Round 11 marks the halfway point the NRLCEO regular season so it’s time to take stock of who is making the grade and who is failing. Here is the Workhorse Watch Mid-Year Report Card.

Top of the Class:

Sam Burgess gets plenty of press and with good reason; he’s been fantastic this season and is leading the workhorse try tally with 16 for the year.  Compare that to last year where he had 16 workhorse tries for the whole season! Considering that unlike his nearest rivals he doesn’t have Origin to contend with, the Souths big man is firming by the minute to take out Workhorse of the Year honours.

Up next is Grubby McGrubb… um…ah…I mean Cameron Smith. Smith is having another really strong year and the only reason I hate him is because he is so damn good and doesn’t play for NSW. By this time last season, Smith had 13 workhorse tries and this year he has 14 in one less game.

Meanwhile, one of my favourites, Robbie Farah has been in career best form and if there is anyone that will deny Sam Burgess the Workhorse of the Year title it’s the Tigers’ captain. Before getting injured Farah lead the league with 11 workhorse tries in 6 games and despite missing three weeks is only three workhorse tries off the pace. Yes he has Origin duties but if he stays healthy he’ll be in for a big finish to the season.

These kind of numbers can only come on the back of some double workhorse tries so it’s no surprise that these three lead the way in that department as well. Despite missing 3 weeks through injury Farah has 6 double workhorse tries for the season with Burgess and Smith on 5 each.

Improvement Needed:

At the beginning of the year I established the ‘Close but no Cigar Club’ to highlight the players who come agonisingly close to a workhorse try from week to week but fall one short. Of course anyone who has a forward that has upwards of 35 involvements but falls short of a workhorse try will no doubt lament what might have been. But with 126 forwards having at least on one occasion or more fallen in the dreaded 35-39 involvement bracket there are just too many to list from week to week.

Tim Mannah is like watching a 3 year old trying to colour in. They’re doing their best so you can’t tell them off but the end result is terrible and every week you’re forced to say “Good job” and then think “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”  Mannah has had between 35 and 39 involvements on 6 occasions this season including 3 games where he has been left stranded on 39. Mannah has featured most prominently in this category but he’s not without some accomplices.

Justin Horo also has 6 and like Mannah only has one workhorse try for the season. I can’t imagine it’s easy to get through the workload surrounded by such a strong forward pack but c’mon man! You’re on the park for 80 minutes! Get amongst it!

Bodene Thompon has also fallen short on 6 occasions but the difference is he’s played 1 more game than either Horo or Mannah and at least has 4 workhorse tries to his name.

Encouragement Award:

Like a lot of people, I got really excited when Manu Ma’u burst onto the scene. Workhorse tries in Rounds 3 and 4 made everyone stand up and take notice (not to mention scramble to recruit him) but since then he’s scored only one workhorse and hovered between 30 and 39 involvements in every other game. Hopefully there’s more of his early form still to come.

So too Tinirau Arona, who was a virtual unknown coming into the season and yet has proved himself highly capable in the absence of many of the Sharks star back rowers. Arona has scored 7 workhorse tries and 1 actual try and with Origin it’s clear his output is only going to get better.

Finally I want to make mention of Kurt Gidley. Gidley has made a smooth transition to hooker this season; smooth as far as workhorse performance at least with 10 workhorse tries in as many games. Sure his team is at the bottom of the ladder, but that’s not a bad thing when it comes to your forwards.

Extra Curricular:

The only thing better than a workhorse try or a double workhorse try is a try/workhorse try double where a player not only has 40+ involvements but also gets across for a meat pie as well. So far there have been 59 occasions where this has occurred including a few times this year where a player has scored either 2 tries and a workhorse or a try and a double workhorse.

Leading the way once again are Robbie Farah and Sam Burgess who each have scored a try/workhorse try combo in 4 occasions. Matt Scott is a bit of a surprise packet on three along with Nathan Peats who also has three.

Teacher’s Pet:

As equally valuable as the star workhorses are the guys that get it done every week. Players who you know are just points in the bank. Sam Burgess and Andrew McCullough have scored in every round so far this season whilst Matt Ballin (prior to the bye) along with Trent Merrin, Corey Parker and Nate Myles (prior to Origin) have also not missed a beat all year.

See me after Class:

There are several players who I think are definitely underperforming who I expected much more from this season. The first is Joel Reithmuller; I really had high hopes for this guy. Reithmuller made the most of his opportunities behind Dallas Johnson last year so when the great man retired I figured that Reithmuller would be the man for job. Unfortunately the former Tully Tiger has been rather toothless, only playing four games and making 1 workhorse try which he earned with the minimum 40 involvements.

