brilliance. There’s also been some...

Now that the State of Origin distraction is over, we’re reaching a point in the NRL season where finals hopes are well and truly dashed for some teams, and they turn their attention full time to next season and player recruitment or retention. As usual in the NRL media cycle, there’s been plenty of speculation about players moving on and teams trying to shore up their weaknesses. There was even a leaked report on how a 17th team would affect all aspects of the league including recruitment. Answer: it would mean they have to work harder. Friend of the site...

After last week’s dalliance with the trivial subject of what brand of boots NRL players are wearing, it’s time for the Eye Test to get back to it’s bread and butter. That would be analysing set restarts and who is gaming the system to their advantage. The conclusion that the good teams don’t concede set restarts does hold true but with one very large exception. The dominance of Melbourne and Penrith has been well documented this season, with both teams scoring and conceding points at historic rates and seeing some incredible momentum swings within games. But one area where they...

The NRL season has hit the slow period of the season to accomodate for State of Origin, meaning it’s a good time to continue the Eye Test’s review of the first half of the season. Last week we looked at the decline of 80-minute players. This week we’re diving into the advanced statistic leaders for the season up to Round 12. If you’re unfamiliar with the advanced stats used here at the Eye Test, I’d recommend checking out the glossary page on the site to get up to speed. If you want a longer run down, there are longer posts...