Stat Attack: Roosters dominate despite flaws

The Roosters' impressive win over fellow heavyweights South Sydney on Friday night moved them to first place on the ladder – despite the Tricolours producing NRL-worst figures in a few key metrics this year.

Now on 32 points with a 15-6 win-loss record and +163 differential, the Roosters are in top spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder with three games to play.

Looking at their star-studded roster and current five-game win streak, it's no surprise to see them where they are.

What is surprising is they have done it despite continuing to produce horror numbers in terms of their ball handling.

The Roosters' 240 total errors is the most in the NRL - it consists largely of their 213 handling errors which is also an NRL-high. That flows through to their 75.4% completion rate (14th) and 197 incomplete sets (second-worst).

The Roosters are last for dummy-half runs (126) and dummy-half run metres (54m per game) and concede the most ineffective tackles (tackles conceding an offload) with 405. They have conceded the second-most penalties in attack (for obstructions and incorrect play-the-balls) with 19.

They are also 14th for offloads (161) and while offloads don't always correlate well to ladder position, the two teams below them (the Knights and Cowboys) are outside the eight while the best four offloading teams (the Warriors, Dragons, Sharks and Panthers) are all top-four hopefuls.

They do well in plenty of categories too – defensively they are top for try saves (20) and have the fewest break causes (163), and in attack they are fourth for tries scored and points scored. 

If anything it suggests plenty of room for improvement, which is a worry for the rest of the competition.