Stat dive - defence analysis

[ElMagicElMasri]

Canterbury’s commitment to defense emphasises how unserious the Cowboys are - The Rugby League Eye Test

If you watched both Sunday games from NRL Round 7, there’s some very obvious conclusions about the sides that played. Other than the Knights losing their 2023 identity and the Sharks running up a score against a bottom nine side at home, that is. The first is that the long path for Cameron...

www.rugbyleagueeyetest.com

I posted an article by this site earlier on in the season analysing Kikau's early involvement which has certainly come to fruition. This article takes a deep dive into how and why our defence has improved. Some really great stats. Warning, it's a long one and data heavy for those who are into that sort of thing.

Key takeaways/excerpts:

Because once teams get the ball, the Dogs are ruthless at stopping extra yardage past the play the ball. On average metres gained past the play the play the ball by tackle – not average run metres – the Bulldogs rank 1st, 1st, 2nd and 1st from the second to fifth play the ball.



Even by more conventional rugby league metrics, Canterbury has still put on the clamps. Below is a chart of average metres per run conceded by opponent.



Yet again the Bulldogs defense shines here, allowing just 7.63 metres per run, 35 centimetres per run ahead of Penrith, the only other team to allow fewer than eight metres per run.

Unsurprisingly given the above, the Dogs are yielding the fewest post contact metres per run of any team in the competition.

 

[flamebouyant]

Very interesting read. I was looking at the post game stats past night and I couldn't get my head around it because I thought that we were by far the better defensive team! Yet newcastle lead tackle breaks 35-19, and we missed many more tackles, 35-19 then newcastle. It didn't add up. However, we made an average of q0m more per set then them. This article tells us why, and how we were far better defensively.

 

[CMP]

Very interesting read. I was looking at the post game stats past night and I couldn't get my head around it because I thought that we were by far the better defensive team! Yet newcastle lead tackle breaks 35-19, and we missed many more tackles, 35-19 then newcastle. It didn't add up. However, we made an average of q0m more per set then them. This article tells us why, and how we were far better defensively.

The scramble and effort on effort attitude has improved dramatically this year.

We are missing tackles and allowing way too many offloads and allowing 2nd phase play. Yet still being there and turning up for each other. The change in attitude across the board is noticeable.

If we can improve our error rate and make a few extra tackles stick. We can beat anyone. That is a statement that was so so far away this time last year.

 

[silva]

Those are outstanding numbers. Like speed and commitment ind defence is next level this year.

 

[TwinTurbo]

Very interesting read. I was looking at the post game stats past night and I couldn't get my head around it because I thought that we were by far the better defensive team! Yet newcastle lead tackle breaks 35-19, and we missed many more tackles, 35-19 then newcastle. It didn't add up. However, we made an average of q0m more per set then them. This article tells us why, and how we were far better defensively.

We miss a lot of initial tackles but someone is always there to cover, complete the tackle, plug the gap, put a halt to the opposition attack before any meaningful metres are gained. The line speed means that the opposition gains, even after a missed tackle, are minuscule because any missed tackles are only a couple of metres past the play the ball line.


Always a Bulldog

 

[Freakzilla]

Imagine how good our defense would be if we had a better halfback & if the refs didn't keep giving our opponents 6 agains for no reason.

 

[Moey91]

Imagine how good our defense would be if we had a better halfback & if the refs didn't keep giving our opponents 6 agains for no reason.

The 6 agains on the 5th tackle yesterday was fuckin crazy! Surely that **** of a ref needs to be looked into

 

[up_theDogs]

The 6 agains on the 5th tackle yesterday was fuckin crazy! Surely that **** of a ref needs to be looked into

I think it was about 4 set restarts on the 5th tackle which lead to the first try they scored,
knights had 5 set restarts compared to 1 for us
Ref needs a look in

 

[Crashdog]

Imagine how good our defense would be if we had a better halfback & if the refs didn't keep giving our opponents 6 agains for no reason.

As I wrote in another thread, the last try against the knights was a direct result of our half being rested. For 70 minutes there had not been a single break down our right side then Taffe came on and over read the play. Best strolls through a yarning gap to score.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

The improvement in line speed has been visible this season while we're reacting a lot quicker and more effectively as a unit. Our kicks have been too shallow and that data does say that, guess it could be intentional though at this point?

 

[2ndphase]

That was a good read it shows that Ciraldo knows his shit we're only going to get better and better.

 

[alwaysthesun]

This is what we expected Ciraldo would bring to the Dogs.. Penrith set the blueprint for the six again era while he was their defence coach, and now he's got the players at Canterbury buying in.. something that's good to see is the amount of Dogs jumpers always in the frame, and our players are rarely standing still in defence.

 

[Dawain87]

This is so good to read.

 

[CaptainJackson]

Very interesting read. I was looking at the post game stats past night and I couldn't get my head around it because I thought that we were by far the better defensive team! Yet newcastle lead tackle breaks 35-19, and we missed many more tackles, 35-19 then newcastle. It didn't add up. However, we made an average of q0m more per set then them. This article tells us why, and how we were far better defensively.

I posted in some other thread the comparisons of the weight per cm of different forwards packs. What I found surprising was that Penrith ranked lower on the table.

I think Ciro's and Penrith's defensive structure are to make sure to have lightweight, mobile forwards who can quickly scramble. Which is probably why we always see Ciro's bench of lighter/smaller forwards.

It's usually Reed or the lock (if it's Mann, Morrin or Hayward) come rushing out of the defensive line to make first contact and if they miss or have an ineffective tackle, they've done enough to slow the oppositions forward for the 2nd line of defence to tackle him.

 

[silva]

I’ve also noticed we are getting more numbers in tackles and they are getting to the ball runner quicker giving him less time. Ciraldo would crunch these stats every week.

 

[Lost Dog]

Great read. Shows our defence is first class.

 

[wendog33]

This is what we expected Ciraldo would bring to the Dogs.. Penrith set the blueprint for the six again era while he was their defence coach, and now he's got the players at Canterbury buying in.. something that's good to see is the amount of Dogs jumpers always in the frame, and our players are rarely standing still in defence.

We are certainly getting plenty of 6 again practice!

 

[alwaysthesun]

We are certainly getting plenty of 6 again practice!

Ah it's an absolute gee up having to battle the man in the middle most weeks. Even frigging Wests get the rub at home.. sucks having such a neutral ground as home

 

[wendog33]

Ah it's an absolute gee up having to battle the man in the middle most weeks. Even frigging Wests get the rub at home.. sucks having such a neutral ground as home

First Rule of Ref School: No such thing as home ground 'advantage' for Bulldog.

 

[alwaysthesun]

First Rule of Ref School: No such thing as home ground 'advantage' for Bulldog.

I'll be your teacher, Mr. Sutton