Workhorse Watch Round 15
My goodness! So many missing forwards and backs alike; you could watch a ‘Jackass’ marathon and not see as many injuries. The crisis is so bad that on the weekend your humble correspondent, the supposed workhorse try guru of NRLCEO, failed to score a single workhorse try.
With injuries in mind you should also check out JB’s blog on the NRL’s most injury prone players.
Missing Robbie Farah and Jake Friend due to the bye was unavoidable and not having Corey Parker was inevitable given he’d withdrawn from Origin (although the fact he travelled with the squad to Auckland gave me some hope but it was not to be). But then injuries to Matt Scott and Andrew McCullough meant that the only first choice forwards lining up for me last weekend were Kevin Proctor, Tim Mannah and Robbie Rochow, none of whom are particularly consistent when it comes to workhorse tries. Fortunately Farah and Friend are back this week and as they say, “Thank God for hookers!”
Speaking of jackasses, what a week it’s been for Paul Gallen. His outburst on poor old Sharpy aside, what about his performance last Wednesday night in Origin II? He almost cost us the game! Like all Blues fans I was jumping out of my skin when NSW won but one thing that bugged me was Gallen getting Man of the Match. Gallen is workhorse royalty and he’s put in some huge efforts over the years in the sky blue of both NSW and Cronulla. However I thought at times both he and Greg Bird hindered rather than helped New South Wales in attack by taking too many runs at the wrong time.
It’s one thing to hog the hit ups to get your team out of trouble but there were so many opportunities wasted in the Queensland 20 metre zone because Gallen and Greg Bird kept calling for the ball. Gallen, Bird and Ryan Hoffman were the only forwards to reach double figures in terms of hit ups, between them they averaged 20 runs each while Tamou, Woods and Merrin had just 19 runs between them. Let them have a run Gal, you don’t have to do it all yourself or better yet, when it’s time for the likes of Hayne, Jennings and Hopoate to do their thing, let them do it!
WORKHORSE OF THE WEEK:
Shaun Fensom: Having the Canberra Raiders on your TV on a Friday night is fairly unusual, but what was business as usual was Shaun Fensom getting through a tonne of work. While I’m handing out accolades to Canberrans; well done to the 10,873 fans who turned up for the game. Having lived in Canberra for three years I know how easy it is to stay in at this time of year, especially when you’re team is being beamed live into your lounge room. You’re brave souls.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK (Round 15)
8. Josh McGuire: 43 tackles + 15 hit ups = 58
9. Jamie Buhrer: 38 tackles + 15 hit ups = 53
10. Ben Hannant: 38 tackles + 18 hit ups = 56
11. Paul Gallen: 43 tackles + 15 hit ups = 58
12. Wade Graham: 43 tackles + 11 hit ups = 54
13. Shaun Fensom: 42 tackles + 17 hit ups =59
14. Nate Myles: 40 tackles + 13 hit ups = 53
15. Tariq Sims: 35 tackles + 15 hit ups = 50
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
It was a record week for the No Cigar Club with 7 entrants; that’s almost enough for a whole pack (including reserves). Poor old Luke Bailey was downgraded from 40 to 39 involvements which no doubt proved costly for a number of NRLCEOs including, I’m told, NRLCEO’s own Commish.
Anthony Tupou: 30 tackles + 9 hitups = 39
Jesse Bromwich: 22 tackles + 17 hitups = 39
Josh Jackson: 28 tackles + 11 hitups = 39
Luke Bailey: 28 tackles + 11 hitups = 39
Luke Lewis: 30 tackles + 90 hitups = 39
Michael Ennis: 37 tackles + 2 hitups = 39
Michael Lichaa: 36 tackles + 3 hitups = 39
STATS PER MINUTE
The Kurt Gidley experiment at hooker appears to be over with Wayne Bennett saying last week it was not working out and confirming it by moving Gidley to the halves at the expense of Tyrone Roberts. If Gidley continues to have games like he had on Monday where he not only scored a try but resumed the goal kicking duties, NRLCEOs may not have too much of a problem with it.
That leaves Adam Clydesdale with the hooking responsibilities at the Knights but he needs to get more minutes if he is to establish himself as a genuine workhorse. He has a stats-per-minute score of 0.69 for the season but I feel that he is building towards becoming a workhorse. In his first game as a starter in Round 14 he was one short of a workhorse try with 39 involvements in 46 minutes. Last week his numbers dropped with 29 involvements in 43 minutes but it’s always difficult to register a workhorse try in a game where over 60 points are scored. This week could be the week.
Meanwhile those boasting Lee Mossop can’t take a trick with the Englishman taken off 14 minutes into the Eels clash with Melbourne. Up until that point Mossop was in everything with 13 involvements for an SPM of 0.92. Mitch Allgood and Darcy Lussick come onto an extended bench this week, maybe they might score a workhorse try between them.
Finally I think I’ve figured out why Tim Mannah isn’t scoring any workhorse tries and it’s got nothing to do with stats-per-minute or the amount of minutes he gets per game. It comes down to one number; number 8, as in jersey number. All year I’ve been naming Mannah in jersey number 10 when of course he wears number 8 for the Mighty Blue and Gold. Footballers can be a superstitious lot so maybe this is all that’s been holding him back. This week I’ve named him in number 8 so if he scores a workhorse try, you’ll know who to thank.
JUST QUICKLY
- If I could have been anywhere on Monday morning I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at Cronulla Sharks training.
- It’s amazing that Paul Gallen has no problem ripping into Josh Reynolds for taking a quick tap in Origin but can’t make the players he captains at Cronulla accountable.
- To be fair to Gallen, Peter Sharp is not putting in 100%. How much tiling has Sharpy done lately?
Geoff Adams
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