Workhorse Watch Round 7
Paul Gallen is back! For NRLCEOs who have him, his return will have been met with varying degrees of joy. Obviously it’s great to see the Blues captain back but no doubt there were some NRLCEOs caught out by his return amid the Easter weekend festivities. Gallen made 32 tackles and 19 hit ups in a surprise return on Saturday night. If you have him, hopefully you got wind of his return in time to name him and capitalise on his first workhorse try of the season.
John Sutton and Alex Glenn had good games on the weekend with both crossing for a try along with the odd line break or try assist but their performances would have been even better if not for their missed tackle count. Sutton had 37 involvements but missed 4 tackles and Glenn had 34 involvements but missed 6 tackles. Whilst neither is considered genuine weekly workhorses, had they not missed those tackles, both would have scored their second workhorse try of the season. But I’m picking on just two players. Every week there are players who would have scored workhorse tries if not for missed tackles and once you start cataloguing all those you end up in a game of ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda’ greater than the current debate on referees and what the NRL ladder ‘should’ look like.
One of the great things about fantasy rugby league is how it gives praise to the unsung heroes of footy teams who just get on with the job every week and make it possible for the stars to strut their stuff. It’s great that fans now have just as much, if not more appreciation for the likes of Shaun Fensom over someone like Greg Inglis. It’s all well and good to highlight the amazing work rates of some of the top workhorses in the league but it has been remiss of the Workhorse Watch not to draw attention to some performers who perhaps don’t rack up the numbers of a Burgess or Fensom but still get the job done every week.
Which leads me to Nathan Friend: The Warriors hooker has been phenomenal again this year racking up massive amounts of tackles. Unfortunately his running game is not quite the same as other top line hookers meaning although he’s regularly up there with some of the highest number of involvements for a hooker because other hookers have scored workhorse doubles thanks to gaining more yardage, Friend has often missed out on making the Workhorse Team of the Week; until now. Friend scored his first workhorse double of the year with 55 tackles and 7 runs. His 76 metres was just enough to make his effort worth 8 rather than 4.
Friend has been tremendously consistent and is one of only 9 players to have scored a workhorse try every week. Not even Robbie Farah and Cameron Smith can claim that (although Farah is injured). Other players who have scored a workhorse try every week so far this season are Elijah Taylor, Matt Ballin, Corey Parker, Aiden Tolman, and Nate Myles along with Workhorse Team of the Week regulars Sam Burgess, Andrew McCullough and Trent Merrin.
WORKHORSE OF THE WEEK:
Sam Burgess and Josh Jackson: I was reluctant to name dual workhorses but it’s hard to split these two. Both had 66 involvements and both scored a double workhorse try. Burgess had 42 tackles and 24 hit ups whilst Jackson had 49 tackles and 17 hit ups. My first instinct was to award it to Burgess based on his consistency over recent weeks. But it’s Workhorse of the Week not of recent weeks. Then I thought Jackson should have it based on a higher tackle count. But does making more tackles compared to hit ups make you more of a workhorse? Yes it’s easier to run than it is to tackle but when you account for the number of flops and third man in that counts as tackles you could say that carting the ball up requires more effort. What do you think? In the end I decided to cop the splinters and stay firmly on the fence.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK (Round 7)
8. Sam Burgess: 42 tackles + 24 hitups = 66
9. Nathan Friend: 55 tackles + 7 hitups = 62
10. James Graham: 38 tackles + 19 hitups = 57
11. Josh Jackson: 49 tackles + 17 hitups = 66
12. Ashley Harrison: 43 tackles + 15 hitups = 58
13. Shaun Fensom: 49 tackles + 15 hitups =64
14. Andrew McCullough: 60 tackles + 7 hit ups = 67
15. Kevin Kingston: 40 tackles + 15 hitups = 55
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
There were four players who missed out on workhorse tries this week with Tim Mannah awarded the dubious honour of making the ‘Close but no Cigar’ Club for the second straight week.
Glenn Buttriss: 31 tackles + 8 hitups = 39
Jacob Lillyman: 24 tackles + 15 hitups = 39
Tim Grant: 29 tackles + 10 hitups = 39
Tim Mannah: 24 tackles + 15 hitups = 39
STATS PER MINUTE
Martin Kennedy’s strong work rate (1.07SPM) was finally put to good use on Friday following Sam Thaiday’s withdrawal through injury. The former Rooster was elevated to the starting side having spent most of the season on the Brisbane bench. Kennedy scored just his second workhorse try of the year; his first was back in round 3 when he started in place of Josh McGuire against his former club. Kennedy has been named to start this week and is virtually guaranteed another workhorse meat pie.
Fair play to Brett White who scored a workhorse try in just 39 minutes thanks to an SPM of 1.09 with the Raiders forward having 42 involvements. Dale Finucane (1.05SPM) and Jeremy Latimore (1.02SPM) were equally impressive, smashing out workhorse tries in limited minutes.
And this one goes out to all the haters; Adam Blair actually topped the involvement count for the Tigers on Sunday with 30 tackles and 20 hit ups. He did that in 80 minutes meaning his SPM of 0.63 was well below a number of his team mates he still posted the numbers, and grabbed his second workhorse try of the year.
JUST QUICKLY
Normally this section is just a couple of bullet points and usually it’s a couple of things I’ve tweeted about rugby league over the last seven days (please follow me @geoffadams81). But this week’s ‘Just Quickly’ isn’t so quick.
It’s fair enough that journalists keep NRL administrators to account in regards to the health of the game when it comes to crowds, refereeing standards and other pertinent rugby league issues. But as I write this I’ve just come from watching a game between Parramatta and the Tigers that attracted over 50,000 fans. I write this after a weekend where I attended the Souths vs Bulldogs game that attracted over 40,000.
Over the weekend I’ve read a number of articles discussing the woes of rugby league and how the ‘magic’ of sport in general isn’t as magical as it could be. Since when did every moment of every game be something to be crystallised in the annals of time? To be lauded over as a feat of greatness in the history of sport? It seems that certain journos and commentators are looking for that Hollywood moment whenever a ball is kicked in anger and a dull game that attracts a minimal crowd signals the death of the sport.
There is a talk about how rugby league is not the game it used to be; that ‘outsiders’ have ruined the great traditions of the sport; that the game has descended into a game of glorified touch footy. And please don’t get me started on the bar flies and armchair critics that say the game has gone soft.
The fact is rugby league is fantastic. And all the stuff you want to complain about, you didn’t notice 20 years ago. 20 years ago not every game was broadcast so you didn’t really notice how bad the weather was or how abysmal the crowd was, you just heard the ground announcer give you the around the grounds score. 20 years ago you didn’t have a dozen cameras picking every possible angle, so you didn’t have fuel to debate a ruling or over-ruling for the next week and a half.
Rugby league is great. Some calls go your way and some don’t. And if the sky was falling every time a rugby league journalist said so, we’d all have been crushed years ago.
Geoff Adams
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