Eighty per cent is the magic number behind the Canberra Raiders' lime green wall and their best defensive start in 24 years.
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Raiders assistant coach Andrew McFadden revealed they spent about 80 per cent of the pre-season focussing on being more aggressive in defence.
That work has paid off, with the Raiders conceding the second fewest points and tries in the competition behind only the Melbourne Storm.
But they're not resting on their laurels, with McFadden vowing they'll continue to evolve and improve in the run-in to NRL finals - starting against the Parramatta Eels in Darwin on Saturday.
"We want to be a lot more positive. Last year we were kind of a little bit too passive at times, so we wanted to have a more aggressive approach," he said.
"This is the time of year where everyone looks at where everyone's at and they start to pick you apart and find out where you're vulnerable.
"You can never sit still, you've got to evolve over a season.
"We're happy we've got a strong foundation, but we've definitely got to aim to improve."
The past two seasons the Raiders have been in the bottom half for defensive teams, finishing 12th for points conceded last year.
But they've jumped to second this campaign and the 200 points and 34 tries they've let in is the second fewest in the NRL.
It's also their best start to a season since 1995, when they only conceded 147 in the opening 14 rounds.
After 14 games last year, the Raiders let in 296 points and 46 tries.
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Their defence was a massive focus during the pre-season, plus the players they've brought in have added rigidity.
English recruits John Bateman (91) and Ryan Sutton (92) both have a tackling efficiency greater than 90 per cent - as do youngsters Hudson Young (91) and Corey Horsburgh (90).
Veterans Josh Papalii (94) and Sia Soliola (91) have also been brick walls in the middle.
The pay off is their attack is slightly down - scoring 45 points and nine tries less.
"Pre-season, particularly before Christmas, I reckon we would've had 80 per cent defence and 20 per cent attack," McFadden said.
"Everything was centred around how we were going to improve and being a good defensive team.
"It's the players we've brought in - John Bateman, Ryan Sutton - getting guys being in there full-time being fit.
"The culture of the organisation, the leadership in our group is definitely improved, that's had a big impact on defence.
"It's a lot of things, but I think primarily they're working really hard for each other and we've got players who really want to contribute defensively."
McFadden has been impressed that losing players to injuries, suspension and Origin hadn't affected their defence.
The players that have come in have also been able to do the job.
It also seems their trimmed-down, more mobile pack has played a role.
Although McFadden points out Papalii (112 kilograms), who has moved to prop this year, isn't exactly small.
"Josh Papalii's still as big as most front rowers and really effective so we've got size there," he said.
"And Joseph Tapine's been playing there. We feel like we've still got a real physical presence in the middle.
"We're just working really hard for each other. They're mobile, they're fit, our strength-and-conditioning team did a great job in the pre-season getting us really fit and we're working really hard for each other.
"We've got a really great mentality to work hard and that's the thing we value most in our team."
NRL ROUND 15
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels at Darwin, 7.35pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Corey Horsburgh, 16. Sia Soliola, 17. Ryan Sutton. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 19. Emre Guler, 20. Royce Hunt, 21. Michael Oldfield.
Eels squad: 1. Clint Gutherson (c), 2. Maika Sivo, 3. Brad Takairangi, 4. Josh Hoffman, 5. Blake Ferguson, 6. Dylan Brown, 7. Mitch Moses, 8. Kane Evans, 9. Reed Mahoney, 10. Junior Paulo, 11. Shaun Lane, 12. Manu Ma'u, 13. Nathan Brown. Interchange: 14. Jaeman Salmon, 15. Peni Terepo, 16. David Gower, 17. Marata Niukore. Reserves: 18. Daniel Alvaro, 19. Tepai Moeroa, 20. George Jennings, 21. Will Smith.