Johns v Thurston a statistical attempt

On Tuesday Fox Sports released an article attempting to compare Andrew Johns and Johnathan Thurston, by the numbers. The article only compared games, points, awards, titles, etc. In my opinion they could have done a better job. This article will attempt to go a little further.

Comparing these to great Halfbacks is no easy task, as I am not a statistician and do not have access to NRL stats databases. The stats I have managed to find on Andrew Johns are incomplete. The reason for this is the NRL did not start collecting detailed statistics (Line Breaks, Offloads, etc.) until 1998 and in the seasons that followed they increased in detail (Try Assists, Line Break Assists, etc.). Another issue with this comparison is the different stats providers, for example: all the stats I have for Andrew Johns were recorded by the NRL’s old stats provider Sports Data and the stats I have on Johnathan Thurston were recorded by Fox Sports. The reason I have not used Sports Data stats for JT is they are only available up till 2007. This is an issue because different stats providers have been shown to have differences in their records, for example: for the 2007 season Sports Data recorded 31 try assists and 19 offloads for Johnathan Thurston, while Fox Sports recorded 30 and 16 respectively. The issues mentioned above illuminates that this is a flawed attempt to compare the incomparable.

[Game statistics sourced from www.rugbyleagueproject.org]

They have each played 249 first grade games; Joey won 61.8% of games, including 2 premierships for Newcastle, while JT has won 53.8% of games across 2 clubs including 1 premiership. JT has taken part in 8 winning series for Queensland; winning 63.3% of games compared to Joey’s 5 series wins for NSW at 56.5%. As a side note: 16 of Joey’s 23 Origin appearances were at Halfback, while the other 7 were played at Hooker or off the bench. Joey won 87% of games for Australia, with 2 World Cup victories; while JT has won 93.5% of games for Australia with 1 World Cup victory.

[Award statistics sourced from www.rugbyleagueproject.org]

They are equal on top with 3 Dally M Medals a piece, in addition they have taken out 2 Golden Boots. JT has the edge on Dally M positional awards with 6 (3 at Halfback and 3 at 5-8) compared to Joeys 4 at Halfback. Joey claimed a Clive Churchill Medal in 2001, the only major award JT is without.

To this point we have covered all the basic stats that everyone already knows; we will now delve into the nitty gritty, starting with their attacking game.

[Andrew Johns Stats sourced from Sports Data’s NRLstats.com; Johnathan Thurston Stats Sourced from Fox Sports.]

As discussed above the stats I found on Andrew Johns were incomplete, which makes this comparison unfair for both players. We of course have a complete record of Joey’s tries; scoring 80 from his 249 games compared to JT who has crossed the line 81 times from 249 games, a per game strike rate of 0.32 and 0.33 respectively. I only have try assist stats for 147 of Joey’s appearances, where he managed 166 at a strike rate of 1.13 per game. JT has assisted in 259 tries at a strike rate of 1.04 per game. Joey broke the line 107 times in the 173 games that were recorded, a strike rate of 0.62 per game; compared to 149 line breaks made by JT at 0.60 per game. Line Break Assists is the smallest sample I have on Johns as they were only recorded for 81 of his 249 appearances. In that period Joey assisted in 105 line breaks at a rate of 1.30 per game. JT has assisted 268 line breaks at a rate of 1.08 per game. Joey dominated when it came to forty twenties; kicking 16 from the 147 games recorded at 0.11 per game; compared to JT who has only managed 6 from 243 games (couldn’t find stats on a few finals games) at 0.02 per game.

Joey produced 338 offloads in the 173 games that they were recorded at 1.95 per game; compared to JT who has to date produced 232 offloads at 0.93 per game. Joey averaged 60.78 metres per game in the 147 that were recorded; compared to JT who has averaged 63.50 across his career. It’s fair to say that if we had complete stats on Joey’s career his per game averages would slide back towards JT’s numbers; however, how much is unclear as we are missing stats on years where he won a Premiership, a Dally M and a Halfback of the year award.

