Round 13: I Want To Be In That Number...

Nowadays, Rugby League is a game of numbers. Here are some famous ones: 6, 10, 26, 40/20, 11, 349, 212, 30-16, 8972, 40 (and counting), ∞.

You all know these numbers, yes? Ok, have another minute or so to remember their relevance.

Give yourself a point for each correct answer:

6 – Maximum number of tackles per set.
10 – Maximum number of interchanges a team can make in a match.
26 – Rounds in a season.
40/20 – If a kick in general play is taken behind your 40 metre line and leaves the field of play after the opposition’s 20 metre line, this is a 40/20 and you keep possession.
11 – Consecutive premierships won by the St George Dragons between 1956 and 1966.
349 – Number of first grade games played by Terry Lamb and Steve Menzies.
212 – Number of tries scored by Ken Irvine.
30-16 – the score-line on the greatest day ever, i.e. when the Tigers defeated the Cowbores in the 2005 grand final.
8972 – the announced crowd at every Newtown Jets game.
40 (and counting) – the number of years since Souths won a premiership.
∞ – the year when Cronulla will win their first premiership.

Let’s look back at Round 13 by the numbers.

318 – The number of games between draws in the NRL. The draw between Parramatta and St George Illawarra was the first since Round 21 of 2009. Since the introduction of Golden Point extra time in 2003, 318 games has been the second longest span of games between draws, trailing only the 418 games between draws between Round 13 2005 and Round 21 2007.
13 – The number of games Darren Lockyer played in his career at Shark Park/Toyota Park/Toyota Stadium. Amazingly, the Broncos only won 6 of these – Cronulla had a great run of wins over Brisbane in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before Brisbane replied with three consecutive 16-12 wins at Cronulla between 2004 and 2006. Brisbane’s 34-16 win on Friday night was the most points Lockyer’s team has scored at Cronulla and the greatest margin of victory his team has enjoyed at Cronulla.
45 – The average age of the Gold Coast Titans squad. Even a team with the ancient (but still extremely productive) Petero Civoniceva looked a lot younger than the Titans. Gold Coast coach John Cartwright must be thankful he signed a long-term contract extension recently; he might need all that time to rebuild his team.
1 – The competition round the Bulldogs last played a good game. Yet they remain in the top 8. However they won’t be there much longer if they serve up the rubbish they gave on Saturday night again any time soon.
3 – The number of losses New Zealand has had in Sydney this season (from 3 games). This is a strange statistic; the Warriors often play well in Sydney, enjoying solid support from expatriates. Sadly for the Warriors, events conspired against on Saturday night: a long winning streak, a bye, some injuries a desperate opposition and rain.
1.7 (or so) – the average number of points scored per minute by North Queensland in two massive scoring bursts on Sunday in Canberra. In one of the weirdest games in some time, Canberra racked up 22 points with ease before injuries to Dugan and the luckless Campese coincided with the Cowbores putting in a much greater effort and responding with 22 points of their own. The game then stalled for about half an hour before the Cowbores finished with 3 tries in the final 5 minutes.
67647867467894987649864846 – The combined number of whinges made by all Souths supporters on Sunday afternoon, divided by the combined number of natural teeth these supporters possess. It’s not a difficult calculation; it’s easy to divide by 1. Souths was a little hard done by when Dave Taylor appeared to have scored a try late on, but it’s hard to complain too much when the adjudicating referee is standing within a few metres of the incident. Unless you’re a Souths supporter that is. Melbourne wasn’t at their best but they earned what might be a valuable rep-season win on Sunday afternoon.
7 – The number of consecutive wins at Leichhardt achieved by the Wests Tigers, most of which have been extremely fortuitous. It goes something like this: the Tigers have a history of big or unexpected wins at Leichhardt, so now they expect to win easily each time they play there. Opposition teams fire up knowing how unusual an away win is at Leichhardt and the Tigers are complacent. They fall behind but somehow escape with a win, each more unlikely the last. This time, the Tigers had some generous refereeing, some conservative Newcastle options and some unlikely Newcastle errors to thank. The day of the Tigers not only losing but being thrashed at Leichhardt is long overdue.

See you next week.