With three rounds and 24 games complete in season 2021, it’s becoming pretty clear what affect the new rule changes are having NRL this season. There are no dramatic shifts as we saw with the introduction of set restarts and reverting to one referee, but there are noticeable trends of what is (or isn’t happening). The confirmation of Condensed Rugby League theory I have mentioned condensed rugby league previously, where we’re seeing the same amount of rugby league shoehorned into a shorter period of time, and it’s looking increasingly apparent that is what we’re seeing in 2021. Whether or not...
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For the term "set restarts".
Condensed Rugby League Theory – NRL Round 2 2021 stats and trends
Two rounds of the 2021 National Rugby League season are in the books, and I don’t have a witty opening this week because my kids are sick. Let’s get right into it. Time in play is stable for now There was a slight increase in time in play for Round 2, which may have been brought on by the torrential rain seen across most of the eastern seaboard. The average time in possession hit 56.6 minutes, up 2% from 55.5 in Round 1, which as I mentioned last week was down almost 2% from Round 3, 2020. How does that...
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What impact are the new rules having already? NRL Round 1 2021 stats and trends
Rugby League is back for 2021 and so is the Eye Test. Hopefully I’ll avoid the sophmore slump that follows many rookie seasons, but I can’t promise anything other than a lot of talk about Daniel Alvaro, Chrsitian Welch, and if Friday is anything to go by, Isaiah Papali’i. Round 1 of the NRL season featured a lot of talk about how the was game marred by six again calls and that matches were too fast, but they were hardly the worst thing on the field this weekend, which would go to the Parramatta Eels horrific away jerseys. But I...
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The devolution of style of play in the NRL
One of the outcomes of the introduction of set restarts after Round 3 in 2020 was an increased time in play, which artificially inflated a lot of numbers and not necessarily in a good way. It claimed to speed up the game, but mostly just resulted in more “stuff” happening in the middle of the field. Six more tackles from a ruck infringement usually just meant they restarted their set as they would from any other spot on the field – three to four one out runs before spreading the ball before an attacking kick. This isn’t new information. It’s...
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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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NRL 2020 – how the rugby league changed statistically this season
The NRL 2020 regular season has drawn to a close and much like the Brisbane Broncos it is time to get to the bottom of it. Statistically that is. There were some significant rule changes this season that have impacted the way teams are playing. The biggest ones were the move to one referee and the introduction of six again calls for ruck infringements, which I’ve gone over extensively before. The other less talked about one was the change to provide attacking players the same protection under high kicks that defensive players have received. This change has certainly played a...
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