The Stat to Fix: Eels must improve post-contact metres

Make what you want of the old lies, damned lies and statistics adage, but NRL.com Stats has crunched the numbers to pin-point the area each team must fix in 2018. For the Parramatta Eels, their post-contact metres are a cause for concern.

Parramatta's post-contact metres were one of the few areas they fell down statistically in the 2017 Telstra Premiership, with their 471 metres per game after first meeting the defence better than only the lowly Newcastle Knights and Gold Coast Titans.

In a chicken or egg scenario, the Eels also had the slowest attacking play-the-ball speed in the NRL – averaging 3.66 seconds and ranking 16th for getting a roll on when one or two opposition tacklers were involved.

In defence though, Parramatta did concede the second-fewest post-contact metres in 2017 at 468 metres a game.