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By The Numbers - Preliminary Final

That's the end of the road for the Rabbitohs in 2020, let's see what the stats had to say with 'By The Numbers.'

KEY STATS WON BY PENRITH

Penrith dominated the metres with the ball (1,677 to 1,590) despite both teams having similar completion rates (72% to 74%) and South Sydney having the majority of possession (57%).

The other two stats where Penrith dominated were with the tackle breaks (41 to 29) and missed tackles. Souths had far less tackle breaks and missed more tackles than Penrith (41 to 29) and naturally if those two statistics are against you, you are going to find it difficult to build pressure - especially in Finals football.

STARTING THE SET OFF RIGHT

It was clear Penrith controlled the ruck from both an attacking and a defensive perspective. The Panthers got numbers in tackles and dominated South Sydney runners coming out of their own end while the men from Redfern failed to slow the play-the-ball down and as a result Api Koroisau ran riot. Souths had an average play-the-ball speed of 3.7 seconds compared to the Panthers’ 3.3.

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Koroisau showed his smarts when he picked up two set restarts - both on fourth tackle. The turning point was in the 59th minute however when Api Koroisau went down with injury which let South Sydney back into the game.

DIFFERENCE IN THE BACK THREE

As mentioned because Penrith won the ruck, their back three comprehensively outran the Rabbitohs’ back three. Here’s a tail of the tape.

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LINEBREAKS

Again the Statistics are telling a story. The Panthers dominated the linebreaks (all of them coming straight through the middle of the ruck), which is a direct correlation to the Rabbitohs’ inability to tie up the middle. As a result, Penrith were able to capitalise through the Dylan Edwards try late in the second half.

IT’S A GAME OF INCHES

Adam Reynolds came up with what looked like the play of the match when it appeared he kicked a 40-20 in the last few minutes but his toe was on the red line which gave the ball back to Penrith at a crucial moment.

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