Workhorse Watch Rd 5
When it comes to predictions, the only thing worse than being wrong about a player is being right and not doing anything about it. Two weeks ago I highlighted the work rate of South Sydney’s Nathan Brown and the value he could provide if given the minutes. Unfortunately I didn’t pick him up and since then he’s scored workhorses in consecutive weeks and even forced Sam Burgess to move to the front row. Not getting him when I had the chance violated one of my Top Tips from the start of the season to always be recruiting. Not that I’m the only one to make a mistake concerning Brown. A mix up was bound to happen eventually, but the biography on NRLCEO of Brown is not of the 23 year old former Tiger but of Nathan Brown, current coach of the Newcastle Knights.
Someone must have printed a copy of last week’s Workhorse Watch and stuck it on the wall in the Titans locker room after both Nathan Friend and Luke Douglas got their first workhorse tries of the season. Having called them out last week for their lack of workhorse productivity this year, both registered 40+ performances against the Broncos. In the same game Alex Glenn also broke through for his first workhorse of the season.
The records don’t go back far enough so we’re going to say it’s unprecedented. Saturday night marked the first time ever that Paul Gallen has gone two NRL games without scoring a workhorse try. I dare say it was the first time he’s played off the bench also. The soon to be former NSW captain had just 30 involvements. Whilst he was hampered by a reduction in minutes it also didn’t help he spent a good portion of his time on the field arguing more than usual with the refs. I expect things to go back to normal in coming weeks as he returns to match fitness.
Nothing like an old suburban ground to offer up some big workhorse numbers. Monday night saw a several big efforts including Shaun Fensom (52 tackles, 10 runs), James Graham (42 tackles, 14 runs) and the return of Michael Lichaa (52 tackles, 1 run). And whilst those three made the workhorse pack of the week, there were a couple of standout performances that did not. Josh Hodgson also benefited from my ‘honesty session’ last week by scoring his first workhorse of the year with 44 tackles and 8 runs. However the player that got me most excited was Aiden Tolman. Tolman was tireless in the first half and had a workhorse try by halftime. Whilst we didn’t see much of him in the second half, he’d done enough in the first half as it was.
Workhorse of the Week:
Cameron Smith: He’s the Australian captain, the newly crowned all time top tackler and one of fantasy football’s most prized players but this week marks the first time that Cameron Smith has been crowned Workhorse of the Week. Smith is always among the involvements but often falls short in the metrage. His 95 metres against the Knights was the most he’d run since Round 10, 2014, which was the last time he scored a double workhorse.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK
- Aaron Woods: 33 tackles + 16 hitups = 59
- Cameron Smith: 41 tackles + 10 hitups = 51
- James Graham: 42 tackles + 14 hitups = 56
- Ryan James: 46 tackles + 13 hitups = 59
- Dale Finucane: 42 tackles + 11 hitups = 53
- Shaun Fensom: 52 tackles + 10 hitups = 62
- Mitch Rein: 43 tackles + 8 hitups = 51
- Michael Lichaa: 52 tackles + 1 hitups = 53
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
Chris McQueen: 32 tackles + 7 hitups = 39
Ben Hannant: 25 tackles + 14 hitups = 39
Manu Ma’u: 26 tackles + 13 hitups = 39
STATS PER MINUTE
The battle to be the incumbent hooker at South Sydney appears to be settled with Cameron McInnes putting in his most impressive performance ever. McInnes scored 17 points against Manly, which not only beat his output in the first four weeks combined, but also came close to surpassing the 19 points he scored for the entire season last year. McInnes has emerged from the shadow of Isaac Luke, the challenge of Damien Cook’s arrival and the off-season speculation that Robbie Farah might join the club to be Michael Maguire’s first choice number 9. McInnes had 52 involvements in 65 minutes (0.80 SPM) to go with 2 tries, 2 line breaks, a try assist and a line break assist.
Jack Stockwell played his first game of the year and put up a pretty impressive SPM. Stockwell had 38 involvements in 43 minutes (0.88 SPM) after having an SPM of 0.94 last year. He missed the back half of last season with a bicep injury and will be a welcome return to the Knights pack. Given the number of forwards that have left and the changes to the interchange since Stockwell last played, there is a real opportunity for him to press his claim in the coming weeks, especially in light of the Knights’ bench woes as highlighted by Hamish Neal last week.
Bryce Cartwright broke off the shackles on Sunday afternoon on the way to putting together his best ever NRLCEO performance. Cartwright not only scored a double (including the match winner) but also got his first workhorse try of the season with exactly 40 involvements in his 80 minutes of action (0.50 SPM) along with a line break and a metre eater.
The most in form workhorse in NRLCEO at the moment has to be Mitch Rein. The Dragons hooker scored his third straight double workhorse to now sit equal second with 6 for the year. Rein ran for 87 metres and had 51 involvements in 75 minutes (0.68 SPM) as the Cowboys ran riot over the Dragons. Paul McGregor spoke after the game about the possible need for personnel changes which could be problematic given the Dragons feeder side, the Illawarra Cutters got towelled up 50-16 on the same day. Who knows who they could bring in but at least Mitch’s spot is safe.
JUST QUICKLY:
It sure is great when your NRLCEO player (Bryce Cartwright) scores a try that secures you the win. Except when said player scores against your NRL team (Parramatta) and costs them the game.
Geoff Adams
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