Johnathan Thurston: Farewell To A Legend
Last updated: Sep 3, 2018, 6:50AM | Published: Sep 3, 2018, 6:38AM
It was an action-packed weekend of NRL and Premier League action as AFL took a week off before Finals, and to celebrate another great round of sport we've picked out the key points that made *this* weekend so great.
We'll take a look through the weekend as Johnathan Thurston laced up for the last time, and we bare witness to another wild round of the English Premier League, plus much more.
This is Data Road Trip - investigating the key data points and numbers that formed what we saw in the week that was in sports.
Penrith Panthers Percentage
With the Broncos going bonkers at Suncorp to beat the Sea Eagles by 32 points on Sunday, they went level with the Panthers on competition points and points differential. Nobody seemed to know what was going on and who was playing where the next week until the calculator came out.
If two sides end the season on the same number of points and the same points differential, the percentage is the tiebreaker.
Broncos points for (556)/points against (500) *100 = 111.2%
Panthers points for (517)/points against (461) *100 = 112.1%
Rampaging Rabbitohs
The final round of the NRL regular season opened with a record-breaker on Thursday night with the Rabbitohs outrunning the Tigers by an enormous 1,317 metres.
The gap between Souths' 2,197 running metres and Wests 880 metres is the biggest largest on record since NRL.com.au started tracking the data in 1999.
John Sutton (173m), Angus Crichton (169m) and Sam Burgess (189m) went ballistic in the backrow as Thomas and George Burgess combined for 266 metres in the front row. With Cameron Murray adding a game-high 191 metres off the bench, it was an 80-minute onslaught the Tigers couldn't handle.
Thurston & Cooper Link Up, Again
Having equalled the record of most consecutive games scoring a try for a forward at eight last week, it felt like a matter of time until Gavin Cooper made it nine on Saturday night.
It's made them somewhat predictable and sums up the Cowboys season in 2018, but Johnathan Thurston fittingly sent Cooper over for the record-breaker with the last try assist of his career.
It had to be! Thurston and Cooper! #NRLTitansCowboys 20-24 with 9 minutes remaining. #TelstraPremiership #NRL pic.twitter.com/qVFCtZXGnk
— NRL (@NRL) September 1, 2018
Mitchell vs Isaako: Part Two
We mentioned the top point-scorer battle between Latrell Mitchell and Jamayne Isaako last week with the Broncos winger managing to take a nine-point lead into the final round. But when Mitchell poured in 24 points through three tries and six goals on Saturday night, it looked as though he'd wrapped the title up.
Enter The Fast-Finishing Isaako
Helped by the fact his side ran in eight tries for six conversions and two penalty goals, Isaako didn't get his hands on the award until he scored a try of his own in the 69th minute. Without it, he would have finished one point behind Mitchell instead of five ahead on 233.
Fergo Saves Best For Last
Blake Ferguson finished the regular season as the NRL's leader in running metres with a total of 4,792 metres. Saving his best for last, the Roosters winger managed to crack 300 metres for the first time in 2018, but his 314 metres weren't enough for Fergo to finish above the 200 average. Nevertheless, his average of 199.7 running metres per game is also the most of any player in the competition in 2018.
Thanks For Everything, JT
An NRL record 790,000 people tuned into Titans v Cowboys on pay tv to see Johnathan Thurston play his last ever game on Saturday evening. The occasion was so big, the NRL pushed out the kickoff of the following game by 10 minutes to allow for one last goodbye to a living legend.
Tears were shed as fans farewelled their hero, a future immortal, and one of the great personalities rugby league has ever seen.
The soldout Cbus Super Stadium crowd erupted as he sent Gavin Cooper over for his record-breaking score with the 323rd and final try assist of his career. Those go hand-in-hand with 90 tries, 923 goals, 2,222 points, four Dally M Medals, four halfback and three five-eighth of the year awards, three Golden Boots, and a Wally Lewis and Clive Churchill Medal each.
Thurston's final season has ended earlier than anybody expected, but he still leaves the game as one of the greats and will be sorely missed.
Premier League, Round 4
Let's take a look back at the weekend of Premier League action, with statistics taken from our friends at Opta.
- Liverpool's James Milner has now registered 80 Premier League assists, the same number as Manchester United legend, David Beckham. Only six players have more in the competition - Ryan Giggs (162), Cesc Fabregas (111), Wayne Rooney (103), Frank Lampard (102), Dennis Bergkamp (94) & Steven Gerrard (92).
- Since his Fulham debut in February, Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored more goals in English league football than any other player (16).
- Only Mohamed Salah (13) and Sergio Agüero (12) have scored more Premier League home goals in 2018 than Brighton & Hove Albion's Glenn Murray (8, level with Harry Kane).
- This is only the second time in their history that West Ham have lost their first four league games in a season (also 2010-11).
- Since Alexandre Lacazette’s Premier League debut, Arsenal have a 58% win rate in the competition when he is in the starting lineup, compared to a 33% win rate when he isn’t.
- Manchester United have won each of their last 23 Premier League matches in which they've scored the opening goal.
- Watford have won their first four league matches of a season for the second time in their entire history and for the first time since the 1988-89 campaign when they were in the second tier.
