Defensive effectiveness can be measured in many ways. NRL.com looks at which teams and players had the best defence in Round 4 of the NRL Telstra Premiership.
The Newcastle Knights made the most tackles in Round 4 but lost 40-0 to the Penrith Panthers on Friday night. The Knights made 387 tackles but missed 39 – the second highest of the round.
In a big shock, the most missed tackles of the round was recorded by the usually reliable defence of the Melbourne Storm. The Storm missed 44 tackles in their 22-14 win over Wests Tigers on Sunday, and also made the second-most tackles of the round with 381.
The best defensive team of Round 4 was the Manly Sea Eagles who held the Canterbury Bulldogs scoreless in a 36-0 win at Lottoland. The Sea Eagles only had to make 235 tackles and missed just 12 in their big win.
The Panthers also caused a shutout against the Knights, making the least tackles of the round with 225 but missing 23 tackles.
For the third week in a row, Brisbane Broncos hooker Andrew McCullough was the top tackler of the round with 61 tackles in his side's 13-12 win over the Raiders. However the defensive machine did miss five tackles – the most misses he's had in a game so far this season.
Three St George Illawarra players recorded big tackle counts with no misses in their Round 4 win over the Warriors. Second-row forward Tyson Frizell made 42 tackles for no misses, hooker Cameron McInnes made 39 tackles with no misses and prop Paul Vaughan made 38 tackles with no misses.
