Workhorse Watch Rd 24
Yeah baby! Apologies for being a little self indulgent but my Castle Hill Rams are through to their third straight NRLCEO Grand Final. Woohoo! It wasn’t a pretty performance by any stretch of the imagination but with Monday night to play the Rams led by 16 points over the minor premiership winning Bass Straight Mean Machine.
16 points sounds like a comfortable lead but with Cameron Smith to come for Bass Straight it was still anybody’s game. The Knights went into Round 24 with the worst defence in the comp so who knew how many points the Storm might rack up. The Machines also had Tariq Sims while the Rams only had Kevin Proctor to play. All three ended up making contributions with Smith (47 involvements) and Proctor (46 involvements) the match’s two top workhorses but in the end Rams had done enough to hold on. The Rams now have a bye and will be keen to find out who their opponents will be when the Mean Machine play the Anfield Jets next weekend.
Damien Cook wasted no time establishing himself as one to watch with 44 involvements in the Bulldogs’ win over Souths. While NRLCEOs might have been reeling after the injury to Michael Lichaa, Bulldogs fans were certainly OK. Not only did Cook score a workhorse, he also crossed for a four pointer and set up another.
Normally the Workhorse Watch comes together bit by bit over the course of the weekend so that by the end of Monday night it’s ready to be submitted. This week I didn’t get started at all until late Monday night and as I’m putting the finishing touches on it on Tuesday night, the Robbie Farah story is breaking. Prior to the story breaking I was all set to write a final section on the Tigers captain and how his run as an NRLCEO “must have” might have come to an end. It seems Wests are thinking the same thing.
Farah sits on just 12 workhorse tries for the season and has only scored 2 workhorses in the last three months. Injury and Origin have played their part during that time frame but the problem is now that he’s back he’s not the player he once was.
As recently as 2014, NRLCEOs could tolerate his absence during Origin because when he was available he’d score tries, double workhorse tries, setup tries and make line breaks. Since returning from injury in Round 21, Farah has zero tries, zero try assists, zero line breaks and zero line break assists. No wonder the Wests Tigers want to unload him!
Workhorse of the Week:
Simon Mannering. Mannering came into the round trailing Shaun Fensom by one workhorse try for the season and whilst he amassed a huge 70 involvements, it was worth no more than the 41 by Fensom due to a lack of metres. The Cowboys ran rough shot over the Warriors taking 62% of possession and forcing New Zealand to do a hell of a lot of defending. Mannering may not get Workhorse of the Year but at least he has a Workhorse of the Week.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK:
- James Graham: 34 tackles + 22 hitups = 56
- Nathan Friend: 53 tackles + 6 hitups = 59
- Corey Parker: 37 tackles + 14 hitups = 51
- Simon Mannering: 58 tackles + 12 hitups = 70
- Aiden Guerra: 45 tackles + 10 hitups = 55
- Blake Leary: 36 tackles + 17 hitups = 53
14. Jake Friend: 48 tackles + 8 hitups = 56
15. Matt Gillett: 36 tackles + 17 hitups = 53
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
Mike Cooper: 29 tackles + 10 hitups = 39
Matt Scott: 24 tackles + 15 hitups = 39
Isaac Liu: 28 tackles + 11 hitups = 39
Justin Horo: 29 tackles + 10 hitups = 39
Jesse Bromwich: 29 tackles + 10 hitups = 39
STATS PER MINUTE:
There are some major injury concerns with some key workhorses picking up injuries at the wrong end of the season. Elijah Taylor broke his hand in his first tackle of the game but soldiered on until the 17th minute against the Dragons. It’s the second straight season that injury has ended the back rower’s season prematurely after he tore his ACL in Round 21 last year. Issah Yeo comes in at lock but don’t expect him to pick up a workhorse. Look to Tyrone Peachey who had 46 involvements in 80 minutes last week (0.58 SPM) to score his fifth workhorse of the year.
Speaking of ACLs, Matt Ballin’s season is also over after he tore his against Parramatta on Sunday. Ballin came off injured in the first half and returned bravely (stupidly) in the second half only to have his knee collapse under him. Jayden Hodges was rumoured to be the man to replace him but instead Blake Leary has been named at hooker. Like Peachey, Leary also scored his fifth workhorse of the season with his coming from 55 involvements in 80 minutes (0.69 SPM).
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is also out for the season after suffering a knee injury against the Broncos. JWH might have been part of the Close But No Cigar Club for the last two weeks but his loss will be felt by those still alive in their respective NRLCEO competitions. It opens up the door for Sam Moa to come back into the side. Moa’s minutes are down this season but on his day he’s capable of scoring a workhorse with the best of them. With an SPM of 0.81, Moa needs 50 minutes of game time now that JWH is out instead of his normal 40.
James Tamou’s season is also over and his absence will put greater pressure on Matt Scott and Ben Hannant who have been a little bit sporadic with their workhorses in recent weeks. The Polar Bear (0.92 SPM) in particular is a lock for a workhorse try both this week and next, provided he gets 44 minutes of game time instead of his usual 40.
JUST QUICKLY:
As some of you might recall, I was gutted when Jarryd Hayne announced his move to NFL. Not only had my NRL team lost their best player, so too had my fantasy team.
I wished him well but secretly hoped he would fail and return to my beloved Eels, even if it meant I no longer had him in my keeper league.
But not any more, it’s only a couple of trial games but I am so excited for Hayne and what he’s done so far. I find myself watching videos of his highlights over and over again, watching in awe as he revels in open space, just as he used to do in rugby league.
Now I hope he never comes back because I hope he has a long and prosperous career in the NFL. Still early days I know, but I’m already examining the 49ers schedule to see if I need to change my work arrangements so I can get Mondays off.
Geoff Adams
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