Stat Attack: Which team excels in crunch time?

Today's Stat Attack examines which teams were the best and worst through the final 20 minutes of games.

Remarkably, NRL.com Stats reveals the Penrith Panthers not only scored the most point of any NRL club in the final 20 minutes of games through the 2017 regular season, they also conceded the fewest points in the final 20 minutes of matches.

By comparison, premiers Melbourne were third best for scoring and second-best for defence in final quarters.

It shows that the Panthers – who finished the season off strongly after a horror start to surge into the top eight – regularly came from behind to close out games.

Non-finals teams Canberra and Canterbury were in the top eight for final quarter differential, suggesting some slow starts cost them in 2017.

At the other end of the table, Manly had the third-worst final quarter differential and Parramatta were also in the negatives, indicating each team often did enough at the start of games to hold on despite some poor finishes.