 [Andrew Johns stats sourced from Sports Data from 173 of 249 games, Johnathan Thurston’s stats sourced from Fox Sports across 249 games = % (total tackles/total attempts displayed as percentage)]

I found Defensive stats for 173 of Joey’s games where he averaged 14.61 tackles per game, missing 2.03 per game. JT‘s has averaged 14.70 tackles per game across his career averaging 3.50 misses. Fox Sports has JT’s effectiveness in defence at 75%; this must include ineffective tackles, which I could not find figures for. To be fair to JT I used the same simple formula that was used for Joey (total tackles made divided by total tackles attempted times 100). Using this simple method Joey made 88% of all tackles attempted compared to JT who has been 81% successful.

When it comes to errors and penalties the stats I found indicate that JT is slightly less disciplined. In the 173 games that errors were recorded, Joey made 213 at 1.23 per game, compared to JT who has made 396 errors at 1.59 per game. Penalties were only recorded for 81 of Joey’s games where he conceded 44 at 0.54 per game, compare to JT who has conceded 156 at 0.63 per game. In addition JT has also been sin binned on 4 occasions. I am not sure if Joey has ever been sent to the bin.

[Andrew Johns stats sourced from Sports Data; Johnathan Thurston’s stats sourced from Fox Sports. Highlighted red text means the data is incomplete. * Numbers have been derived from per game averages times the total games, therefore the figure will not be totally accurate.]

Numbers won’t settle the debate as people either love or hate these two players. From my perspective it has been fantastic watching these two magicians dominate over the years.

Who will replace Jarryd Hayne?

Speculation over who will replace Jarryd Hayne in the Blues line up started the moment he made the decision to switch to the NFL. Early popular opinion had Penrith young gun Matt Moylan in the hot seat. Last week NSW coach Laurie Daley named Josh Dugan, Brett Stewart & Matt Moylan as the main contenders for the Blues custodian role. With only 5 rounds down and 5 to go before the team is announced for the May 27 opener, debate is sure to heat up.

The purpose of this article is to compare purely with statistics Jarryd Hayne’s form after the first 5 rounds in 2014, with: The Blues main Fullback contenders, longshots and the likely Maroon fullbacks. This article will only look at some key areas based on simple statistics that are readily available to the public. It in no way tells the whole story, but should provide some good early season talking points.

 Attack [Attacking Plays Per Game (APPG) = the sum of: Tries, Try Assists, Line Breaks, Line Break Assists, Forced Drop Outs & Forty Twenties; divided by games played. Stats sourced from Fox Sports.]

Matt Moylan has been the most potent attacking Fullback on our list after 5 rounds, averaging 3.6 attacking plays; which is slightly higher than Hayne at the same time last year who averaged 3.4. Moylan comfortably leads this list in try and line break assists with 7 and 6 respectively. James Tedesco has recorded the most tries with 5 and Brett Morris who has been ruled out of Origin this year with a hamstring injury, leads line breaks with 7. Will Hopoate in his new role, has been the least potent Fullback in attack; averaging only 0.4 attacking plays. As a matter of perspective, in form Fullbacks average over 2 attacking play per game and the best average 3 plus. For example Hayne, Slater & Inglis averaged 4.2, 3.0 & 2.4 respectively, during the 2014 regular season.

Run Metres

[Total run metres divided by games played. Stats sourced from Fox Sports.]

What Will Hopoate lacks in attack he makes up for in work ethic; averaging 162 metre per game; the most of all Fullbacks in this list. Hopoate is closely followed by Jack Wighton and Brett Morris with 157 and 153 metres respectively. Hayne averaged 135 at the same time last year; however, he finished the season averaging 178. Brett Stewart has only managed 69 metres per game so far in 2015; 20 fewer than his 2014 average. Stewart is managing less metres then journeyman Kurt Gidley who has returned to the custodian role.

