New Stats Show Hayden Parker Is 18% Better Than The Average Kicker

Hayden Parker's exceptional place kicking in Super Rugby has caught the headlines recently, with some even suggesting that he should get a test call up. 

The Sunwolves flyhalf went on an incredible run of over 30 consecutive successful shots at goal in 2019 before his first miss which came against the Waratahs.

So far this season, Parker has missed just two of his 40 attempts at goal, including the game against the Reds.

The streak is over...

🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯❌

Hayden Parker has missed for the first time in #SuperRugby 2019 😢

He is only human after all #WARvSUN pic.twitter.com/TpgAjfCTOt

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) April 6, 2019

Ahead of the Sunwolves clash with the Reds this weekend, Opta released a Bayesian Model to calculate the probability a successful shot at goal based on the location of the kick as well as the altitude of the stadium.

The model used by Opta also included the identity of the placekicker, allowing to compare how successful Parker is compared to other placekickers.

The conclusion drawn from the data shows that the average kicker's success ratio of a player taking Parker's kick would be 77% while the New Zealander's actual success rate has been 95%.

Those stats excluded the Sunwolves clash against the Reds where Parker converted all 6 of his attempts at goal.

95% - Hayden Parker has slotted 95% of his kicks at goal for the @sunwolves - based on an @OptaPro model which calculates the probability of a kick being successful, the average @SuperRugby goal kicker would have converted just 77% of Parker’s attempts at goal. Frontrunner. pic.twitter.com/OLiyUPl6n5

— OptaJason (@OptaJason) May 3, 2019