It's the spookiest and scariest day of the year. Halloween is here, and while it might be off-season in the NRL, that doesn't mean there isn't plenty happening in rugby league circles.
November 1 is tomorrow, when the silly season will start as players off-contract at the end of 2022 begin to negotiate their deals for the future, and it also marks just a handful of weeks before players will complete their off-season and start to sweat it out training through summer ahead of next season's March 10 kick-off.
It's also around now we normally see the NRL draw for the season ahead.
There have been very few rumblings about the draw at this stage, but you can bet the NRL are working on it with a release due sometime during November.
That means fans will be able to start earmarking the important game, the rivalries, and the ones you want to watch. We can look at how many free to air games the Broncos have, and how many times the Raiders have to host a 7:30pm game in minus 10 degree temperatures in Canberra.
But what do the stats say?
In honour of the scariest day of the year, Zero Tackle look at the scariest game your team will have to play next year based on total win-loss records.
Let's just say, not many teams like playing the Melbourne Storm all that much.
Brisbane Broncos
Melbourne Storm: Won 13, lost 36, drawn 1 (win percentage - 27.00%)
It's fair to say the Brisbane Broncos have had a torrid time of it against the Storm over the years. It doesn't seem to matter whether they are playing in Melbourne, or in Brisbane, they just can't seem to find a way to beat the purple horde from the Victorian capital.
Their average for and against is a mammoth negative 10.88 per game. It's almost embarrassing.
The only other team they win at less than 50 per cent against are the Sea Eagles, owing to their overall success as a club since they first joined the competition, even if the last two years haven't been able to replicate that.
Canberra Raiders
Melbourne Storm: Won 14, lost 35 (win percentage - 28.57%)
Would you look at that? Two for two, and if you're a Storm fan, this isn't looking all that scary right about now.
The Raiders, like the Broncos, have had an abysmally tough time of it over the years against Craig Bellamy's side, despite a couple of wins in the last decade.
Their next worst winning percentage against a current team is the Manly Sea Eagles at 37.5 per cent, while they are under 50 against all of the Sharks, Panthers, Bulldogs, Roosters and Broncos.
Canterbury Bulldogs
Brisbane Broncos: Won 24, lost 33, drawn 1 (win percentage - 42.24%)
Unlike the first two teams on this list, there is no ridiculous outlier at the Bulldogs. Their worst is actually the St George Dragons, who of course merged with Illawarra, so that doesn't hold much water anymore, but even that is 41.6 per cent.
Their track record against the Broncos though hasn't treated them all that well, going down on 33 occasions in 58 games. Given the Broncos haven't been in the competition all that long, and the successful periods the Bulldogs have had since the Queensland club's introduction, it almost comes as a little bit of a surprise.'
The Bulldogs, in terms of current teams, are also under 50 per cent against the Storm, Roosters, Sea Eagles and Titans.
Cronulla Sharks
Manly Sea Eagles: Won 25, lost 67, drawn 2 (win percentage - 27.65Z%)
The Sharks have not had a lot of fun against their arch beach rivals over the years.
The Sharks and Sea Eagles might be billed as something of a tight rivalry everytime they pop up on the draw, but over the years, it has proven to be anything but.
The Sharks have won just 25 games out of 94 against the Sea Eagles, and while the average winning margin only sits around six points per contest, they just can't find a way to be competitive for long periods against the men from the northern beaches.
The Sharks also sit under 50 per cent against the Tigers, Knights, Bulldogs, Broncos, Roosters and Storm.
Gold Coast Titans
Melbourne Storm: Won 6, lost 18 (win percentage - 25%)
The Titans, as the NRL's newest expansion team, have only played 362 games. Without a lot of success though, there are plenty of candidates as to who could be their least successful opposition.
Maybe it should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that the Storm are top of the pile though, holding them to just one win every four games.
The Rabbitohs, Panthers, Broncos and Warriors have all held the Titans to under 35 per cent however, while only the Tigers, Bulldogs and Eels have failed to win more than half of their games since 2007 against the Titans.
Manly Sea Eagles
St George Illawarra Dragons - won 11, lost 21 (winning percentage 34.37%)
The Sea Eagles, for the most part, haven't had the worst time of it. They only lose more than half their games against three clubs, and one of them is the same club, being the St George Dragons. The Storm are the only other current team where they sit under 50 per cent in wins.
Their time against the Dragons hasn't been wonderful though.
Of course, Dragons fans will remember the comeback to end all comebacks back in the early 2000s, but the Sea Eagles have won just 11 of 32 games against the Red V since their introduction as a joint venture.
Melbourne Storm
Canterbury Bulldogs: Won 22, lost 21 (winning percentage - 51.16%)
Hoodoos exist. That much is evident so far on this list.
