Workhorse Watch Rd 12
We’re halfway through the NRLCEO regular season which means it’s time to take a look at how the season is unfolding so far. All stats are as of the conclusion of Round 11, the exact halfway point and the fair spot to judge performances so far given that a number of teams had the bye this week.
The Stand-outs
James Graham is having a belter of a year and has scored 15 workhorse tries in the opening 11 rounds with another double workhorse against the Raiders in Round 12. He’s also killing it in the metre eater department with 12 for the season. The next best are Jake Friend, Aiden Tolman, Dylan Napa and Dale Finucane with 11 each. Friend had made 115 more tackles than the next best player and has scored a workhorse try every single week but given that he only averages 4 runs a game, he is yet to score a double workhorse try this season.
Most Improved
There are a number of players that have show real improvement this season including the aforementioned Dylan Napa. His 11 workhorse tries is the same amount he scored for all of 2015 – no doubt a result of the Roosters injury woes up front in first half of this season. Ryan James and Mitch Rein have also gone from strength to strength, like Napa they have equalled the number of workhorse tries they scored last year in the opening 11 rounds of this season. Manly’s Jake Trbojevic is not far behind having already amassed 10 workhorse tries after scoring 11 last season. The dual positional status of both he and James is highly valuable in a league where workhorse tries for props can be hard to come by if you don’t have Graham or Tolman.
Most Disappointing
Where do you start here? There have been some major disappointments this season starting with Parramatta’s Tepai Moeroa. Moeroa has just 4 workhorse tries for the season and hasn’t scored one since Round 6. Four isn’t bad considering he scored 8 last year given we’re at the halfway mark but it’s not great either, especially when you consider that Anthony Watmough hasn’t played at all. The problem is Parramatta’s forward rotation; Brad Arthur gives a lot of his forwards equal minutes meaning everyone comes close to workhorse tries but there are never any certainties. It means Parramatta have one of the lowest output of workhorse tries in the NRL – just 26 in the opening 11 rounds.
Other disappointments have included Isaac Luke (4 WH), Andrew McCullough (3 WH), Sam Thaiday (1 WH), George Burgess (1 WH) and Tim Grant (3 WH) who I had high hopes for but who has only stood up in the absence of Aaron Woods. The other four meanwhile finished 2015 in double digits for workhorse tries but are suffering from reduced minutes this year.
Best Backs
The great thing about NRLCEO is that it’s customisable so for some of you, workhorse tries by backs count. Euan Aitkin leads the way with 2 workhorse tries this season whilst Kieran Foran, Kerrod Holland and Daly Cherry- Evans each have one. If you’re wondering why Cherry-Evans is not living up to his current price tag, it might have something to do with the fact he averages more tackles than any other back in the league. He might be on good coin, but it shouldn’t be to make tackles.
Close But No Cigar Club
All up there have been 44 players that have spent some time at the No Cigar Club this year. 44 players who have frustrated the hell out NRLCEOs at one point this season but there are a handful that have done it on multiple occasions. The worst offender is Nate Myles who has finished on 39 involvements on 3 separate occasions. That’s Tim Mannah circa 2014 numbers right there. Mannah had three after 11 rounds that season but would only record 1 more 39 involvement game for the rest of the year. Could Myles enter into No Cigar Club immortality? Other repeat offenders include James Tamou, Paul Vaughan, Trent Merrin and Manu Ma’u.
Workhorse of the Week:
Aiden Tolman: Another huge week by the Canterbury front row with Tolman edging out teammate James Graham. In a bye effected round Tolman was huge for NRLCEOs scoring a double workhorse try, a try and a metre eater.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK
- Aiden Tolman: 43 tackles + 25 hitups = 68
- Mitch Rein: 56 tackles + 4 hitups = 60
- James Graham: 40 tackles + 25 hitups = 65
- Elijah Taylor: 50 tackles + 7 hitups = 57
- Alex Glenn: 40 tackles + 13 hitups = 53
- Joel Thompson: 44 tackles + 9 hitups = 53
- Jake Granville: 53 tackles + 6 hitups = 59
- Pauli Pauli: 40 tackles + 13 hitups = 53
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
He’s just had a baby in the last two weeks, so Iosia Soliola has probably smoked a cigar or two in the past fortnight. Sadly for those CEOs who have him, he was Close But No Cigar this week.
Joseph Tapine: 29 tackles + 10 hitups = 39
Iosia Soliola: 28 tackles + 11 hitups = 39
Josh King: 30 tackles + 9 hitups = 39
WORKHORSE TRIES BY NRL TEAM
Now for something different, a look at workhorse tries by NRL team.
The Bulldogs have scored the most workhorse tries in the opening 11 rounds with 52, 5 more than the next best. James Graham (15) and Aiden Tolman (11) are the obvious standouts but Josh Jackson (9) and Michael Lichaa (8) are also pretty consistent.
Melbourne and the Dragons are no slouches either with 47 workhorse tries apiece. Dale Finucane and Cameron Smith both lead the way with 11 workhorse tries each while Jesse Bromwich, Kevin Proctor and Tohu Harris have 7 each.
For St George-Illawarra, Mitch Rein has 11, Jack De Belin and Tyson Frizell have 9 whilst Mike Cooper has 8.
At the other end of the scale are Penrith with just 23 workhorse tries, with Trent Merrin leading with 8 followed by Bryce Cartwright (5) who has been singled out on several occasions this year for his missed tackles (lucky missed tackles don’t count in NRLCEO!)
Also ranking quite low are Brisbane (25) and Parramatta (26). Brisbane is very surprising, prior to Wayne Bennett arriving in 2015, the Broncos were the number one team for workhorse tries scoring 112 in 2014 with the next best only netting 86.
Geoff Adams
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