THE mind of a coach is akin to the Nixonian view of communism: "It isn't sleeping. It is, as always, plotting, scheming, working, fighting."

If former US president Richard Nixon was paranoid about a political system that is now all but extinct, NRL coaches are equally obsessed by any small detail which can accrue them an advantage.

They observe little things which most of us miss.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy watched his grand final opponents, Manly, play the Cowboys last Saturday night on a big screen at a Richmond hotel, via a Northern Territory link.

When the Sea Eagles players returned from their warm up, Bellamy noted Steve Matai had additional strapping on his leg, suggesting the powerful centre had aggravated an injury during the build up.

Most fans can't tell the difference between a Matai and a Utai, let alone notice extra tape on an ankle.

Players today are weighed, timed and measured on so many indices, their body fat percentage changes by the fractions of movements in the interest rate.

At the Storm's Princes Park training facility on Monday, eight masseurs were stationed at rubbing tables, working on tired muscles. Nearby was a set of scales, calibrated to measure a bird's breakfast.

Manly coach Des Hasler has relied on GPS and DNA technology to time his team's run, right down to heartbeats per training session.

Performances in games are analysed on a myriad of statistical data, giving coaches information on the number of times a player has been third man into the tackle, or the effectiveness of his left to right passes.

After Sunday's match at Telstra Dome, three Storm assistant coaches sat with laptops, each studying separate views of Jeremy Smith's tackle on Parramatta's Jarryd Hayne, already preparing for a possible judiciary defence.

But how do we compare games?

Which of the two weekend games was the higher standard: Sea Eagles versus Cowboys, or Storm versus Eels?

Or the two matches played the previous weekend, when the Cowboys eclipsed the Warriors in Townsville and the Eels beat the Bulldogs?

The heat plays a major role in comparing games because players are tired and don't execute their skills well.

The temperature-tuned Cowboys were the beneficiaries of it when they beat the Warriors but the overachieving North Queensland team was sapped in the latter half of the match against Manly.

Bellamy admits he still has trouble, after 30 years, comparing the standard of games and would not be drawn on which of the two grand final qualifiers was the better standard.

The number of play-the-balls offers a clue because it shows how many times players have to run back 10 metres to the defensive line and then advance the same distance.

There were 271 play-the-balls in the Manly match (Manly 147, Cowboys 124), compared to 276 in the Melbourne match (Storm 151, Eels 125).

No clue there.

How about fast play-the-balls?

After all, if players say State of Origin football is about 15 per cent quicker, a high standard semi-final should generate more fast play-the-balls.

Sportsdata, which times the speed of the ruck in every NRL game to a millisecond, recorded 20 in the Manly game (Sea Eagles 12, Cowboys 8) and 25 in the Melbourne match (Storm 14, Eels 11).

What about metres from kicks, always an indication of the distance players travel as they run downfield to trap the opposition near their line?

Manly 1007 metres (Sea Eagles 558, Cowboys 449); Melbourne 1052m (Storm 562, Eels 490).

An additional five fast play-the-balls and 45m more from kicks doesn't tell us much.

Maybe it's all as indefinable as Bellamy's reaction after the gruelling encounter with Parramatta.

He blamed himself for over-hyping the players, yet admits to being far more composed than before the Brisbane semi-final.

"I was certainly a lot more nervous before the Brisbane game," he admitted.

Was it the vision he showed of Parramatta players taunting his team during the nailbiter at Olympic Park in August?

No, the players saw the vision 24 hours before they played.

It's more likely he blamed emotion because he couldn't think of another culprit.

Bellamy concedes the game is still an immeasurable mystery.

Asked how the Nixonian "reds under the beds" view compares with his own attitude to coaching, he said lack of sleep was a common factor. "I got two hours sleep after the Parramatta game but it's the same whether we win or we lose. You'd think as I got older, I'd get better but I haven't."