Workhorse Watch Round 22

NRLCEO Workhorse Watch Round 22 – Isaah Yeo is the Black Panther……Penrith Forever!

• Has Isaah Yeo gone to another level?
• Is Xavier Willison the man to fill the Haas size hole at the Broncos?
• Somebody wake David Fifita out of his late season slumber
• Have the Bulldogs unleashed another potential WH gun?

In Round 22 there were 60 players who scored a WH, with 2 players scoring a DWH. If injuries are threatening to derail your CEO finals campaign, check out the Spud Pool Lookout!

WORKING HARD

Isaah Yeo (Panthers)

47 tackles, 17 runs for 164m in 80 minutes – DWH (0.80 stats per minute)

Yeo just keeps producing, scoring his 2nd consecutive DWH and his 4th for the season. Yeo has scored 9 ME’s this season which is more than double his previous best for a season. 139 pts is his career best CEO season so far, and with the loss of JFH for next year, Yeo will be setting the standard for the young forwards for the next few seasons. I think he will be just as good next season in terms of CEO scoring but will start to fall away after that.

Harry Grant (Storm)

46 tackles, 14 runs for 147m in 80 minutes – DWH (0.75 spm)

At his best, there is no better hooker in the NRL or NRLCEO. His form has been down on his usual standard in 2024, however the form he has shown in the last couple of weeks suggests he may have a late season charge at the MVP title.

Patrick Carrigan (Broncos)

46 tackles, 15 runs for 134m in 80 minutes – WH (0.76 spm)

Carrigan should benefit from the injury to Payne Haas for the remainder of this season. Does Carrigan have the ability to produce some attacking stats moving forward (1 TRY, 1 LB and 2 LBA)? He is essentially a front rower, he doesn’t play like an Issah Yeo, linking with his halves and creating opportunities in attack. I expect him to score 1 or 2 more DWH’s on the run home, however when the Broncos are out of finals contention he may be rested at the back end of the year.

Trent Loiero (Storm)

44 tackles, 14 runs for 166m in 80 minutes – WH (0.73 spm)

Loiero has backed up his breakout 2023 season in CEO, scoring 15 WH’s in 2024 so far, compared to 19 in all of 2023. I think Loiero can play the lock role for Storm for many years to come, although he is currently only contracted until the end of 2025. He would be a great mid round draft pick up, after all the big names have been taken.

HARDLY WORKING

David Fifita (Titans) 

19 tackles, 19 runs for 168m in 80 minutes (0.48 spm)

It’s tough to criticise Fifita but he has been fairly quiet in the last month. He has missed a WH in 4 of his last 6 matches and has not scored a try since Round 14. Perhaps it is a case of other Titans stepping up and taking some of the pressure off him but when you have a weapon like Fifita, you want him to get involved a lot more than he is currently. He still looks for the hero play on the field, particularly going himself out of dummy half when the Titans are attacking in the red zone. What you really want him to do is to create opportunities for his team mates, whether its offloading the ball or breaking the line and looking for support.

Jack De Belin (Dragons)

23 tackles, 13 runs for 149m in 47 minutes (0.77 spm)

De Belin has failed to score a WH in his last 2 matches. The concern here is his minutes played, playing just 47 minutes last week and 42 minutes the previous week. This could be an intentional strategy by Flanno to share the workload amongst his forwards to avoid fatigue having an effect late in games. If you are a De Belin owner then you are nervous for the next few weeks.

Mark Nicholls (Dolphins)

26 tackles, 3 runs for 18m in 38 minutes (0.76 spm)

Nicholls form has been up and down in 2024 but with all the injuries in the Dolphins forward pack, you would think Nicholls would be the player to benefit from that. He is contracted til the end of 2025, at which point he will be 35 years of age. I think this will be his final season of relevance in NRLCEO, I expect him to play limited minutes off the bench in 2025 if he even makes their best 17.