Second Phase

[Second Phase Per Game (SPPG) = sum of: Offloads & Tackle Busts divided by games played. Stats sourced from Fox Sports.]

Brett Morris and James Tedesco lead the way in second phase plays so far in 2015 with 7.3 and 6.6 per game respectively. Tedesco has broken the most tackles with 30 and Morris has the most offloads at 6. Josh Dugan and Lachlan Coote have also proved difficult to tackle; averaging 5 a piece. Brett Stewart sits at the bottom in this area; a direct reflection of his run metres. He has only managed 1.5 per game; with a total of 3 tackle busts and 3 offloads. Hayne averaged 6.2 per game after 5 rounds; finishing the season averaging over 7. Greg Inglis and Billy Slater are both down in these areas compared to last year; both averaged close to 5 at the end of the 2014 regular season.

Defence

[Total tackles divided by attempted tackles, displayed as percentage. Stats sourced from Fox Sports.]

Kurt Gidley at 98% effective in defence is technically the best defensive Fullback so far in 2015; however, his numbers have been greatly inflated, due to not exclusively playing Fullback. Gidley has already made more tackles then most fullbacks over the course of the 2014 season. For this reason we will exclude him. Josh Dugan at 92% and Will Hopoate at 91% are the best ‘true’ defensive Fullbacks in this list. Greg Inglis at 78% is well down on last year where he defended at 90%; the best of all any Fullback. Inglis only needs to miss more tackle to equal last year’s total. Matt Moylan is the worst of the contenders at 69% effective, down from 80% in 2014. Hayne only managed to be 71% effective throughout the 2014 season which was well down on his career average of 80%. This statistic provides the least insight in my opinion for Fullbacks, because they make so few tackles. It struggles to be truly representative of their defensive ability.

Errors and Penalties

[Errors & Penalties Per Game = the sum of: Errors & Penalties, divided by games played. Stats sourced from Sports Mate League Live.]

Josh Dugan and Jack Wighton have been the least disciplined in 2015 averaging 2.3 errors and penalties. Moylan, Tedesco and Wighton have each produced 8 errors; Dugan, Moylan and Hopoate have each conceded 2 penalties. Hayne averaged 1.2 at this point last season, but finished the season averaging 2.0. Greg Inglis continues to be one of the most disciplined fullbacks; only producing 0.4 per errors & penalties per game; slightly better than 2014 where he averaged 0.71.

The season is young and the debate will continue to rage; the potentials mentioned above still have plenty of time to step up, and show the selectors they have what it takes to succeed in Rugby League’s toughest contest. As I am only a fan of stats and not a statistician, it is hard to know what, if anything these simple comparisons mean; however, it is always nice to throw some numbers around in a debate.

Sam Tomkins Boom or Bust in the NRL

Sam Tomkins made the brave move to leave his beloved club Wigan and take on the NRL in 2014. He left the English Super League having achieved it all, he won two Premierships 2010 & 2013, two Challenge Cups 2011 & 2013 and was named player of the year (Man of Steel) in 2012. Sam has represented England on 25 occasions scoring 21 tries. He played 129 Super League matches, winning 100, giving him the ridiculous winning percentage of 77.5%. To put it into perspective Cameron Smith’s winning percentage in slightly below 70% and he has played for the most dominant team of the last decade. Of course the Super League is not a competitive as the NRL. For example the bottom placed London Broncos have lost all 23 games in 2014, while bottom placed Canberra and Cronulla have each won 5.

The New Zealand Warriors had to pay a world record transfer fee of 700,000 pounds to acquire Tomkins from Wigan. His arrival signalled the beginning of the end for talented Fullback Kevin Locke’s association with the Warriors, has Sam been worth or the fuss and money?

