More and more, the focus on tackles is not who makes the most, but who misses the least.
2021 has seen more of a skew to that pattern of statistical thinking as clubs grapple with a faster style of play created by the new rules and record scorelines as a result week after week.
Those teams who can tackle better than the rest give themselves an enormous advantage week after week, and it shows, with six of the top eight teams on the tackle efficiency leaderboard finishing in the overall top eight.
Tackle efficiency is worked out by missed tackles as a percentage of a team's total attempted tackles.
Here, we go over the top five teams when it comes to tackling, before revealing the full list, with the final list loosely reflecting ladder position, revealing again just how important this is.
1. Newcastle Knights
8460 tackles made, 609 tackles missed, 93.28% efficiency
The surprise winners of this category - the Knights.
When you stop and think about it though, a team who made the finals despite having the competition's second-worst attacking record had to be doing something - or a lot - right in defence, and here is the definitive proof.
They tackled themselves to an absolute standstill.
Virtually every victory they had was based on the defence and structures put in place by Adam O'Brien. Jayden Brailey led the way at over 96 per cent, while David Klemmer, Daniel Saifiti, Jacob Saifiti and Connor Watson were all north of 90 per cent.
Their defensive strength becomes even more outstanding when you consider the injuries they had in key positions, and the fact the organisation at the back swapped hands multiple times.
And now for the full list.
The Cronulla Sharks were the team who wound up last, more than a full percentage point behind the North Queensland Cowboys, while the Bulldogs were heavily skewed from their position given their reliance on defending well and limited time with the football.
The Warriors, who fought tooth and nail to make the finals, are also heavily skewed from their position, while the Titans and Roosters are the two top eight teams to miss out on the top eight in this list.
Full team tackle efficiency
| Team | Tackles made | Tackles missed | Attempted tackles | Efficiency |
| Newcastle Knights | 8460 | 609 | 9069 | 93.28% |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 7726 | 567 | 8293 | 93.16% |
| Parramatta Eels | 8210 | 647 | 8857 | 92.70% |
| New Zealand Warriors | 8674 | 725 | 9399 | 92.29% |
| Manly Sea Eagles | 7280 | 615 | 7895 | 92.21% |
| Melbourne Storm | 7387 | 643 | 8030 | 91.99% |
| Penrith Panthers | 8073 | 714 | 8787 | 91.87% |
| Canberra Raiders | 8480 | 771 | 9251 | 91.67% |
| Canterbury Bulldogs | 8423 | 770 | 9193 | 91.62% |
| Gold Coast Titans | 7424 | 688 | 8112 | 91.52% |
| Sydney Roosters | 8187 | 781 | 8968 | 91.29% |
| St George Illawarra Dragons | 8773 | 837 | 9610 | 91.29% |
| Wests Tigers | 7958 | 767 | 8725 | 91.21% |
| Brisbane Broncos | 8101 | 790 | 8891 | 91.11% |
| North Queensland Cowboys | 8502 | 882 | 9384 | 90.60% |
| Cronulla Sharks | 7568 | 910 | 8478 | 89.27% |
