Monday, June 4, 2012

NRL Form - By Position

Watched the movie "Moneyball" the other day. What a top movie. Anything that can make statistics interesting to the masses can only be a good thing.
Which led me to ask whether it was possible to do the same thing for Rugby League. So using a few metrics, in both attack and defensive areas, from the official nrl.com.au website, I have come up with the "GoatGoodness" ranking for all players. Here are my top 5 in each position based on form in the 2012 NRL season (after 13 rounds, 10 game career minimum)

Fullbacks (numbers in brakets are career games)
1. Brent Morris (St George - 120)
2. Josh Hoffman (Brisbane - 54)
3. Anthony Minichiello (Roosters - 239)
4. Billy Slater (Melbourne - 215)
5. Jared Hayne (Parramatta - 136)

Wingers
1. Daniel Vidot (St George - 56)
2. Justin O'Neill (Melbourne - 31) -Bolter! *(under 50 games)
3. Blake Ferguson (Canberra - 77)
4. Jason Nightingale (St George - 122)
5. Ken Sio (Parramatta - 12) - Bolter!

Centres
1. Matt Prior (St George -87)
2. Justin Hodges (Brisbane - 192)
3. Michael Jennings (Penrith - 113)
4. Kane Linnett (Cowboys - 34 ) - Bolter!
5. Josh Morris (Bulldogs - 119)

5/8
1. Greg Bird (Titans - 158)
2. John Sutton (Souths - 167)
3. Josh Reynolds (Bulldogs - 23) - Bolter!
4. Travis Burns (Penrith - 124)
5. Gareth Widdop (Melbourne - 40) - Bolter!

Half
1. Daly Cherry-Evens (Manly - 40) - Bolter!
2. Mitchell Pearce (Roosters - 119)
3. Ray Thompson (Cowboys - 43) - Bolter!
4. Cooper Cronk (Melbourne - 196)
5. Jeff Robson (Sharks - 76)

Lock
1. Paul Gallen (Sharks - 206)
2. Ashley Harrison (Titans - 241)
3. Luke Lewis (Penrith - 206)
4. Dallas Johnson (Cowboys - 194)
5. Josh Papalii (Canberra - 26) - Bolter!

Second Row
1.Nate Miles (Titans - 141)
2. Anthony Watmough (Manly  - 227)
3. Chris Houston (Newcastle - 100)
4. Liam Fulton (Tigers - 126)
5. Nathan Hindmarsh (Parramatta - 317)

Props
1. James Tamou (Cowboys - 66)
2. Aaron Woods (Tigers - 36 ) - Bolter!
3. Tim Grant (Penrith - 80)
4. Keith Galloway (Tigers - 150)
5. Aiden Tolman (Bulldogs - 88)

Hooker
1. Issac Luke (Souths - 113)
2. Matt Ballin (Manly - 130)
3. Cameron Smith (Melbourne - 225)
4. Kevin Kingston (Penrith - 138)
5. Jake Friend (Roosters - 81)

Interchange
1. Corey Parker (Brisbane - 247)
2. Trent Merrin (St George - 63)
3. James Graham (Bulldogs - 13) - Bolter!
4. Shaun Fensom (Canberra - 50) - Bolter!
5. Matthew Scott (Cowboys - 131)

If I was a scout, I would be locking up the bolters pretty quickly. You are going to get quality cattle for a pretty reasonable price!

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