The three nines have been punching in some astonishing numbers of late, as revealed by a quick glance at NRL.com’s stats leaderboards.

Despite McCullough being stretchered off after suffering a sickening head knock against the Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium in round 11 (he also missed the Broncos’ next game against the New Zealand Warriors), the 27-year-old hooker sits atop the NRL’s tackle count with 618 for the season.

McCullough has gone into overdrive in recent weeks, recording 53 tackles in round 9, 41 in round 10 and his 31 before being carried off against the Tigers. He put in another mammoth effort against the Sydney Roosters at Allianz last Saturday, making 51.

McCullough’s nearest rival is 31 tackles back, that being Roosters rake Jake Friend. Another 27-year-old, Friend – sitting on 587 tackles - has also had a very busy past month, clocking in some astonishing tackle counts.

Friend made 58 against the Broncos last week, 57 against the Canberra Raiders (round 12), 48 against the Bulldogs (round 11), 43 against Parramatta (round 10) and 48 back in round nine against the Warriors.

The Roosters' Jake Friend is a tackling powerhouse. (Photo by Getty Images)

Rounding out the top three, 23-year-old St George-Illawarra Dragons hooker Cameron McInnes has made 541 tackles, including a massive effort of 62 in the Dragons’ win over the Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium at the weekend. He made 42 in round 11, 47 in round ten and 35 in round nine. The Dragons had the bye in round 12, but McInnes still sits in the top three, highlighting his recent workload.

Plenty can be made of these astonishingly high numbers; most likely about the interchange rule taking effect. However, some words former State of Origin enforcer Paul Gallen offered Inside Sport magazine last year about the emergence of wrestling into the modern game may also explain why so many players are being involved in so many tackles.

“Jiu jitsu and wrestling came into the game about ten years ago and now a lot of the teams have wrestling coaches; blokes who are good at jiu jitsu come in and train them,” the Sharks’ veteran enforcer offered.

Gallen also outlined the importance of not just hard contact in the modern game, but contacts that count. He saw less and less space and value in the modern game for players who are merely out to make hard hits.

“There are still some blokes who can hit hard in the game, no doubt about that - who come up with big shots, like Dylan Napa. On occasions, when you go for those big shots, you’re also becoming ineffective because you can bounce off and away,” Gallen said.

“I was coming to the point where I realised you’re better off being effective rather than coming up with one big hit and missing the next two or three tackles. That was the attitude that I had. Being an effective defender is the best way and that’s the style I adopted.”

(Header image by Getty Images)