I've never been a fan of over analysing statistics.
One of my mates lives and breathes by stats, and stas alone.
They give an indication of how a player is going, but don't tell the true story. As Kilkenny said. A prop gets to run back the kickoff, which is a gift 20 metres to their stats.
We really miss Lewis Brown. He was in my top 4 every time he played. Probably the most under rated player in the game.
I also think we miss Docker's aggression in defence. Sure he makes a few mistakes, but he softens up the opposition pack which is something we are missing this year.
Well I love stats, they can give you brilliant insights. It's all about the interpretation and backed up with what you can see watching the game. But I understand what you are saying. Numbers say nothing without insights.
That said, "You can't measure it with numbers" is usually called out by somebody who has been challenged about their performance. "Numbers don't explain what I do" they will say. My answer always is "if we can't measure it, how do I know you are doing a good job?". A philosophical argument for another day.
As for Docker, I couldn't put my finger on what he brought to the team (besides the obvious big hits), except we seemed to be better when he played. Gordon Tallis called it out when we played the Dragons. "Once Docker started cutting them in half, they went missing" he said about the Dragons forwards. Their go forward disappeared.
I remember a certain Mark Geyer who had a similar unmeasured impact. "He doesn't make many tackles" one commentator said about Mark Geyer. Well, Col Van Der Voort never worried about MG's tackle count (although E Taylor has since proved Col was a skiving loafer who barely made 40 tackles a game. Bastard). Yeah, good point, he struggled to catch the forwards who made sure they run the opposite side of the field he was on. Or the forwards who passed the ball before they got to him.
Put another way, if Plum, "the axe" Gillmeister, Docker, MG and Peter Kelly were our forward pack (Royce, or Segyaro as hooker would work) I reckon their tackle count would be pitiful. The backs would be tackling their arses off and the wingers would be on some sort of special duties allowance. Stats would be crap, but I would be smiling.
