SuperCoach NRL: How the game is scored behind the scenes

For years KFC SuperCoaches have wanted to know just how the game is scored. Now we take you behind the scenes to see how the magic happens.

It isn’t just NRL players who are adjusting to the new fast paced rule changes, but also the KFC SuperCoach NRL scorers, who are now dealing with an extra 30 plus plays every half!

For years KFC SuperCoaches have wanted to know how the game is scored and called for players to be rescored. From the #JusticeForHiku movement in 2018, to the weekly ‘Unicorn points’ for James Tedesco.

I got the chance to sit in with the Fox Sports statisticians for the Round 5 clash between Broncos and South Sydney to see just how the magic happens.

Now I’ll take you behind the scenes to see how the game is scored, how the scorers communicate and rule on subjective plays like try assists, and how the game is re-scored over the weekend.

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We take you behind the scenes in the Fox Sports Lab to see how KFC SuperCoach NRL is scored. Picture: David Swift

LIVE SCORING

While the scores of players are constantly updated through the week, the initial scoring is all done live by a group of just two or three people. One of the statisticians will live call every play of the game, while one or two others will take note of every play and quickly enter it all into the system. The caller will mention which player number takes the hit up, how many metres they gain, how many post contact metres, who made the tackles, where the tackle happened on the field etc.

It ends up sounding something like “Number 13 for 8 and 3, tackled by 8, 9 and 11 in zone 3”, or when offloads and creative stats are involved it might sound something like “Walker to Gagai, Gagai for 10 and 6, offload to Reynolds, Reynolds linebreak, try attempt, try. Gagai try assist, linebreak assist.”

While it may not sound that earth-shattering, when you consider they’re doing this for every play for the whole game it is incredibly impressive.

‘SUBJECTIVE’ STATS SCORING

When it comes to ruling on things like try assists and linebreak assists, the statisticians will come together after tries when they have a quick reprieve and discuss it. While reviewing the footage they will assess the situation and decide whether players' efforts put their teammates through a hole for example or whether players broke tackles off their own efforts. In the case of Jamayne Isaako’s try in the 20th minute vs South Sydney, while Anthony Milford passes the ball to him, the statisticians ruled that the pass itself didn’t put Isaako through since he stepped defenders and broke tackles himself to score. Therefore there was no try assist, no try contribution and no linebreak assist for Milford.

🚨 Yes, they will!

🐎 Jamayne Isaako hits back for the Broncos and cuts the deficit to just four points! #NRL

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— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) April 8, 2021

FULL-TIME AND FIRST REVIEW

After the game is finished one of the statisticians will go and register timestamps of when every try was scored to assist in future reviews of try scoring situations. Two of the other statisticians then immediately after full-time split halves and begin the first re-score. They will go through play by play again, pausing every time to make sure it’s correct, and marking down the timestamps for every play to assist in further reviews. This normally takes around 3-4 hours per half to review, and takes longer than usual now given the rule changes has meant games often have an extra 30 plus plays per half now.

Behind the Scenes at Fox Sports taking a look at how an NRL game is scored. Pictured is Nathan, 35. Picture: David Swift

LATER REVIEWS

As the weekend rolls on, games are then reviewed again to make further rulings on things like whether an offload was effective or ineffective, as well as reviewing try scoring plays to see whether things like try assists, try contributions and linebreak assists were correctly awarded. Every play timestamped in previous reviews is looked at again which usually takes 1-2 hours, with the same people doing reviews each week to ensure consistency. When statisticians are unsure on some of the subjective stats, senior statisticians will be called in to review plays.

For example, things like kick and regather breaks are often difficult to award, since sometimes players will kick and ground the ball to score without actually ‘regathering first’, or sometimes a try will involve multiple players and it can be difficult to decide who should get an assist and who should get contributions.

The reason why players are often updated as the week rolls on, is because it’s better to add in extra points as the week goes on than to award points and then have them taken away later.