NRL Season 2020: Most improved Teams

 Once again, looking back at the crazy game of the NRL. End of regular season means checking just how well the teams went and which teams are the most improved.

Based on comparing the Z-scores of the teams from last year to this year we have the top 5 improved teams

1. Penrith (Z-score in 2019, -0.25. Z-score in 2020, 1.8 : Missed the finals last year, but won the minor premiership this year. Stunning turnaround and probably the favorite to win the comp this year. Ivan Cleary should be a shoein for coach of the year

2. Titans (-2,-0.25): Finished with the spoon last year, but just missed the finals this year. Looking good for 2021

3.Knights (-0.5, 0.24): Missed the finals last year, but will compete this year. New coach has worked well.

4.Eels (0.54, 1.13): Top 4 finish this year a testament to the quality of the team

5. Dragons (-1, -0.66): While not a great result for the Red V this year, the improvement is there.

Intensive Therapy

Trying to fix the unfix-able. Make broken things less broken.

Its a hard race, less a sprint, more of an endurance event. Full of false starts, breakdowns and yes, triumphs of awe inspiring joy.

The entrance fee is exorbitant. Intensive therapy is 3 weeks of 3-4 hours of one-on-one
professional time. You can do the math. Thousands of dollars. All up front. Even with government assistance, there is still the expense of time. Time off from work. Management of siblings. And the emotional impact.

I'm always taken by the noise. The cries of frustration, pain, the orders barked by the physios, all merge and combine in a background wall sound. Like engines at idle. 5 to 6 children, each roam their own territory on a mat, surrounded by aids and toys, with their handlers in attendance. Generally a parent/grandparent, on their knees with the child, all with that same expression on their face; love, mixed with sadness, mixed with hope. Its a unique look, one that only those of us who have a child with special needs can really pull off. The physios, exclusively young and female, wrangle the kids with enthusiasm. Cajoling them to stretch, step, throw; all the activities we so called normal people do without thinking and take for granted.

You walk in, sign in, and compare your kid to everyone else's. Hoping, macabrely, that they are worse than yours. And hating yourself for it.

And the variance is huge. The Kidd, thankfully, is in the higher end of capability. Needs assistance to walk and has some speech impediments. But is verbal and has good control over his limbs. He, for all his impairments, is one of the lucky ones. There are children who are Grade 4's and Grade 5's who have greater challenges. Kids with no hope of getting out of wheelchairs. Kids born with syndromes that are unidentifiable but mow down their hosts without pity or respite. Kids born with no eyes.

But we are all here for the same thing. We all bought a ticket to ride the bus of hope. And hope we do. Hope that the physiotherapy will improve...something.

At the end of the 3 weeks, we get a T-shirt. Lets hope its more than that.