Workhorse Watch Rd 3
We start this week’s Workhorse Watch on a slightly different note. Normally it’s all about tackles and runs on the field but I want to begin with some great work off it. This past week a new crop of NRL and NYC players were inducted into the ‘Graduates of League Program’. What started as a pilot program six years ago at the University of Wollongong (UOW) and included players such as Ben Creagh, has now expanded across the entire NRL to help footy players balance commitments to both their sport and their studies. The program provides specialist mentoring and flexibility by working study requirements around training and playing commitments.
One of the faces of the program is Russell Packer who has been studying a Bachelor of Commerce at UOW since linking with the Dragons in 2015. While Packer may be considered a thug, when you hear him speak he is an articulate man who used his hiatus from the game to fully appreciate how important it is to use the resources available and plan for life after football.
“Transitioning back into the game, it (education) was a big focal point. When I was young, I thought football was going to last forever. It’s not until you have a little roadblock you realise a good career in rugby league is 10 years and you’ve got a long time to work after that.” – Russell Packer.
On the field, Packer was guilty of accidentally elbowing his own teammate on Sunday which could wind up costing the club $100K due the way the knock was dealt with but no doubt the bigger sin was that he finds himself in the Close But No Cigar Club for the second time this year after he finished with 28 tackles and 11 hit ups in the Dragons’ 6 point win.
It’s two years, almost to the day since Adam Blair was labelled a “Teddy Blair” after making just one run against the Sharks in 41 minutes of game time. His output this season is also worth putting under the microscope as he continues to get upstaged by his fellow props. Blair ran for just 58 metres in 54 minutes on Thursday while Herman Ese’ese played just 28 minutes and ran for 121 metres. When Blair was at the Tigers he was reportedly on $500,000 a year but given how notorious the Broncos are for paying unders, let’s assume he’s on nothing like that now. Even if he’s on half that, his lack of value is extraordinary compared to his front row partners. If he were to play all 24 regular season games and maintained his current average of 91 metres per game, at $250,000 a year that works out at $114.47 a metre. Compare that to Korbin Sims who is only on $85,000 and is currently averaging 85 metres per game. If he does that every game for 24 games that’s $41.51 per metre. Now of course Sims is on a back ended deal so just like his unnecessary forearm on Suliasi Vunivalu, the Broncos will have to pay for it later. The real value is with Ese’ese. Given he started with the Broncos on a trial basis, it’s hard to imagine he’s on much more than the NRL minimum wage of $80,000. Ese’ese is averaging 133 metres, which over 24 games would equate to just $25.06 a metre. Bargain!
CORRECTION: My apologies to Jarrod Wallace for overlooking his workhorse performance in Round 2. Last week I said the Titans only had two workhorse tries when in fact they had three. Wallace remains equal first on the workhorse tally after scoring his fourth of the season against Parramatta on Friday night. Wallace had 36 tackles and 11 runs in his side’s courageous win.