Only, if you're the Melbourne Storm, you dish them out, not be on the receiving end.
The Storm don't lose more games than they win against anyone. They are the only team to do it in the competition, with the Canterbury Bulldogs managing to hold them to 51.16 per cent as if that's some sort of miracle.
New Zealand Warriors
St George Illawarra Dragons: Won 10, lost 22 (winning percentage - 31.25)
For a club having to deal with constant travel and struggling with consistency for as long as they have been part of the competition, the Warriors do remarkably hold winning records over a fair few clubs.
One of those is not the Dragons though.
It's almost odd how badly they have struggled against the Red V, when you consider they have been strong against strong clubs like the Roosters and Rabbitohs, but just ten wins in 32 games isn't an excellent record, and nor is an average losing margin of seven points per game over that time.
Newcastle Knights
St George Illawarra Dragons: Won 13, lost 28 (winning percentage - 31.7%)
Outside of the Storm, the Dragons are the opposition team who appear on this list more than any other.
They have held the Knights down strongly over the years, despite the three-hour bus trip involved to get from Wollongong to the Hunter and vice-versa.
It's one of those rivalries that you'd expect to be a lot closer, but simply isn't, and a lot of that is down to the Dragons winning 17 of their 22 games in Newcastle. It's quite the stat, given Newcastle haven't lost more than 60 per cent of their games against any other team. They have lost 77 per cent against the Dragons.
North Queensland Cowboys
Melbourne Storm: Won 10, lost 32 (winning percentage - 23.8%)
Apparently, travelling from one end of the country knocks the Cowboys around a lot more than it does to the Storm, evidenced by their 10 wins in 42 starts against the purple horde.
They have only won six games out of 22 at home against the Storm, but it's even worse away from home, with just two wins in 16 starts, while their four finals matches have been split.
The Cowboys have plenty of teams who hold them to under 50 per cent though, with the Roosters, Broncos, Sharks, Sea Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs, Raiders, Panthers, Rabbitohs, Knights, Eels and Warriors all holding winning records.
Parramatta Eels
Manly Sea Eagles: Won 54, lost 87 (winning percentage - 38.62%)
This is one which would sting a little bit for Parramatta fans.
Instead of having a nice, even rivalry in the battle of the Silvertails and Fibros, they frankly, have not had a good time, losing more than 60 per cent of their games against the men from the northern beaches.
That, in a word, is bad.
Penrith Panthers
Melbourne Storm: Won 11, lost 28 (winning percentage - 28.2%)
The 2020 NRL grand final might be the most famous of the losses Penrith have suffered to the Storm, but they have struggled in a big way against Melbourne over the years.
Not only do they have a habit of losing to the Storm, but they have a habit of losing badly, averaging out at almost 13 points per game (and that takes into account total scores, including their wins).
Things are even bleaker when they have to travel to the Victorian capital, having won just three from 20 games.
The Knights, Rabbitohs, Sharks, Dragons, Bulldogs,. Eels, Sea Eagles, Roosters and Broncos also hold the Panthers to under 50 per cent of wins.
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Melbourne Storm: Won 5, lost 30 (winning percentage - 14.28%)
The lowest winning percentage of the lot for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. If some teams don't have a great time of it against the Storm, the Rabbitohs just have a downright miserable time.
To put it in relatively blunt terms, they are terrible against the Storm, having only won five times against the men from Victoria. To put it in more perspective, they have never won an away game against the Storm in 15 attempts.
The Broncos are their second-worst opposition at 32.95 per cent, then all of the Warriors, Bulldogs, Sea Eagles, Sharks, Raiders and Knights are also under 50.
St George Illawarra Dragons
Sydney Roosters
Manly Sea Eagles: Won 48, lost 86 (winning percentage - 36.02%)
The Roosters have had plenty of success over the years as one of the competition's only two remaining foundation clubs.
From winning premierships to breaking records, the Roosters have done it all. Except hold the wood over the Sea Eagles.
They have won just 48 games against the Sea Eagles out of 136, their worst record by a comfortable margin. The Storm, Broncos, Rabbitohs and Warriors have also held the Roosters to under 50 per cent.
Wests Tigers
Sydney Roosters: Won 9, lost 27 (winning percentage - 25%)
The Roosters have been a picture of consistency over the last decade, and a successful club for a very long time, so it comes as a surprise to see them only at the top of the pile for one other team.
That team is the Tigers though, who have won just nine of 36 games since they were introduced as a joint venture.
The Tigers have, generally speaking, struggled in a big way however, only winning more than half their games against the Cowboys, Sharks, Knights and being dead on 50 per cent against the Dragons.
