Workhorse Watch: Rep Round
The NRL and NRLCEO might have been on hiatus this week but that hasn’t stopped yours truly from penning some workhorse related thoughts.
With the #RoosKiwis Test postponed, it’s time to get back to some @Fantasy_NRLCEO #WorkhorseWatch stat analysis
— Geoff Adams (@geoffadams81) May 1, 2015
Cameron Smith saying his side became complacent against the Kiwis an acceptable excuse? I’d have much rather he came out and said they were the better team. By blaming complacency he might be trying to cover the fact that some of them are past it, but to me, saying it’s a mental thing (see attitude problem) is just as bad. Even if you do drop your guard, how many times to do you need the ‘Beast’, Manu Vatuvei running at you to get you to refocus? Personally, I blame the lack of war dance. Of the eight nations that played footy on the weekend, the two that didn’t have a war cry, South Africa and Australia were not competitive. Forget Phil Gould’s call for a playmaker academy, for Australia to remain strong we need a War Dance Academy. Turn it into a reality show and run it back to back with ‘The NRL Rookie’.
WORKHORSE WATCH BY REQUEST
Here at the Workhorse Watch we’re happy to take requests on issues you want to know more about. This week’s request comes from the Commish himself.
In the next edition of #WorkhorseWatch I’d like to see an analysis of try scoring forwards who don’t achieve 40+ pic.twitter.com/Vwq83YTeCs
— NRLCEO Fantasy Footy (@Fantasy_NRLCEO) April 28, 2015
The list of forwards who have scored actual tries but no workhorse tries is a veritable who’s who of workhorse nobodies (save for a few exceptions). If not for this topic, it’s likely that many of them wouldn’t have got a mention in this column all season.
Shannon Boyd, Dave Taylor and Mitchell Dodds have each scored two tries but are yet to post a workhorse try. The closest any of them have come to scoring a workhorse was when Dodds had 35 involvements in Round 7. Boyd’s best was last round when he had 32 involvements while the most Taylor has mustered this year is 31 in Round 4.
There are 11 players who have one try to their name and no workhorses with the most notable being Thomas Leuluai and Nathan Friend. The pair of Warriors continue to split minutes making it impossible for either to notch up a workhorse try.
One player I wouldn’t classify as a workhorse nobody is Robbie Rochow. It’s been a rough year for the Newcastle back rower who averaged 33 involvements a game before withdrawing from the Knights’ match in Round 4. In the off season I toiled with the idea of holding onto Rochow in my keeper league as I speculated whether he might return to his 2013 form where he scored 18 workhorse tries. Thankfully I decided not to include him as part of my 10 keepers.
| PLAYER | TEAM… | GAMES… | TRIES… | WH TRIES |
| Mitchell Dodds | BRS | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Dave Taylor | GCS | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Shannon Boyd | CAN | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Nathan Friend | CAN | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Thomas Leuluai | NZL | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Frank-Paul Nuuausala….. | NZL | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Bryce Cartwright | PEN | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Sika Manu | PEN | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Jarrod Wallace | BRS | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Agnatius Paasi | GCS | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Tyler Randall | NEW | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Robbie Rochow | NEW | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| John Sutton | SOU | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Sebastine Ikahihfo | NZL | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Of those who have scored workhorse tries, there are just two forwards with more actual tries than workhorses. Thanks largely to his effort in Round 7, Jake Granville has four tries compared to one workhorse. Meanwhile Ryan Hoffman has scored three actual tries compared to two workhorse tries but has scored nothing since Round 4.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
In the lead up to last weekend, Tim Sheens talked about the need for a succession plan for the aging Kangaroos line up. The pack that was selected deserved their spots but even the best (and not so best) workhorses eventually have to be put out to pasture.
Which brings me to this week’s team of the week, the “Workhorse Pack of Antique”. “Workhorse” is a very loose term here, the emphasis really has to be on the “antique”. What unites them is that they have all represented their country at the highest level but nowadays these donkeys are all getting a bit long in the tooth and not one of them has scored a workhorse try this year.
Ben Creagh was a good workhorse in his day but Willie Mason rarely threatened to score a workhorse try even at the height of his career. Others like Thomas Leuluai are still playing rep footy while Brent Kite and Frank Pritchard have extended their rep careers by playing for Tonga and Samoa respectively in recent seasons. As I said though, none of them have a workhorse this year.
WORKHORSE PACK OF ANTIQUE
- Antonio Kaufusi: New Zealand (2006) – Age: 30
- Thomas Leuluai: New Zealand (2003 – current) – Age : 29
- Brent Kite: Australia (2006-09) – Age 34
- Ben Creagh: Australia (2005-11) – Age: 30
- Willie Mason: Australia (2002-09) – Age: 35
- Frank Pritchard: New Zealand (2005-2013) – Age: 31
Geoff Adams
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