THE statistics are now available showing how Super League is faster and harder since returning from the lockdown that was forced by the coronavirus pandemic.
This all stems from the temporary removal of scrums and the ‘six again’ rule, where ruck infringements are replaced with a fresh set of six tackles for the attacking team rather than a penalty being awarded and the game being stopped.
Data from the season restart on August 2 showed a marked difference in some key areas.
And now, after three rounds, the average ball-in-play time in Super League matches since restart is 63 minutes and 20 seconds, a 10-minute rise on pre-lockdown numbers (53 minutes and 12 seconds), and 11 minutes up on 2019.
Graphic: superleague.co.uk
St Helens’ fixture against Catalans Dragons was the second shortest game in Super League history, lasting 84 minutes and 30 seconds (the shortest was Hull KR vs Wigan Warriors in 2019 - 83 minutes and 24 seconds).
To put that into context, the average game time in 2019 (and pre-lockdown) was 90 minutes and 43 seconds. That was six minutes shorter than the 2018 average, a change largely attributable to the introduction of the shot clock.
Post-lockdown there have been more carries (up 23 per cent) and the number of metres covered with ball in hand is up by 17 per cent on pre-lockdown games - the most since 2010.
The number of tries being scored is also up - 22 per cent - and, subsequently, points per game is up by 20 per cent, the highest in five years at an average of 48.1 points scored per game post-lockdown.
Graphic: superleague.co.uk
All data points to the game becoming faster – with the number of sets, tackles and carries all up.
But perhaps the most indicative difference is evident in the number of quick play-the-balls, which is up 189 per cent on pre-lockdown.
Tackles per game is at its highest level of all time, with the average being 798 post-lockdown compared to 723 pre-lockdown.
Missed tackles, meanwhile, has only increased by an average of five per game.
Wigan Warriors' Morgan Smithies set a new record for tackles made [72] in a game in 2019 – but that could be beaten in Super League 2020.
Castleford Tigers’ forward Oli Holmes, who made 51 tackles against St Helens last week, said: "The game has changed completely - it’s that much quicker now.
“Players’ metres per minute is going through the roof.
“Some of us were running around at 130 metres per minute.
“That is what is making it so hard for us in the middle.
“There are fewer breaks in play for us to get the rest we are used to because scrums have gone.
“Scrums were a forward’s dream.
“As soon as things were getting hard, you’d tell your half-back to kick the ball out and walk to the scrum and get your rest."
Holmes thinks Saints have done one of the better jobs so far of figuring out how to use their impact players to gain crucial momentum.
He said: "Teams are working out how best to adapt to, and exploit, the new rules.
“The use of interchanges could become even more important.
"Saints seem to have figured out how to use Alex Walmsley.
“They start him and then bring him back on late in the game when the opposition middles are tired.
“That way he can become an even more effective runner.
"The rules have definitely played a part in [teams realising] the importance of momentum.
“When you lose momentum in a Super League game it’s so hard to get it back - especially now."
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