Workhorse of the Week:
Michael Lichaa scored his first double workhorse of the year and was the only player to register one in Round 3. The Bulldogs rake had 54 involvements and ran for 80 metres. Although he was the only player to register a double workhorse there was some high involvement numbers from hookers this week with Cameron Smith (56) and Jayden Brailey (54) missing out of Workhorse Pack of the Week honours.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK
- Josh McGuire: 41 tackles + 13 hitups = 54
- Michael Lichaa: 47 tackles + 7 hitups = 54
- Ryan James: 46 tackles + 13 hitups = 59
- Trent Merrin: 39 tackles + 15 hitups = 54
- Simon Mannering: 47 tackles + 13 hitups = 60
- Matt Gillett: 50 tackles + 12 hitups = 62
14. Andrew McCullough: 56 tackles + 5 hitups = 61
15. Cameron McInnes: 56 tackles + 2 hitups = 58
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
Dale Finucane: 29 tackles + 10 hitups = 39
David Klemmer: 20 tackles + 19 hitups = 39
Nate Myles: 31 tackles + 8 hitups = 39
Josh Starling: 32 tackles + 7 hitups = 39
Russell Packer: 28 tackles + 11 hitups = 39
Beau Scott: 29 tackles + 10 hitups = 39
STATS PER MINUTE
Shaun Fensom is back! Well, back in first grade at least. And the “Curse of Fensom” is also back. The workhorse icon came off the bench for the Cowboys and although I was up against him in fantasy, it was just great to see him back in the NRL. But we were soon reminded why Ricky Stuart punted him from the top grade in the first place, he’s cursed! When Fensom came on, the Cowboys had just scored through Jake Granville with Johnathan Thurston converting to give the home side an 8-2 lead. From there, Manly scored TWENTY-EIGHT unanswered points. Now I’m not superstitious, but my witch doctor is and we both agree that the curse is real. This is the Cowboys were talking about here. They won their opening two games in golden point, they know how to perform under pressure but they had nothing. They have one of the greatest players of all time leading them, and he couldn’t manufacture a thing. It was a home game, played in 30 degree heat with 82% humidity, no visiting team is prepared to cope with that. They were up against Manly, a side that conceded 6 tries the previous week, but once Fensom came on the Manly line became impenetrable. For what it’s worth, Fensom had 34 involvements in 41 minutes (0.83 SPM) but now Thurston faces the biggest challenge of his career. Oh sure, he’s a future Immortal, sure he’s won premierships and Origin series; but can he beat the Curse of Fensom?
If you’re looking for a workhorse certainty this week, put Tim Mannah in your side. How do I know he’ll score a workhorse this week? Because I’m not naming him. Due to some bad luck in my front row drafting strategy, Mannah has found himself as one of my starting props for the last two weeks. The same two weeks he’s failed to get close to a workhorse after blitzing it in Round 1. But I can’t take it any more. Brad Arthur’s prop rotation is just not conducive to workhorse tries. Mannah came off with just 12 involvements after 24 minutes as Parramatta dominated the opening exchanges but then spent the next 38 minutes on the sideline before finally returning in the 62nd minute and only after an injury to Kaysa Pritchard. He finished with 42 minutes of playing time and 28 involvements (0.67 SPM). Sorry Timmy, we’re done.
It’s one thing for Dave Taylor to not be a workhorse, but I take umbrage at him costing other forwards their workhorse tries. His inclusion in the Raiders’ seventeen along with the return of Elliot Whitehead to the back row severely encroached on Luke Bateman’s minutes on Sunday with the South Logan junior playing just 29 minutes. Bateman came off with 26 involvements (0.90 SPM) and stayed on the bench for the remainder of the game. Taylor meanwhile played 36 minutes and had 25 involvements (0.69 SPM) which is a big improvement on his 2015 workrate (0.55 SPM).
After back to back workhorse tries, there are a few NRLCEOs excited at the form of Brenton Lawrence. The former Woden Valley Ram had 43 involvements in 62 minutes (0.69 SPM) against the Cowboys and has now scored the same amount of workhorses in two weeks as he has in the last two seasons. Of course a lot of that has to do with injury as Lawrence played just 10 games during that two year period. That being said, the key to Lawrence’s rise has been both his minutes and his workrate. Over the last two weeks the University of Canberra alumnus has averaged 60.5 minutes per game, a big lift from the 32 minutes he played in Round 1 and the 35.7 minutes he averaged in 2016.
JUST QUICKLY:
Every rugby league team has a Centre of Excellence these days and on the weekend I was out at Sydney Olympic Park where the NSWRL are building one too. My question is, do any of these facilities teach fullbacks to catch the ball on the full? I can’t count the number of times I see fullbacks let the ball bounce when clearly they should be making an attempt for it.
I’m not talking about waiting for attacking teams to catch bombs so you can immediately tackle them. I’m talking long kicks where players should be in position but are not. Brad Abbey got the yips on Friday night and shied away from attacking the football and OK he’s a rookie, but where was someone getting in his ear telling him to shake it off and make sure he’s prepared to catch it on the full next time?
Geoff Adams
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