Long gone are the days when the only people who needed numeracy skills were scoreboard operators and referees because coaches and players now rely on a wealth of statistical data to operate to the best of their abilities.

While there are still referees in the National Leagues who struggle to count to six with any consistent level of accuracy, every professional club employs someone on matchdays to record the action using a multitude of measures which would befuddle coaches of the old school.

At Super League and international level the stats men's work is augmented by Opta Sports Data, a London-based company which furnishes clubs, coaches and referees with an extensive database of information, averages, calculations and computations.

The work done by Opta, who also have contracts with the five major European football leagues, the RFU and international cricket, is available within a few hours of each match finishing to enable coaches to get the full picture of a win or defeat.

"The Opta stats are a quick and efficient way of analysing how a team and individual players have fared in both a game and over the course of a season," said the RFL's technical director and national coach Tony Smith.

"They're very good for the intricate stuff to help players achieve the goals they have been set in training and improve the areas their coach has identified. They can also tell you a lot about the opposition players."

The statistics from the 2007 Super League grand final help tell the story of Smith's finest hour as coach of Leeds, who routed St Helens 33-6 last year in a one-sided match at Old Trafford.

The most telling figures are obviously the try and goal totals but the nature of the grand final is revealed by comparing areas such as missed tackles and 'offloads' – the traditional skill of releasing the ball to a team-mate from a tackle.

Leeds offloaded the ball 13 times in the grand final, more than twice as often as St Helens who also missed almost twice as many tackles as the Rhinos.

"We very much encouraged the Leeds players to play an off-the-cuff style when it merited it but within a very structured game plan," said Smith. "I wasn't going to tell someone like Danny McGuire not to pass the ball because he's an opportunist who knows how to react in certain situations.

"St Helens also possess a good offload game and that's what made it such a mouth-watering encounter. Defensively we were very strong, too.

"If you only miss 13 tackles, as Leeds did that day, you're not going to lose. Saints missed 23 tackles, which would be a fairly usual figure, but we were very ruthless.

"Any time you get close to single figures with missed tackles you know you're at the top of your game. There are some players who get close to double figures on their own.

"Leeds made the most of their opportunities when they broke tackles and converted them into points. That's something Leeds and St Helens are both good at."

The last time Leeds and St Helens met, in the qualifying semi-final two weeks ago, the Rhinos missed 39 tackles while Saints missed just 22 as they went on to win 38-10. As the table in the main graphic shows, both teams missed more than their average in the regular season, a failing neither will want to repeat this evening.

"Thirty nine is far too many for a front line team and I'm sure Bluey (Brian McClennan) will have addressed that in training since then. I expect them to be a lot tighter in the grand final."

Leeds missed 23 tackles in beating Wigan 18-14 last Friday, five more than the Warriors and just one more than their average for 2008 but ran the ball for 1,490 metres, 90 more than this season's mean.

"If you compare the stats of both Leeds and Wigan this year there is little between them and it's no coincidence that just a point separated them at the end of Round 27," said Smith.

"Statistics are important but so too is confidence and momentum. Both teams aren't short of either and it's all going to come down to who can nail it on the night."

Five Great Leeds v St Helens finals


1970: BBC Floodlit Trophy final

Leeds 9 St Helens 5



LESS than a month after lifting the Yorkshire Cup with a 23-7 victory over Featherstone, Leeds ground out their one and only Floodlit Trophy success against a St Helens side who were playing their third game in four days.

Saints opened the scoring with a try by Les Jones before Syd Hynes landed a penalty for Leeds, who edged in front when Bill Ramsey sent Hynes, pictured right, in past John Mantle. After the break, John Holmes and Kel Coslett each kicked penalties in a contest played with the floodlights switched off – the YEB had banned their use because of a power shortage.

1972: Championship final

Leeds 9 St Helens 5



TERRY CLAWSON redeemed himself for Leeds after his missed kicks at Wembley a week earlier had been a major factor in St Helens' 16-13 win.

Clawson rose to the occasion at Station Lane, Swinton, to kick three goals, including two from the touchline, as Leeds clinched their third Championship in 11 years.

Leeds took the lead through Clawson but fell behind to a try by Les Greenall.

Clawson added a second penalty before John Atkinson scored in the corner from a long pass by John Langley for Clawson's conversion to seal the win.

1975: Premiership final

Leeds 26 St Helens 11



LEEDS had been hammered 30-6 by
St Helens in the Floodlit Trophy and headed for Central Park, Wigan as underdogs against the champions, who had finished 14 points above them in the table.

With Tony Fisher suspended, coach Roy Francis named a front row of Steve Pitchford, David Ward and Roy Dickinson with an average age of 21.

The young guns rose magnificently to the occasion and Leeds were unstoppable as, with stand-off Mel Mason in top form outside veteran Keith Hepworth, they ran Saints ragged. Mason scored one try, John Atkinson grabbed two and there were others for Syd Hynes and Alan Smith.

1978: Challenge Cup final

Leeds 14 St Helens 12



LEEDS retained the Challenge Cup with a thrilling victory. Superbly led by David Ward and inspired by John Holmes, the holders bounced back after falling 10-0 down inside the opening 13 minutes to tries by Bill Francis and Graham Liptrot.

A try by John Atkinson, goaled from the touchline by Willie Oulton, edged Leeds back only for Geoff Pimblett to add his second goal. A drop-goal by Ward narrowed the gap after the break before Holmes and Neil Hague combined to send David Smith over.

Leeds drew level with a try by Phil Cookson and drop-goals by Ward and Holmes snatched victory.

2007: Super League grand final

Leeds 33 St Helens 6



DEPARTING coach Tony Smith was given the perfect send-off as Leeds romped to an emphatic victory over the defending champions.

Leeds were always on course to win after Brent Webb grabbed the first of his side's five tries in the 19th minute for Kevin Sinfield to land a touchline conversion. Saints closed the gap with a try by James Roby but a masterful defensive effort kept them at bay.

The Rhinos, with Rob Burrow, pictured left, in sparkling form, added second half tries by Ali Lauitiiti, Scott Donald, Lee Smith and Jamie Jones-Buchanan.