By the numbers Sam Tomkins as played in all 20 games for the Warriors in 2014 and won 11, a winning percentage of 55%. He has scored 10 tries, set up 9, broke the line 12 times, assisted in 16 line breaks and forced 4 drop outs. His strike rate is down in all departments when compared to his numbers in Super League but that is to be expected. Super League do not record line break assists or forced drop outs, so I cannot get an accurate figure on attacking plays per game, on the stats available its 2.7, so you could safely estimate somewhere around 3.5 to 4 APPG.

In the NRL Sam has produced 2.6 Attacking Plays Per Game (APPG), on par with Brett Stewart, Greg Inglis and only slightly below Billy Slater with 2.8 APPG. Surprise packet Michael Morgan is in killer form averaging 3.3 APPG, but man of the year Jarryd Hayne is sitting pretty on top with 4.1 APPG. These numbers indicate that in attack Tomkins has not been outclassed and can match it with some of the biggest names in the NRL. As a side note gun young Fullback Anthony Milford who is not included in the picture above has averaged 2.75 APPG in 2014.

Sam has broken 79 tackles and offloaded 14 times in 2014, giving him an average of 4.7 Second Phase Per Game (SPPG), a higher rate then Brett Stewart (2.9 SPPG), Michael Morgan (3.6 SPPG) and Billy Slater (4.3 SPPG). Of the Fullbacks shown above only Greg Inglis (4.9 SPPG) and Jarryd Hayne (7.1 SPPG) are more proactive when it comes to second phase. Anthony Milford has averaged 6.25 SPPG.

Sam has run 258 times for 2074 metres at 103.7 per game. This is only slightly less then his average run metres in Super League (110.5) and is a solid contribution. He averages more metres then Brett Stewart (89.4) and Michael Morgan (100.9). Billy Slater (117.4), Greg Inglis (143.6) and Jarryd Hayne (174.2) have run for significantly more metres. Anthony Milford has averaged 104.65 metres per game.

In defence Tomkins has been impressive given his diminutive stature. He has made 104 tackles from 130 attempts at 80% successful. 80% is a very good percentage for a NRL fullback. Hayne, Slater, Inglis and Stewarts career average in the position are all slightly below or above 80%. In Super League Sam defended at 88% successful, I have not seen any NRL Fullback do this for an extended period of time. His defence in 2014 has been better then Jarryd Hayne’s (75.31), Billy Slater’s (76.99) and Brett Stewarts (79.52). Michael Morgan (86.92) and Greg Inglis (88.89) are at a new level when it comes to defending at fullback in 2014. Anthony Milford’s has been defending at 65.77% in 2014.

When it comes to discipline Sam has made 26 errors and given away 7 penalties for an average of 1.7 Errors/Penalties Per Game (EPPG), 0.4 more then his average in the Super League. This is a better rate then Billy Slater and Jarryd Hayne, who both average 1.9 EPPG, but significantly worse then Michael Morgan (1.5), Brett Stewart (1.0) and Greg Inglis (0.6). Anthony Milford has averaged 1.3 EPPG.

In conclusion Sam Tomkins first year in the world’s hardest Rugby League competition has been a success. He has matched it with some of the biggest names and shown he is up for the challenge. It’s good to see a quality English player come to Australia in their prime and have a crack. It’s a shame we shall never see the likes of James Roby or Kevin Sinfield run around the NRL.

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2014 Second Row Comparison

Sonny Bill Williams as you may expect dominated most areas when compared to all other Second Row Forwards. In attack he has the most try assists with 4 and the most line break assists with 11. Simon Mannering has the most tries with 9 and Boyd Cordner leads the line breaks with 9. Ex Five Eighth Wade Graham has registered 4 forced drop outs more then any other Second Rower. SBW averages 1.53 Attacking Plays Per Game (APPG) followed by Dave Taylor (1.22), Boyd Cordner (1.21), Wade Graham (1.16), Simon Mannering (1.16), Matt Gillett (1.13) and Tony William (1.06). No other Second Rower averaged over 1.00 APPG. Elijah Taylor is the worst attacking Second Rower with a poor average of 0.18 APPG.

