Leeds Rhinos: The stellar stats behind Lachie Miller’s ‘attacking masterclass’ against Catalans Dragons

Lachie Miller has come under fire since arriving in West Yorkshire, but he produced arguably his best performance in a Leeds Rhinos shirt in their victory over Catalans Dragons on Friday night. 

The fullback made a decent start in the first-half, but upon coming out for the second 40 seemed very pumped up, and he was a key reason the Rhinos racked up 18 unanswered points in their vital victory.

He contributed heavily on both sides of the ball, and his impressive performance is more than reflected in his stats..

Attacking weapon

Miller made plenty of work for himself on Friday night, and he pulled off an attacking masterclass. He racked up an impressive 221 metres from his 23 carries in his 80-minute shift, an average of 9.6 meters per carry. This is even more impressive when you factor in he led the way in both of these areas in the game as well.

His intent to carry, especially in the second-half, was also very impressive. He seemed to channel the powerful trucking ability of Sam Lisone at time, running head-first into traffic. Miller also got plenty of change from this too, as he made 13 tackle busts – the most of any player on the pitch.

Miller has always had a keen eye for a gap as well, and that proved crucial in the build-up Matt Frawley’s score. His single clean break created the chance, and he later provided the assist to his half-back for the try.

He also notched a deserved try himself in the process, rounding off a solid attacking display.

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Defensive work

A lot of the focus is on Miller’s attack, but he also chipped into the defensive efforts too.

Miller completed four of his five tackle attempts, giving him a decent 80% success rate for the evening. He was also rock-solid under the high ball too, which in turn allowed Leeds to begin their attacking sets further up the field.

Kicking game to compliment half-backs

An underrated part of Miller’s game is actually his grubber-kicks, and he was able to chip in with some good kicks again on Friday night.

He contributed two kicks in open play, which was only bested by half-backs Brodie Croft and Frawley, and they also played a big part in Leeds putting Catalans under pressure in the second-half.

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