Workhorse Watch: Round 5
The first month of the competition is always difficult to make any worthwhile predictions as many of us will attest to when it comes to our tipping competitions (this week I had my best result of the year by picking teams based on which mascot would win in a fight).
However with 5 rounds under our belt we can start to make some cautious predictions. So who is your pick for who will lead the workhorse tally by season’s end? Robbie Farah has quickly emerged as the front runner having scored double workhorse tries for the last 4 weeks and he currently leads the league with 9 for the season. However once Origin comes around that may change.
Sam Burgess scored another double workhorse try on the weekend to move to 7 for the season and won’t be absent during Origin. Perhaps Trent Merrin or Matt Ballin will get the nod. It’s hard to see last year’s top workhorse Corey Parker retain the title this year given his move to prop has seen a drop in his double workhorse try potential. Leave a comment or tweet me @geoffadams81 on who you think will be the Workhorse of the Year and go in the draw for this amazing Adelaide Rams wallet!
There’s a lot of positive press around the Parramatta Eels at the moment and whilst as an Eels fan it’s great to see the good form of Radradra, the return of Sandow and the re-invigoration of Hayne, I put the blue and gold’s resurgence down to one man: Nathan Peats. The former Rabbitohs has been a marvel so far this season as seen by the way he scores in so many different ways in NRLCEO including scoring both a try and a workhorse try in each of his last three games.
Tim Browne scored an unexpected workhorse try on the weekend. The Bulldogs forward’s minutes have been steadily increasing each week but his numbers have remained around the 20 involvements per game mark leaving him off the radar of most NRLCEOs looking for some workhorse punch. Frank Pritchards withdrawal elevated Josh Jackson to the starting pack and saw Browne play 41 minutes and rack up 33 tackles and 14 hit ups and register his first NRLCEO points of 2014.
Can anyone who watched the Storm v Titans game tell me how Dave Taylor only managed 5 tackles in 80 minutes? Credit where credit is due, he did make 20 runs for 191 metres but what was he doing in defence? It intrigues me the amount of work that some forwards get through but not others.
The same could be said for Warriors pair Feleti Mateo and Jayson Bukuya. Whilst Mateo has never been a workhorse he is a go to player when it comes to attack and for him to only have four runs is unbelievable if not for the fact Bukuya had none. I thought Bukuya would be a big improver this year and although he scored workhorse tries in round 3 and 4 his impact at the Warriors so far has been far less than I expected.
WORKHORSE OF THE WEEK
Shaun Fensom: Fensom is the first player to win Workhorse of the Week on more than one occasion this year after another colossal game. The Raiders back rower made 61 tackles and 20 hit ups for 81 involvements. Mind boggling! What’s great to see is his involvement with the ball under his arm. In the past Fensom has fallen short of many a double workhorse by not making the required yardage. That doesn’t seem to be a problem in 2014.
Special mention to Nathan Friend who had 75 involvements with 69 tackles and 6 hit ups against the Sharks and was the only player who came close to the workhorse numbers Fensom put up.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK (Round 5)
8. Sam Burgess: 35 tackles + 28 hitups = 63
9. Cameron Smith: 47 tackles + 13 hitups = 60
10. Andrew Fifita: 29 tackles + 24 hitups = 53
11. Anthony Watmough: 53 tackles + 5 hitups = 58
12. Trent Merrin: 46 tackles + 20 hitups = 66
13. Shaun Fensom: 61 tackles + 20 hitups =81
14. Andrew McCullough: 46 tackles + 12 hit ups = 58
15. Robbie Farah: 38 tackles + 19 hit ups = 57
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
Every week we also look at those who fell short by one, this week there were three.
Simon Mannering: 30 tackles + 9 hitups = 39
Chris Heighington: 20 tackles + 19 hitups = 39
Sam Rapira: 27 tackles + 12 hitups = 39
STATS PER MINUTE
Adam Cuthbertson and Jack De Belin were the stand outs this week along with the fore mentioned Tim Browne. Cuthbertson (1.26 SPM) and De Belin (1.21 SPM) were only on the field for 35 minutes each but both still managed to score a workhorse try.
For those looking for some workhorse depth, Sebastine Ikahihfo from the Warriors made his debut off the bench last week. He had 25 involvements in 34 minutes (0.74 SPM) which isn’t much to write home about but may see a lot more minutes as a starter this week under Andrew McFadden.
JUST QUICKLY
- Given that Channel 9 isn’t going to start showing games live anytime soon, I’m calling on those of us who want to watch the free to air games and interact with fellow fans on Twitter at the same time, to start using #NRLdelay to follow the (belated) conversation.
- People in both NSW and QLD could use it because by the time the second Friday night game came around, the hashtag would have the conversation of the second game you’re watching as well as references to the first game that you had already seen.
- Hopefully there is enough goodwill to ensure people don’t ruin said hashtag with spoilers.
Geoff Adams
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