SBW leads the way in Second Phase Per Game with 4.87 with 37 tackle busts and 36 offloads, ahead of Tony Williams (4.28). No other Second Rower averages over 4.00 SPPG. Jason Taumalolo leads the tackle busts with 56 but he only has registered 5 offloads for the season, this gives him an average of 3.21 SPPG. Ryan Hoffman is the least active Second Rower when it comes to second phase only averaging 0.89 SPPG.

Dave Taylor has ran more metres then any other Second Rower in 2014, with 253 runs for 2394 metres at 133 metres per game. SBW and Jason Taumalolo average the second most metres per game with 117 a piece. Chris McQueen averages the fewest metres at only 60 metres per game.

Tackling machine Elijah Taylor leads the tackle count for Second Rowers with 576 at 33 per game to his name. Leeson Ah Mau is the most effective in defence with 454 tackles from 466 attempts at 97.42% effective. SBW comes in second with 337 tackles from 350 attempts at 96.29% effective. Dave Taylor has spent significant time in the Centres this year and his defence has suffered with a effective percentage of 84.13.

With great attacking ability comes errors and second rowers are no different with SBW leading the Errors/Penalties Per Game (EPPG) stat with 2.00. SBW has 21 errors equal with Wade Graham and 9 penalties. Wade Graham also leads the penalty count with 15. Gun defender Leeson Ah Mau is the most disciplined Second Rower only averaging 0.58 EPPG.

Best by the numbers: SBW

Worst by the numbers: No stand out apparent.

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Reliance on the spine.

 

Some claim the “Spine” (1,6,7,9) of a football team is the key to a premiership, others would argue that forwards, and defence win games. I would say its a combination of all, as well as a special team cohesion not shown by the numbers. For example Manly sit on top of the ladder, with the 4th most attacking plays, 9th most metres, and the 10th best defensive percentage. Compared to the Cowboys who sit 12th, with the 5th most attacking plays, 3rd most metres, and the 3nd best defensive percentage. If it was purely mathematical, Manly would not would not be in such a lofty position. Moving on.

The purpose of this article is to rank a teams reliance on their spine in attack. My method which was basic, and only focusing on the statistics available, was to add up all the Tries, Try Assists, Line Breaks, Line Break Assists, Forced Drop Outs, and 40/20s that have been notched up by a teams Fullback, Five Eighth, Halfback, and Hooker (including interchange Hooker). I would then divide this figure by the number of games played by the team to receive a number. This numbers represents the average number of “attacking plays per game” a spine had produced. I would then do the same for the entire team to get a total team “attacking plays per game”. I then used these two figures to calculate what percentage of attacking plays the teams spine had performed of the total. For example the Cowboys relied on their spine for 57.95% of the total attacking plays while the Roosters only relied on their spine for 41.87% of the total.

The problem with this method is that I have not factored in injuries during the game, and swapping of position, such as the Roosters routinely do with their Fullbacks. This effective should be minimal as Anthony Minichiello and RTS have only have a difference on 3 attacking plays, so hopefully it evens out.

The teams are listed below from highest reliance on the spine to lowest. I have also added in a number of other figures, for comparison. Its hard to know if such statistics have any use. Sometimes they confirm exactly what you want them to. For example the Bulldog’s spine have the 14th most attacking plays, and the team has the 12th most, which is not spectacular for a team coming 3rd, but they have the most metres by far, and the second best defensive percentage. These figures seem to confirm that the Bulldogs success belongs to their Forward pack and not their spine. However such numbers do not take into account the Hooker’s control of the ruck, or the Halves direction during play. Which are huge factors in winning football games. Other times stats make no sense at all. The Cowboys for example tick every statistical box of a top eight team, and yet they sit outside the top eight. Perhaps it is over reliance on their spine. I am not sure.

 

1. Cowboys (57.95%)                                                                                  

Pos 12th, 7 wins, 9 losses.

1st in spine attacking plays.

