Quote: markrammond "
... In simple terms, most plays consist of a player making only 5 metres a drive, with no offload, a tackle occurring prior to a pass to a runner, no dummy runners and a tackle which holds down the player without penalty long enough for the defence to get back.
Where you see genuine progress upfield is when one of these variables alters, i.e. more metres than 5 will typically result in the defence struggling to re-set, an offload will start to bring players in away from the ruck and against weaker defenders, runners will create additional fatigue by involving more defenders, a quick play the ball will result in the defence struggling to re-set, penalties are massive etc.
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Very little of which is seen in the "highlights" of course.