Tale of the Tape - Rhinos @ Brave

This weekend we have a return bout from last Saturday’s clash which saw some wild swings in momentum in Erina. In that game, the Rhinos jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Brave in the first period, before the Brave piled on 5 goals in the second period alone. So was that kind of wild game par for the course for these teams in 2025? The tale of the tape takes a look at how things stack up.

Overall in 2025

Last weekend

Last Saturday was the first meeting between the two teams in 2025, with a Rhinos team missing Bert Malloy and Tyler Kubara getting the jump on the Brave, racing out to a 3-0 lead in the first, before Jake Ratcliffe pegged one back before the first break. From there it was one-way traffic, the Brave putting on five goals in the second period and eventually running out 9-6 winners in a high-scoring affair.

Through the game, the undermanned Rhinos relied on some big minutes from their top players, especially in Baazzi, while the Brave seem to have settled now into four solid lines up front, and a full compliment of blueliners.

During this season so far, the Rhinos have been competitive and pose a genuine threat coming to the AIS Arena – especially if the league’s highest-scoring goaltender, Anand Oberoi, has a day out. Up front, while they miss the leadership from Malloy and Kubara, the energy brought across the two ‘younger’ lines will have Rhinos fans up and about.

For the Brave, the six point weekend seemed to be a fresh start for the rest of the season. With a full compliment of imports, and last season’s Finals MVP refreshed and joining the team, they look to have their depth on display again and will be keen to keep collecting points.

Longer history

After rejoining the league in 2023, Saturday marked the 9^th game between these two teams and the Rhinos are yet to take a point from the Brave in that time. It has been fairly one-way traffic, with the Brave averaging 8.4 goals per game against 2.2 for the Rhinos and outshooting the men from Erina 53.3 to 25.2 as well.

On special teams, things are a bit closer. The Rhinos powerplay averages 20.6%, which isn’t a long way behind the 25.8% for the Brave.

Period by period

Looking at period-by-period performance is a story in two opposing directions – with the Brave improving through games and the Rhinos weakening. If the Brave can sort out their starts in games, they will go a long way to improving their results.