If you're going to go out, do it in style.



Take a bow Danny Buderus for that defensive effort.

The main problem I have for the missed tackle stats is they don't seem to take account of players getting through the line without a defender anywhere near them. That scrum try was a similar issue. The try was scored because of nice work by Sts, compounded by poor reads from the Leeds backline. OPTA (I assume) count it at most as one missed tackle by one player - the reality is you could almost add a missed tackle each against all the defenders involved.

They also appear to credit the miss to Hall as the last man out wide - which makes no sense as there was a 2 on 1 by then

He went for Shenton and missed him, ergo missed tackle.



Stats tell you a few things, but you should always read them in light of having actually seen what went on as they're never the whole story, especially over 1 match.



Tackle counts are a pretty good indicator of work rate though.

19 tackles is more than any Leeds prop barring Peacock. How many do you think a prop should make in the 40-50 minutes they're on the pitch?

I think Puletua's metres per carry was higher than either Peacock's or Graham's; Kirke's too.

Must be good when he's awake.

I take most stats with a massive pinch of salt, tvoc has proved they are not always accurate many times and a missed tackle may be a missed tackle but it could be against Adrian Morley at full speed bumping a defender off or Rob Burrow running rings round you.

Exactly. Ryan Hall's was a fairly called miss, however it was made when caught with a 2 on 1 overlap which resulted in him not committing to the tackle until too late. It was really a defensive line problem, so it might not be fair to judge the individual tackler too harshly.



It's especially difficult for wide defenders. Some players with particularly shaky defence (Kris Welham springs to mind) don't have terrible missed tackle stats, because you can't miss a tackle if you've gone AWOL and aren't there to attempt it.

Umpteen cheap metres bringing back dropouts will do that for you.

It'll do just fine. I just enjoy pointing out flaws in the arguments of Saints' very own Sarah Palin.

Anyway, back on topic:



How many of Saints' missed tackles happened during Burrow's two breaks?