Workhorse Watch Round 18
Workhorse Watch 2023 – Meet Joe Green!
Round 18 was officially labelled ‘blowout’ round with a couple of teams not even registering a point. Both the Dogs and Tigers were comprehensively beaten to nil which is a concern given the NRL is keen to bring in an 18th team in a couple of years, is there enough talent to fill 18 teams? In Round 18, 64 players scores a WH with 1 player scoring a DWH.
WORKING HARD
Joseph Tapine (Raiders)
44 tackles, 16 runs for 152m in 59 minutes – DWH (1.02 stats per minute)
Tapine scored his 2nd DWH of the season in a hard fought match against the Titans. Joe’s consistency has been superb this year, only missing a WH once, although he has only scored a ME in 8 of his 15 matches. I think he his now considered one of the premium CEO Front Rowers.
Harry Grant (Storm)
61 tackles, 8 runs for 58m in 80 minutes – WH (0.86 spm)
Harry just doing Harry things. The current MVP leader is the justified #1 in NRLCEO. The great thing about Grant is his ability to remain injury free. He plays 80 minutes in the middle each week but still manages to play the majority of matches each season.
Corey Horsburgh (Raiders)
55 tackles, 13 runs for 116m in 70 minutes – WH (0.97 spm)
Big Red has certainly earned his QLD jersey for Game 3. It has been a breakout CEO season for Horsburgh and he will no doubt move up into the early draft rounds for next season.
Jack De Belin (Dragons)
57 tackles, 8 runs for 74m in 80 minutes – WH (0.81 spm)
Rightly or wrongly a fairly scrutinised player in recent times, however for CEO purposes he is a gun forward to have. He is struggling to match last years numbers even after sitting out the first 4 rounds with injury, however he is a guaranteed WH when he plays barring injury or HIA.
HARDLY WORKING
Jordan McLean (Cowboys)
17 tackles, 12 runs for 118m in 38 minutes (0.76 spm)
Jordan seems to be a victim of the Cowboys success in terms of his CEO scoring. He is more likely to score a WH when the Cowboys are struggling and with the team seemingly having turned their season around, McLean is not likely to score many WH’s for the rest of the season.
Stefano Utoikamanu (Tigers)
24 tackles, 8 runs for 64m in 42 minutes (0.76 spm)
After a promising couple of weeks Stefano has fallen short of a WH again. Where is the form he showed at the back end of 2021? He only has 1 ME to date this year as well which is a reflection of the Tigers ability to get on the front foot as a pack.
David Klemmer (Tigers)
21 tackles, 11 runs for 103m in 45 minutes (0.71 spm)
Three consecutive matches without a WH for Klem is just not the standard he has been known for previously. His form is also a reflection on the Tigers struggles but surely he should be one of the players to step up and try and lead the Tigers out of their slump.
SPUD POOL LOOKOUT
Emre Guler (Raiders)
43 tackles, 11 runs for 95m in 56 minutes – WH (0.96 spm)
At 25 years of age, Emre is coming into his prime as a Front Rower in the NRL. I think he has the ability to become a premium CEO front rower, however he would need to take the starting spot off Josh Papalii. For the time being he gets the start whilst Papalii is out injured for a few weeks. I like him as a potential contract/keeper player over the next 4 to 5 years.
Jayden Okunbor (Bulldogs)
46 tackles, 3 runs for 28m in 80 minutes – WH (0.61 spm)
Well he doesn’t look like a second rower yet but he is giving it a fair go. He has scored 3 WH’s in his last 4 matches but this is mostly due to tackling, he is only averaging 5 runs for 49 metres this season. If you are short on back row options then he is worth picking up to cover a WH with the Bulldogs sure to be doing plenty of tackling to finish the season.
Nathan Brown (Roosters)
38 tackles, 8 runs for 59m in 48 minutes – WH (0.96 spm)
It’s hard to tell how the Roosters forward pack will take shape over the coming weeks. Brown had his usual high work rate with 46 involvements in 48 minutes. If he keeps the starting lock position with Radley moving to an edge then he is worth picking up.
Ryan Sutton (Bulldogs)
32 tackles, 8 runs for 69m in 45 minutes – WH (0.89 spm)
Sutton moves back into the starting side at the expense of Pangai Junior. He barely scraped in a WH last week coming off the bench but will be more likely to WH with the start. He started the season with 5 consecutive WH’s before his form tapered off, can he get back to that early season form?
WORTH MENTIONING….
Lachlan Fitzgibbon (Knights)
28 tackles, 20 runs for 163m in 80 minutes – WH (0.60 spm)
What a performance from Fitzgibbon against a weak Dogs side. This is the sort of form that he is capabale of but isn’t able to produce on a regular basis. Its his 9th WH of the season which is more than double what he managed all of last year so he is a player on the up. At 29 years of age he doesn’t have many years left to produce his best.
Taniela Paseka (Sea Eagles)
25 tackles, 21 runs for 164m in 49 minutes – WH (0.94 spm)
A breakout season for Paseka continues, scoring his 10th WH of 2023. I think he is a player of the future, both in NRL and CEO terms. He is averaging 42 involvements and 137 running metres now this season, for those in contract/keeper leagues he would be worth locking up long term now.
David Fifita (Titans)
29 tackles, 16 runs for 161m in 80 minutes – WH (0.56 spm)
Beast Mode Fifita is back in 2023, well since Round 9 at least, averaging 13 CEO pts a match since then (excluding round 14 when he was ruled out with a HIA). Those CEO’s who took a punt on him at the start of the year are reaping the rewards of Fifita’s return to form.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK (most involvements by eligible position)
8. Joseph Tapine (Raiders) – 60
9. Harry Grant (Storm) – 69
10. Jack De Belin (Dragons) – 65
11. Nat Butcher (Roosters) – 61
12. Jackson Ford (Warriors) – 59
13. Corey Horsburgh (Raiders) – 68
Adz
NRLCEO Commish
WH – Workhorse
DWH – Double Workhorse
ME – Metre Eater
DME – Double Metre Eater
SPM – Stats per minute played
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