5th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 23751 (3rd)

Defensive percentage 92.81 (2nd)

The Cowboys have used 8 players in their spine out of a total of 29 total in 2014.

 

2. Storm (55.73%)

Pos 8th, 8 wins, 8 losses.

2nd in spine attacking plays.

6th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 23389 (7th)

Defensive percentage 91.99 (7th)

The storm have used 8 players in their spine out of a total of 27 total in 2014.

 

3. Panthers (55.42%)

Pos 2nd, 11 wins, 5 losses.

4th in spine attacking plays.

10th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 23798 (2nd)

Defensive percentage 90.58 (12th)

The Panthers have used 7 players in their spine out of a total of 25 total in 2014.

 

4. Tigers (54.29%)

Pos 10th, 8 wins, 8 losses.

10th* in spine attacking plays.

14th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 22726 (13th)

Defensive percentage 89.87 (16th)

The Tigers have used 8 players in their spine out of 27 total in 2014.

 

5. Raiders (53.44%)

Pos 15th, 5 wins, 11 losses.

5th in spine attacking plays.

9th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 22115 (16th)

Defensive percentage 91.71 (8th)

The Raiders have used 8 players in their spine out of 26 total in 2014.

 

6. Sharks (53.18%)

Pos 16th, 4 wins, 12 losses.

15th in spine attacking plays.

15th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 22214 (15th)

Defensive percentage 92.33 (5th)

The Sharks have used 13 players in their spine out of 29 total in 2014.

 

7. Rabbitohs (50.20%)

Pos 4th, 9 wins, 7 losses.

8th in spine attacking plays.

7th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 22994 (10th)

Defensive percentage 94.19 (1st)

The Rabbitohs have used 9 players in their spine out of 27 total in 2014.

 

8. Knights (50.00%)

Pos 14th, 5 wins, 11 losses.

13th in spine attacking plays.

13th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 23486 (6th)

Defensive percentage 90.42 (13th)

The Knights have used 8 players in their spine out of 27 total in 2014.

 

9. Titans (48.21)

Pos 13th, 7 wins, 9 losses.

16th in spine attacking plays.

16th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 22855 (12th)

Defensive percentage 90.42 (15th)

The Titans have used 11 players in their spine out of 29 total in 2014.

 

10. Dragons (47.88%)

Pos 9th, 8 wins, 8 losses.

12th in spine attacking plays.

11th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 22954 (11th)

Defensive percentage 92.58 (4th)

The Dragons have used 9 players in their spine out of 27 total in 2014.

 

11. Sea Eagles (46.43%)

Pos 1st, 11 wins, 5 losses.

6th in spine attacking plays.

4th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 23071 (9th)

Defensive percentage 91.65 (10th)

The Sea Eagles have used 7 players in their spine out of 26 total in 2014.

 

12. Warriors (45.66%)

Pos 6th, 9 wins, 7 losses.

3rd in spine attacking plays.

1st in total attacking plays.

All run metres 23638 (5th)

Defensive percentage 91.50 (11th)

The Warriors have used 6 players in their spine out of 28 total in 2014.

 

13. Eels (45.55%)

Pos 11th, 8 wins, 8 losses.

7th in spine attacking plays.

3rd in total attacking plays.

All run metres 22610 (14th)

Defensive percentage 90.39 (14th)

The Eels have used 7 players in their spine out of 29 total in 2014.

 

14. Broncos (45.24%)

Pos 7th, 8 wins, 8 losses.

10th* in spine attacking plays.

8th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 23671 (4th)

Defensive percentage 91.66 (9th)

The Broncos have used 5 players in their spine out of 25 total in 2014.

 

15. Bulldogs (42.73%)

Pos 3rd, 11 wins, 5 losses.

14th in spine attacking plays.

12th in total attacking plays.

All run metres 25007 (1st)

Defensive percentage 92.92 (2nd)

The Bulldogs have used 10 players in their spine out of 26 total in 2014.

