NRL

How would a 2023 Dally M leaderboard look based purely on statistics?

With the Rugby League Players Association and the NRL finally signing their collective bargaining agreement, one of the feel good stories of the year can hopefully have its fairy tale ending. That being 32 year old Shaun Johnson winning the Dally M medal for player of the year. Given the sheer volume of #ShaunHub content this past fortnight and so many people touting him as the favourite for the Dally M medal, I thought I’d take this week to go through a thought experiment. What would a Dally M or “player of the year” award look like if we used...

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What even are the Canberra Raiders this year?

The Canberra Raiders entered Round 23 with a point differential of -78, the 6th worst in the NRL. Their opponents were the last placed Wests Tigers, who’ve conceded more than 500 points this season and given up scores of 74, 36, 34, 18 and 32 since the first of July. It represented the best chance for the Raiders to right this number and regain some control over their finals hopes, which friend of the site Dan from the Sportress noted in his excellent match review. But he also noted that both teams are incapable of playing eighty minutes of decent...

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The Newcastle Knights have become one of better defensive teams in the NRL – July efficiency update

The month of July has seen three teams go 4-0 in the NRL – Penrith, Brisbane and … *checks notes* Newcastle?! After some progress in June where they lost three games by a combined fourteen points, including margins of four to second placed Brisbane and eight to the first place Panthers, Newcastle has strung together four wins on the trot during the past month. The most impressive was Round 21’s 26-18 victory over Melbourne where they chased down a 12-0 lead after eight minutes. They won that game with their defense, something you’d not often say about Newcastle, as they...

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Are low socks taking over the NRL? 2023 Sockwatch

After a week off to recharge the batteries, the Eye Test is back with a return of last seasons most popular post on social media. Yes, Sockwatch 2023 is here. Last year we saw that over half of NRL players were wearing their socks at or below the mid calf level, with primarily younger players and outside backs leading the trend. Is that still the case in 2023? Firstly, I’d like to give a big shout out to rljerseys on Instagram for tagging me in a wonderful post whilst I was on vacation talking about how sock heights had changed...

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Why are the Sharks toothless against top eight sides?

The last few seasons has produced a lot of talk about how the Sharks are flat track bullies, or have had a soft draw, or can’t win against quality competition when it matters. The results tend to agree with this, and the only way for the club to shed this sort of moniker is to deliver finals victories. It was an issue back as a far as 2020 when former coach John Morris had to field questions about the fact his team hadn’t beaten a top eight side all season. There was plenty of talk last season about their soft...

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The most impressive parts of the Bunnies victory – June NRL efficiency update

There were a lot of impressive takeaways from South Sydney’s 28-6 win over the Warriors in Auckland on Friday evening. Their defense was excellent and they played an expansive game despite the treacherous conditions. And there was one part of their victory that impressed me the most, although we’ll get to that a bit later. But first with June complete, we’re going to do another monthly efficiency update. As usual we’re comparing the site’s expected points measure (ETXP) with actual on field scoring to gauge how efficient teams are with the ball or how porous their defence is. If you...

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