Adam Elliott (Knights)

23 tackles, 16 runs for 137m in 55 minutes (0.69 spm)

Elliott was having a sensational 2024, scoring a WH in every match he played up until Round 17. It is now a career best CEO season for Elliott, currently on 96 pts. He has missed 2 of the last 4 matches through injury, missing a WH in the 2 matches that he played and it may be a risk to continue to rely on him during the CEO finals.

SPUD POOL LOOKOUT

Marata Niukore (Warriors)

35 tackles, 14 runs for 121m in 80 minutes – WH (0.61 spm)

Niukore will benefit from the injury to Jackson Ford as he will likely play the 80 minutes each week now. He has the ability to be a consistent WH scorer but CEO’s don’t trust his form after his disappointing 2023 season.

Moses Leota (Panthers)

34 tackles, 10 runs for 75m in 47 minutes – WH (0.94 spm)

Leota has scored a WH in 2 of his last 3 matches, benefitting from the loss of JFH to injury. Moses doesn’t have a good WH scoring history but he could be a decent option over the next couple of weeks if you need to replace Payne Haas in your squad.

Xavier Willison (Broncos)

28 tackles, 13 runs for 114m in 52 minutes – WH (0.79 spm)

Willison is the likely replacement in the starting side for Payne Haas at the Broncos. His WH on the weekend was just his second WH in his career to date. He looks better each match he plays as he grows in confidence and this next month of football could be the making of him as he steps in for Haas.

Toby Rudolf (Sharks)

27 tackles, 13 runs for 106m in 39 minutes – WH (1.03 spm)

It has been an injury riddled season for Rudolf, struggling for form and losing his starting spot in the Sharks forward pack. He has scored a WH in his last 2 matches (both off the bench) and has done it playing limited minutes at a high work rate. At his best he is one of the Sharks best front rowers and he could be left field option to use during the CEO finals, especially if you need to replace Payne Haas or JFH.

WORTH MENTIONING…

Jayden Brailey (Knights)

47 tackles, 4 runs for 40m in 80 minutes – WH (0.64 spm)

The Knights have shuffled the chairs again and Brailey looks to be the main beneficiary. He played the full 80 against the Panthers and scored a WH as well as scoring his first TA for the season. I thought the Knights played well with the team they had and expect them to lineup that way again this week.

Jayden Su’a (Dragons)

28 tackles, 14 runs for 150m in 80 minutes – WH (0.53 spm)

Su’a is having a career best CEO season and is doing it only scoring 8 WH’s for the season. He has scored 8 Tries and 7 ME’s as well, forming a nice combination with Ben Hunt. He would have taken a lot of confidence from being selected for Origin and I think we will see Su’a continue to improve in 2025. He would be a great mid round draft pick up and for those in contract/keeper leagues, I would be looking at signing him to a multi year deal.

Shaun Lane (Eels)

30 tackles, 10 runs for 95m in 80 minutes – WH (0.50 spm)

Lane has improved dramatically over the last 2 months, scoring a WH in 6 of his last 7 matches. He also has 3 ME’s in that same period, despite the Eels poor run of form. Hard to imagine he is available in any spud pools at this late stage but you never know.

Harry Hayes (Bulldogs)

24 tackles, 13 runs for 101m in 44 minutes – (0.84 spm)

The Bulldogs have another WH talent coming into NRL in the form of Harry Hayes. He has impressed with limited playing time and while he hasn’t scored a WH yet, he is a player to watch for the future. Those CEOs in contract/keeper leagues should be paying close attention to his development over rest of this season.

WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK (most involvements by eligible position)

8. Mitchell Barnett (3) (Warriors) – 56

9. Harry Grant (5) (Storm) – 60

10. Terrell May (3) (Roosters) – 56

11. Trent Loiero (2) (Storm) – 58

12. Ryan Matterson (1) (Eels) – 57

13. Isaah Yeo (5) (Panthers) – 64

(1) – number of times featured in the Workhorse Pack of the Week

WH – Workhorse

DWH – Double Workhorse

ME – Metre Eater

DME – Double Metre Eater

SPM – Stats per minute played