 

16. Roosters (41.87%)

Pos 5th, 9 wins, 7 losses.

9th in spine attacking plays.

2nd in total attacking plays.

All run metres 23230 (8th)

Defensive percentage 92.08 (6th)

The Roosters have used 7 players in their spine out of 25 total in 2014.

 

If nothing else all these numbers provide interesting talking points.

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2014 Halfback Comparison

 

After 17 rounds of competition few would have predicted Ben Hunt to be the dominant Halfback in the competition. He currently leads the Dally M and is the dominant attacking number 7 in the competition. He leads all other Halfbacks in Tries (7), Try Assists (17), and Line Breaks (14). He is second in Line Break Assists (11) and third in Forced Drop Outs (11). He averages 4.00 Attacking Plays Per Game (APPG), followed by Copper Cronk (3.60), Benji Marshall  (3.14), Mitchell Pearce (3.13), and Shaun Johnson (3.07). No other Halfback averages over 3.00. Daniel Holdsworth has proved to be the worst attacking Halfback in the competition, averaging only 0.71 APPG. He is the only Halfback to average below 1.00.

Shaun Johnson has broken more tackles then any other Halfback this year with 39 to his name. He leads Ben Hunt with 35, Albert Kelly equal with Adam Reynolds on 31 and Luke Brooks with 30. No other Halfback has broken over 30 tackles so far this year. DCE and Robert Lui are the only Halfbacks with over 20 Offloads to their name so far in 2014 with 23 apiece. DCE is the leading second phase Halfback, averaging 3.64 SPPG. DCE leads a close following pack consisting of Robert Lui (3.27), Shaun Johnson (3.20) and Ben Hunt (3.07). No other number 7s average over 3.00 SPPG. Daniel Holdsworth again sits alone at the bottom when it comes to second phase averaging only 0.29 SPPG.

Albert Kelly leads the way in Runs (101), Metres (1178), and Metres Per Game (84.14). Shaun Johnson is the only other Halfback to have cracked a thousand metres this year and to average over 60 metres per game. Johnson has ran for 1049 metres at 69.93 MPG. Daniel Holdsworth makes it 3 from 3 at the wrong end of the scale. He has ran for a pathetic 13.57 MPG in 2014.

Adam Reynolds has made more tackles then any other Halfback in 2014 with an even 300 to his name. Josh McCrone sits second with 292, and Ben Hunt third with 272. DCE is the most effective defending Halfback with a percentage of 92.61. He is hotly pursued by Adam Reynolds (92.59%), Cooper Cronk (91.67%), Josh McCrone (90.97%), and Jeff Ronson (90.53%). No other Halfback averages above 90%. Rookie 19 year old Luke Brooks has opened up a gap of 20 missed tackles to the nearest offender. He has missed 76 tackles so far in 2014. All these missed tackles has left him only 69.11% effective in defence. Brooks is the only Halfback to average less them 75% in defence.

In 7 appearances Jack Littlejohn has only made one error and conceded no penalties, giving him and outstanding average of 0.14 Errors/Penalties Per Game (EPPG). Only Littlejohn along with Jeff Robson (0.70), Tyrone Roberts (0.93), and Shaun Johnson (0.93) average less then 1.00 EPPG. Benji Marshall 2014 comeback tour has yielded more errors per game then any other Halfback at 2.29 EPPG. No other Halfback averages over 2.00 EPPG.

Best Attacking Halfback: Ben Hunt,

Most Consistant Halfback: Ben Hunt,

Worst Halfback: Daniel Holdsworth.

A special mention to Shaun Johnson along with Ben Hunt who each average over 3 APPG, 3 SPPG, over 50 MPG, defend above 85% and only average around 1 EPPG.

If Ben Hunt goes only to win the Dally M in 2014 it would cap of an incredible coming of age for Hunt. He will have finally proved his potential in the top grade after he was heralded as the next big thing way back in 2008, when he won the NYC inaugural player of the year in 2008.

