Thousands of pundits were stunned when the Melbourne Storm this week pipped Richmond for the title of Australasia's greatest sports team of the last five years, as judged by a sports-analytics company.<\/p>\n
But the founder of Gain Line Analytics, former 28-Test Wallaby Ben Darwin, has set out in clear terms why the powerhouse NRL club received the crown.<\/p>\n
Many avid sports followers pointed to the fact the Tigers won three premierships and the Storm only two in the years spanning 2016-2020, but Darwin says Craig Bellamy's men edged Damien Hardwick's troops in one key area.<\/p>\n
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"Statistically, Richmond didn't do that well in the 2016 season. Richmond have won grand finals, yes, but the difference is Melbourne Storm over that time have won more games," Darwin said on SEN's Breakfast with Vossy<\/em>.<\/p>\n "Richmond, in order to win this award, have to win consistently over that five-year basis.<\/p>\n "It's hard to win this. Richmond has done fantastically well and they planned this. They sat down in 2010 and said, 'We want to win three grand finals by 2020' – and they've done that. But they haven't quite done enough to win this award."<\/p>\n The Tigers won 79 of their 117 matches between 2016 and 2020 for a win percentage of 67.52, an outstanding record that is elevated by deep runs in the finals in four of the last five seasons.<\/p>\n The highlights of their glowing CV were romping home to beat Adelaide in the 2017 grand final, slaughtering Greater Western Sydney in the 2019 decider and fighting back to beat Geelong in the 2020 big dance<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Melbourne won 91 of their 116 games between 2016 and 2020 for a win percentage of 78.44, while their premiership victories over North Queensland in 2017 and Penrith in 2020<\/a> gave the Storm's analytics a boost.<\/p>\n The Crusaders, NSW Breakers, Sunshine Coast Lightning and Sydney FC are among the other highly successful clubs of the last five years.<\/p>\n Darwin said he had a clear vision for the analysis when the award was launched in 2019.<\/p>\n "What we wanted to do was put all of the teams (in Australasia) against each other: put women's teams against men's teams, put small teams against big teams and create a criteria that says, 'Who is the best of these teams?'," Darwin said.<\/p>\n He also says it's easier to win a six-team competition than an 18-team tournament, while the stability of the competition is also considered, citing his belief it's harder to win an NRL premiership now than it was in the late-1990s.<\/p>\n The Storm also claimed the inaugural award in 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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