Workhorse Watch: Rd 4
Some of the content in last week’s Workhorse Watch was referred to as click bait and whilst it was the most viewed edition in the last 12 months I refuse to remain silent when wrongly accused. If I’m going to be accused of click baiting well then it better be for actually posting click bait.
So this week I present ‘Real Horses Dressed up as your Favourite Workhorses’.
Can you guess who they are?
Friday night started with a bang with three double workhorse tries to kick off the round. Issac Luke scored his first double of the season while across town, Bulldogs pair Aiden Tolman and James Graham did likewise. What made this unique in my private league was that those three players make up the starting front row for the same team, the undefeated Griffith Raging Bulls. The Bulls got off to an absolute flyer against the Crystal Ballboy’s team who now languish with just one win for the season. Tolman had an amazing 70 involvements (52 tackles, 18 hit ups) whilst Graham and Luke just qualified with 60 and 50 involvements respectively.
Luke might have grabbed a double on Friday night but it was his former understudy Api Koroisau who grabbed his first opportunity to shine since moving to Penrith. With James Segeyaro unable to take his place in the side, Koroisau wasted no time in making an impact by putting in the most impressive workhorse performance of his short career. Koroisau had more involvements (53) and ran for more metres (110m) than ever before as the Panthers went down at the hands of the Knights.
Still on hookers and Michael Lichaa is having an outstanding start to the year in his first season at the Bulldogs. Although mainly coming off the bench last year at Cronulla, Lichaa had just 2 try assists and 3 line break assists across 15 games. This year he has scored a workhorse try every game and on the weekend also scored his first NRL try and is currently averaging 49 involvements a game compared to 28 last year. It’s a shame the U20s Watch no longer exists as it’s where I was first made aware of the now Canterbury rake who is one of several players who were earmarked last year by Mitchell that are now making a real impact in the NRL.
A tough season for NRLCEOs with Robbie Rochow just got worse with the Newcastle Knight expected to miss the next two months with a back injury. The second rower was a late withdrawal from Saturday’s game against the Panthers and is likely to have surgery that will put him out for 8 weeks. Reports say Rochow’s back has caused him problems all year and it might explain his un-workhorse like start to the season. Rochow is averaging just 33 involvements a game this year and is yet to even look like scoring a workhorse try.
MEMO: All forwards struggling to get a workhorse try. Start by getting an actual workhorse and it might lead to a fantasy one. Darcy Lussick, seen here as part of a promotion for the Eels game day sponsor of the Rabbitohs match, ended up with 27 tackles and 15 hit ups to score his first workhorse try since Round 18, 2013! Lussick’s minutes have gradually increased over the opening month of footy and so too has his involvements. Team mate David Gower had a huge jump in minutes and also scored his first workhorse of the year.
WORKHORSE OF THE WEEK:
Aiden Tolman. The Bulldogs prop has made back to back appearances in the Workhorse Pack of the Week and takes out top honours to boot after the Dogs grabbed an extra time victory over the Tigers. The double sees the Smithtown Tigers junior back in the form that saw him grab 3 double workhorse tries in the last 4 rounds of 2014.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK
- Aiden Tolman: 52 tackles + 18 hitups = 70
- Apisai Koroisau: 40 tackles + 13 hitups = 53
- James Graham: 42 tackles + 18 hitups = 60
- Simon Mannering: 54 tackles + 12 hitups = 66
- Tohu Harris: 42 tackles + 16 hitups = 58
- Paul Gallen: 39 tackles + 23 hitups = 62
- Issac Luke: 32 tackles + 18 hitups = 50
- Chris Houston: 56 tackles + 12 hitups = 68
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
There’s always a first time for everything, and this week it’s the first time a pair of brothers have been in the Close But No Cigar Club. Perhaps the statisticians got them mixed up at one point and one should have a workhorse while the other should be on less than 39.
George Burgess: 28 tackles + 11 hitups = 39
Thomas Burgess: 22 tackles + 17 hitups = 39
Gavin Cooper: 24 tackles + 15 hitups = 39
Corey Parker: 22 tackles + 17 hitups = 39
STATS PER MINUTE
It didn’t take long for a few of last week’s stars to go back to their frustrating ways. Tim Mannah had a fantastic work rate on Friday night (1.32SPM) but played just 25 minutes! Adam Blair’s output dropped dramatically after the maligned prop suffered a corked thigh. Blair had just 15 involvements in 25 minutes (0.60SPM).
Two young props who had fantastic games on the weekend were Jack Stockwell and Jake Trbojevic. Both players came off the bench for their respective teams with Stockwell getting 41 involvements in 46 minutes (0.89SPM) and Trbojevic scoring his first ever workhorse with 44 involvements in 52 minutes (0.85SPM). It was the most minutes Trbojevic has got this year and currently his stat per minute average for the season is 0.88. Trbojevic is one of the few front rowers with a great workrate who might still be on your league’s free list and with Brenton Lawrence and Josh Starling out, his position in the squad looks secure for a while yet.
Ryan James and Feleti Mateo are two players who rarely rate a mention in the Workhorse Watch but both managed to secure their first workhorse tries since Round 26, 2013. James is an 80 minute player this year and has been in the mid to high 30s in terms of involvements each week. His 38 tackles and 11 runs doesn’t translate to a great stats per minute score (0.61SPM), but it’s the best he’s done all year and over a full game it’s more than enough to get the points. Mateo also gets plenty of minutes but he’s just not that kind of player. He just scraped in for a workhorse with 41 involvements and an SPM of 0.51.
If George Rose wants the big boppers to still have a place in the NRL he’s got a funny way of showing it. The self-described “impact player” was anything but against his former club with just 8 involvements (4 tackles and 4 hit ups) in 16 minutes of game time (0.50SPM). Rose will probably never be the 95 kilos he jokes about coming back at should the NRL change the number of interchanges, but if it does force him out of the game, it’s pretty amazing he’s been around as long as he has with that body.
JUST QUICKLY:
The Waiver Wire is a great idea but it’s not working the way I thought it would. At the beginning of the year The Commish and the Trade Doctor debated the pros and cons of the Waiver Wire system.
JB explained that it would allow lower ranked teams to “have first crack at the next stars in the game” which would stop people losing interest mid season because they had some dud players and little hope of improving.
However that’s not how it works and at present it’s a free for all on newbies that get named on Tuesday afternoon or an hour before kick off. Instead the only players lower teams get first crack at are the cast offs from other teams. Looking at my league’s current Waiver Wire, somehow I don’t think there’s a bidding war for Dane Tilse at the moment.
NRLCEO needs to extend the waiver period until 8pm on Tuesday, giving everyone a chance to bid for fresh faces after they’re named at 5pm, not just the click happy people able to be in front of a screen when the teams are announced.
Geoff Adams
Latest posts by Geoff Adams (see all)
- 2018 Workhorse Watch Awards - September 3, 2018
- Workhorse Watch – Round 24 - August 29, 2018
- Workhorse Watch – Round 23 - August 22, 2018