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2014 Hooker Comparison

 

Robbie Farah has been the dominate attacking Hooker so far in 2014. He leads the way in Attack, Second Phase and Metres Per Game.

Jame Segeyaro leads the pack in Tries (5) and Line Breaks (9) followed by Robbie Farah with 4 Tries and 5 Line Breaks. Farah Leads in Try Assists (6) and Line Break Assists (6). Cameron Smith is the only Hooker on this list to kick a 40-20 this year; he also leads the Forced Drop Outs (FDO) with Glen Buttriss with 5 apiece. Robbie Farah is averaging 2.67 Attacking Plays Per Game (APPG), followed by Cameron Smith, James Segeyaro and Glen Buttriss averaging 1.21, 1.20 and 1.07 respectively. Matt Ballin has proved to be the least dynamic Hooker in attack, only averaging 0.20 APPG.

James Segeyaro leads the way in Tackle Breaks with 36, followed by Koroisau and Farah with 26 and 25 respectively. Cameron Smith has recorded the most Offloads so far in 2014 with 18, followed by Segeyaro with 16. No other hooker has recorded over 10. Robbie Farah averages the most Second Phase Per Game (SPPG) at 3.56, followed by Segeyaro 3.47 and Luke 2.88. The much talked about Michael Lichaa brings up the rear when it comes to SPPG. Averaging only 0.29. Lack of minutes per game and finding his feet in first grade is a contributing factor to his poor average.

James Segeyaro again leads the way in runs and metres with 104 for 962 metres, followed by Matt Ballin with 89 for 842 metres and Kurt Gidley with 82 for 730 metres. Robbie Farah averages the most Metres Per Game (MPG) with 78.78, followed by Segeyaro at 64.13 per game and Luke at 62.63 per game.  Isaac DeGois is the least prolific running frontline Hooker in the NRL in 2014 with a poor average of 15.67 metres per game.

Jake Friend leads the way tackling with 688 to his name followed by Nathan Friend with 679 and Andrew McCullough with 608. Andrew McCullough is the hardest working defender averaging 46.77 tackles per game, followed by Nathan Friend at 45.27 and Jake Friend 43.00. Michael Lichaa has only missed one tackle in 158 attempts so far in 2014 giving him the best defensive percentage in the NRL at 99.37, followed by John Morris 97.37 and Cameron Smith 95.94. Isaac Luke is the least effective defending hooker, with a percentage of 90.69.

Glen Buttriss is the most disciplined Hooker so far in 2014, producing only 0.27 Errors/Penalties Per Game (EPPG). James Segeyaro is by far the worst offender averaging 2.27 EPPG.

Best Attacker: Robbie Farah,

Most Consistent: Robbie Farah,

Worst Hooker: Isaac Degois.

James Segeyaro recently became the Panthers fulltime Hooker. If trends continue I think he will become the most dangerous attacking Hooker in the NRL.

 

Game 3 comparison

Here is how the teams compare for  Game 3. Cooper Cronk’s return has tipped the balance of power in attack to the Maroons. 

Game 2 Comparison with Ben Hunt at 7

Game 2 comparison.

Team comparison. QLD includes DCE at Halfback. Stats collated over the 2014 NRL rounds. They have been adjusted for maximum number of games possible and maximum minutes possible.
I shall include a comparison with Ben Hunt at Halfback next.

NSW
1- Hayne
2- Tupou
3- Jennings
4- Dugan
5- Hopoate
6- Reynolds
7- Hodkinson
8- Gallen
9- Farah
10- Woods
11- Scott
12- Hoffman
13- Bird
14- Merrin
15- Watmough
16- Lewis
17- Tamou

QLD
1- Slater
2- Boyd
3- Inglis
4- Hodges
5- Tate
6- Thurston
7- DCE
8- Scott
9- Smith
10- Myles
11- McQueen
12- Thaiday
13- Gillett
14- Taylor
15- Lillyman
16- Te’o
17- Guerra