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is also someone I expected more from this year. The Roosters enforcer had 7 workhorse tries before getting suspended last year whereas this year he sits on just 3 in 11 games. JWH’s form saw him dropped from the Kiwi side and whilst NRLCEO coaches may be tempted to do the same, you know Murphy’s Law will kick in the second you do.

Simon Mannering has also been underwhelming this year. Sure he has 6 workhorse tries but I expected him to be in double digits by now. The Warriors tendencies to either win or get flogged by massive margins are not conducive to scoring workhorse tries and Simon Mannering is feeling the effect. His 6 workhorse tries have all come in the six games where the match was decided by 10 points or less. In the other 5 games where the winning margin has been much more than that, Mannering has failed to get the workhorse numbers.

Other players that will have disappointed NRLCEOs at this point in the season include Liam Fulton, Sam Thaiday, and Andrew Fifita but it’s hard to be critical given their lack of workhorse tries has been due to injury. 

WORKHORSE OF THE WEEK:

Tinirau Arona

I hate losing. But if I’m going to lose, I’m happy for it to be at the hands of a Herculean effort like Arona’s. Not that 8 points cost me the game against the Crystal Ball Boy; I was already trailing by 2 points with Monday night to play, but Arona’s 69 involvements dashed my hopes of a last match comeback and elevated him to Workhorse of the Week honours. To add salt into the wound, he knocked off one of my players, Jake Friend who was the only other player to score a workhorse double on the weekend.

WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK (Round 11)

8. Adam Blair: 42 tackles + 9 hitups = 51
9. Jake Friend: 44 tackles + 9 hitups = 53
10. Josh McGuire: 45 tackles + 15 hitups = 60
11. Tinirau Arona: 52 tackles + 17 hitups = 69
12. Ben Lowe: 45 tackles + 13 hitups = 53
13. Shaun Fensom: 49 tackles + 15 hitups =64

14. Andrew McCullough: 56 tackles + 10 hitups = 66
15. Matt Srama: 44 tackles + 7 hitups = 51

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

We have received unconfirmed reports that Tim Mannah spent the bye doing extra sessions but when it came to the tackle bag he stopped after 39.

Sauaso Sue: 31 tackles + 8 hitups = 39
Luke Bailey: 27 tackles + 12 hitups = 39
Nathan Friend: 32 tackles + 7 hitups = 39
Dylan Napa: 26 tackles + 13 hitups = 39
Alex Glenn: 26 tackles + 13 hitups = 39
Kyle Turner: 28 tackles + 11 hitups = 39

STATS PER MINUTE 

Ben Hannant was the stand out this week, racking up 48 involvements in 42 minutes (1.14SPM). Fellow Bronco Josh McGuire had 60 involvements in just 61 minutes (0.98SPM) as Brisbane tried to cover for some of their best workhorses away on Origin duty.

Similarly as impressive was Ben Lowe who had a workhorse try by halftime on Monday night and would go on to have 58 involvements in 59 minutes (0.98SPM). It was Lowe’s first workhorse try of the year and first since round 17 last year. Lowe scored 4 workhorse tries in 5 games between round 11 and 17 in 2013 so clearly he is one of Michael McGuire’s go to men at this time of year.

Meanwhile Ethan Lowe (no relation) who I mentioned last week as a dark horse was also in good touch. He scored a workhorse try with 49 involvements in 80 minutes (0.61SPM) to go with a try, 2 goals and a line break.

Other players who scored their first workhorse tries of 2014 were Brisbane pair Ben Hunt and Todd Lowrie and the Titans’ Matt Srama and Ben Ridge.

JUST QUICKLY

Ricky Stuart is the Francesco Schettino of rugby league. Who is Francesco Schettino I hear you ask. You’ll recall back in January 2012, a cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany after the captain steered the ship into narrow waters. Schettino was that captain. He then abandoned ship when he “fell” into a life raft leaving everyone else behind to deal with a mess that he was responsible for.

Ricky’s claims over the weekend that he is partly responsible for Parramatta’s success this season is akin to Schettino who testified that he was co-ordinating the rescue from the shore. Sorry Rick, like Captain Coward, anything you did was inconsequential to the work of the people dealing with matters since your departure. And if you want to start talking about taking credit for things implemented the previous season why not tell us about Graham Murray’s role in building the team you won a premiership with.

Whilst Schettino is still on trial over two years later, Captain Ricky has managed to commandeer another vessel and now he’s convinced James Tedesco jump aboard. The Raiders may have gotten a win on the weekend but surely Tedesco can see that the SS Canberra is just another one of Ricky’s sinking ships.

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Geoff Adams

Geoff Adams is the foremost authority on Workhorse Watching. A past time no one else does mind you. Get the lowdown on all things workhorse related including Stats Per Minute.

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