A statistical look at NRL season 2024 with Wests Tigers comparrisons Part 2 Defence and Kicking

Tucker

Tucker

Well-known member
Below are the major defence and general kicking stats recorded for the season. Ive included the leader in each category and how many of our players ranked within the top 50 for each. It makes for some interesting and at times concerning reading. All stats courtesy of NRL.com, ZeroTackle.com and Legz.com

DEFENCE: Our defence this year was very poor and ended up being the worst in the league with 750 points leaked @ 31.25 / game. Our kicking was pretty average as well. The stats below paint a picture:

  • Tackles made. Considering how often we did not have the ball this year, we arent breaking any records for the number of tackles made. Api's 37 is impressive but is low compared to Mahoney's 49.
1726123883214.png
  • Missed and Ineffective tackles. We ran Api into the ground this year and this negative stat and the one following are the result.
1726123906929.png
  • Charge downs and Intercepts. These stats generally indicate who is thinking and working hard off the ball. We havent really excelled in either category.
1726123932816.png
  • Total kicks. Our halves are not kicking the ball anywhere near as often as their peers are.
1726123957203.png
  • Kick meters. This stat is important in determining field position and dominance. We wre poor in this area and the kick chase.
1726123977022.png
  • Attacking kicks. These include bombs, chips and grubbers. We were busy without doing enough. There were games where Galvins grubbers were working and then we just stopped doing them. Likewise Sezer and Sullivans bombs. Need to work on this area.
1726124004212.png
  • Kick defusal. Bula did really well this year in this area and his efforts surely saved a few tries.
1726124023391.png
  • Forced Dropouts. Not the greatest end to a set anymore as the defensive side has been given reprieve through the invention of rules surrounding the short drop out. As a result, we havent seemed to bother as much as other teams.
1726124048178.png

See Part 3 for Discipline and Overall.
 
Great stuff @Tucker.
Looking forward to part 3, sorta?
Only thing I will say, and not a dig at your stats, but more the general perception that interceptions means you are reading the play well, as opposed to running out of the D line too early and getting lucky with an interception, like Doobie.
Anyway two thumbs up. 👍🏻 👍🏻
 
Once again- great effort Tucker!!
Kicking stats are interesting to me as they support something I noticed quite a few months back- our kickers (Sezer, Galvin, Api) are actually not great strikers of the ball. Short kicking in A seemed ok but certainly any long kicking out of our own territory was poor. AD has a boot on him but no accuracy at all when he kicks - lacks technique or skill.
Galvin got lucky a couple of times but not sure he can find his way through traffic with a grubber consistently. Luai should help with the kicking game for the short and medium distances at least.
 
I'll add an interesting couple of stats

1.We won 5 from 11 with Galvin, Sezer and Api starting (including 4 losses to top 4 teams) and won 1 from 13 with any 1 of them missing.

2. We had 16 games out of 24 where at least 1 of our starting backline needed to be replaced. Of the other 8 we won 4.

3. At our 3 home grounds for next year we had a 6 wins and 5 losses.
 
boonboon said:
2. We had 16 games out of 24 where at least 1 of our starting backline needed to be replaced. Of the other 8 we won 4.
Click to expand...

Massive extraordinary disruption .

Most were early on....many before half time guys going from one side of the field to the other.


No way a young developing side with fresh coach can get much traction with combinations.

Would bet too that if Bateman was available late our defence would be markedly better.

Wouldn't think most sides get up for win losing a back early on in games, don't have stat's.

The jury must be out with our coaches until they get at least 6 or more games without this type of disruption.
 
Last edited:
Magpie_Magic said:
Massive extraordinary disruption .

Most were early on....many before half time guys going from one side of the field to the other.


No way a young developing side with fresh coach can get much traction with combinations.

Would bet too that if Bateman was available late our defence would be markedly better.

Wouldn't think most sides get up for win losing a back early on in games, don't have stat's.

The jury must be out with our coaches until they get at least 6 or more games without this type of disruption.
Click to expand...
To add to it - Panthers lost 7 games this year, 5 of them were when they lost backline players mid game of the other 2 - 1 was post Origin when they rested their Origin players and the other was Round 1 v Storm
 
3 of the 5 Storm losses were when they lost a backline player early, another was v Sharks when Hughes didn't play and the last one was the strangest loss all year when Dragons beat them inexplicably
 
It was apparent to me rhis was a major issue along with the sin bns.was surprised it was overlooked.

The way the game is played these days with 4 forwards on the bench the loss of a back, especially binned is curtains.

A genuine reason.
 
Magpie_Magic said:
It was apparent to me rhis was a major issue along with the sin bns.was surprised it was overlooked.

The way the game is played these days with 4 forwards on the bench the loss of a back, especially binned is curtains.

A genuine reason.
Click to expand...
Having a dedicated reserve (Latu Fainu) who is adaptable enough to be used in the forwards and the backs will be valuable moving forward.
 
Tucker said:
Having a dedicated reserve (Latu Fainu) who is adaptable enough to be used in the forwards and the backs will be valuable moving forward.
Click to expand...
Yeah whether it’s Latu or not ?
But def we need a good 14 next year, and a 13, and prop.
 
The Bula defusal stat surprised me, not much as I expected him to be around the middle of the comp team number wise at say 8/9th, but third is a bloody good effort at the back for a team that conceded well over 30 most weeks.
 
Tim Sheens said:
The Bula defusal stat surprised me, not much as I expected him to be around the middle of the comp team number wise at say 8/9th, but third is a bloody good effort at the back for a team that conceded well over 30 most weeks.
Click to expand...
Really ? It’s literally his best asset. He’s safe as houses . And strong at one on ones close to the line . People went off him because he wasn’t making a line break a minute in his second year . He got far more dangerous when teams started to have to pay attention to Fainu and Galvin . That triumvirate will be potent with more time together . Even though I know Bula won’t be training with the main squad most of this offseason .
I think the biggest star is Fainu missed . That says to me combined with the tackles made is he’s working real hard , but I think because still a kid , no matter how big he is , he doesn’t have the upper body strength to wrestles these guys for the whole 80 mins . He will get there though .
 
Tucker said:
Having a dedicated reserve (Latu Fainu) who is adaptable enough to be used in the forwards and the backs will be valuable moving forward.
Click to expand...
I agree on that one, assuming Latu can get over his injuries and stay healthy, but I have this ongoing issue about how we go about getting TDS (Tallyn Da Silva) game time.

It is going to be hard to fit them all in.

This is almost as big a problem as some people have with TDS (Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon Derangement Syndrome.) 🤣
 
Apis workload too high to be totally effective ..need to spread it around a bit more.
All teams tagert him in defence..he needs help
Will happen automatically without Stefano,,,but need a workaholic13 with ball playing ability
Did anyone say Jack Bird..?
Thatll be his positon ,barring injury
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

... and 14 more.
Total: 618 (members: 64, guests: 554)
Back
Top