Workhorse Watch on the Trials
I hope NRL coaches have a clear insight into who to run with now that we’re through with the trials because from a Workhorse Watch point of view I’m not sure what to make of the action over the weekend. And no it’s not because I missed the action like I did during the Auckland Nines; I not only got to see some of the action, I got to catch the Charity Shield live and in person, but with so many players running around it’s hard to take a lot out of the weekend’s games.
Charity Shield: For starters we know they won’t hold another one in Wollongong anytime soon. The Charity Shield regularly attracts over 20,000 fans each year but only 14,633 fans made the trek to WIN Stadium this year. Whilst Dragons fans were out in numbers the bays reserved for South Sydney members were very sparse and with Souths dominating early, the Red V was silenced very quickly making for a somewhat underwhelming atmosphere. But I digress.
On the field it was tough to keep up with what was happening with a cavalcade of players getting a run with both teams operating very extended benches and even then there were players like Peter Mata’utia who weren’t named popping up on the field.
All this makes workhorse watching very difficult with no player from either side spending enough time on the field to score a workhorse try. With that said, it will be usual suspects for South Sydney again this year with Isaac Luke and Sam and George Burgess getting through the lion’s share of the forward workload. Over at the Dragons, Leeson Ah Mau is firming as the favourite to start the season in the back row after running out in jersey No. 12. Although Ah Mau only made 11 tackles on Saturday and scored just the one workhorse try in 2013, he is coming off a confidence boosting World Cup campaign for Samoa where his physicality went a little too far; one to watch.
World Club Challenge: History is up against them but the Roosters looked very clinical over the weekend and ready to defend their title in 2014. It helps that they have a very settled line up across the park including in the forwards where the likes of Jake Friend, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Boyd Cordner were in good touch. No Rooster did enough to register a forward try but Jake Friend came close with 34 tackles and 4 runs but he did set up two tries in the Roosters’ 36-14 win. The only forward who did score a workhorse try came from Wigan with Liam Farrell making 31 tackles and 13 runs with Sean O’Loughlin just missing out with 29 tackles and 9 runs.
The other game that caught my attention on the weekend was the Warriors vs Broncos match in Dunedin. Reports out of the game suggest that the Broncos were terrible and now have less than two weeks to get themselves sorted before the season proper begins. From a workhorse point of view I think the Broncos pack are the safest bet in rugby league but how they’ll go in the try scoring department could alter how valuable Corey Parker really is. With Scott Prince long gone and Parker set to resume permanent duties the stage was set for another huge year for the Broncos back rower. Goal kicking or not he’s still one of the best players in NRL CEO but with Brisbane’s charge to the Auckland Nines grand final book ended by terrible trial games that netted just 3 tries and no goals* it’s hard to know what to make of the Broncos in 2014.
*Not including the game against the Titans which featured U20s players.
Geoff Adams
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