Workhorse Watch Week 25
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A huge week in NRLCEO but let’s start with the most important point to come out of the round. My mighty Castle Hill Rams are through to their second consecutive Grand Final having dispatched arch rivals the Goulburn Warriors over the weekend.
Games between the Rams and the Warriors are always willing affairs and in the 26 games played since 2003 the ledger was 13 wins to the Rams, 12 to the Warriors with one draw going into last weekend.
The Rams got out to a lead early thanks to Corey Parker and Andrew McCullough and by the time Monday night came around they were leading comfortably 49-40 with Matt Scott, Tupou Sopoaga and Tautai Moga still to play up against the last of the Warriors, Ricky Leutele. Goulburn were all but beat but that didn’t stop Warriors boss Cheyno from lamenting a try assist that never was (disallowed Lui try) to a player he didn’t even pick (Ray Thompson). With Scott and Sopoaga having workhorses in the bag, Cheyno sweating something like that is like worrying about the deck chair that fell overboard after the Titanic hit the iceberg. The Rams now meet the Bass Straight Mean Machine in the Grand Final for the second year in a row and will look to avenge last year’s defeat.
Whilst I was happy with Matt Scott’s workhorse try, Jamie B (aka The Commish) was ecstatic as it clinched his first ever NRLCEO Grand Final berth. Tied at 42-all with Monday night to play, Jamie’s Forestville Ferrets only had Matt Scott up against Tautau Moga, Michael Morgan and James Tamou. With the Cowboys expected to run rampant it was logical to assume that the likes of Moga and Morgan would get a piece of it. Fortunately for the Commish, it was a tight game and they didn’t. The battle between the North Queensland front rowers ended with Tamou finishing on 37 involvements and Scott getting the workhorse and the win for Jamie B.
Neither James Graham nor Sam Burgess featured in my game but they would have been a factor in many matches across NRLCEO. Going into the round Burgess was on 27 workhorse tries for the season with Graham the next best on 25. When Burgess left the field early in the second half he was on 37 involvements whilst Graham already had a workhorse and was on track for a double. In the end Graham did get a double but Burgess also came back and scored one, meaning there is just one workhorse try between them going into the final round of the year.
Whilst Burgess shook off his injury and is set for his NRLCEO swansong this week, two players out of action that will cause major headaches for fantasy players are Jake Friend and Jamie Buhrer. Both players are still being monitored as I write this and may return before the NRL season is over but they are no chance of getting on the park this weekend. Friend scored a workhorse try on Saturday to take his tally to 23 for the year whilst Buhrer finished in the No Cigar Club with 39. Both are major losses with just one game to go.
WORKHORSE OF THE WEEK:
Aiden Tolman. Matt Scott’s workhorse might have clinched the win for The Commish but it was players like Tolman who laid the foundation early for the Ferrets and plenty of other teams with another huge game which sees him take the honours for the second time in three weeks.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK
8. Aiden Tolman: 45 tackles + 19 hitups = 64
9. Andrew McCullough: 43 tackles + 11 hitups = 54
10. James Graham: 44 tackles + 17 hitups = 61
11. Tim Robinson: 49 tackles + 14 hitups = 63
12. Gavin Cooper: 40 tackles + 16 hitups = 56
13. Greg Bird: 44 tackles + 11 hitups = 55
14. Josh McGuire: 38 tackles + 17 hit ups = 55
15. Sam Burgess: 31 tackles + 23 hit ups = 54
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
Quite an array of players this week including Mr Workhorse Lite.
Aiden Guerra: 32 tackles + 7 hitups = 39
Beau Falloon: 36 tackles + 3 hitups = 39
Dane Tilse: 25 tackles + 14 hitups = 39
Jamie Buhrer: 27 tackles + 12 hitups = 39
Jason King: 27 tackles + 12 hitups = 39
Kyle Turner: 32 tackles + 7 hitups = 39
Mike Cooper: 30 tackles + 9 hitups = 39
Sam Thaiday: 30 tackles + 9 hitups = 39
STATS PER MINUTE
Round 26 represents the final go around for a number of forwards. Luke Bailey, Jason King and Ben Smith have all announced their retirements in recent weeks and join the likes of Ashley Harrison, John Morris and Kevin Kingston who all said earlier in the year that they were hanging up the boots. With a stats per minute score of 0.85 for the season, Bailey will need 47 minutes of game time if he is to go out with one last workhorse. King will need a similar game to the one he played against the Panthers where he had 39 involvements which was by far the most he’s gotten all season. Smith meanwhile needs half the Eels pack to get injured so that he can have any shot at a workhorse.
As a number of players leave the game, in their place comes a crop of youngsters that NRLCEOs will be keen to get their hands on next season. On Monday night we saw Tim Robinson score his second workhorse try in as many weeks with NRLCEO declaring on Twitter that the Sharks prop had racked up 40 involvements in 44 minutes. What’s strange is that he finished with 63 involvements and is listed as playing just 49 minutes which means he either racked up another 20 odd involvements in 5 minutes or someone’s maths is wrong somewhere along the way. (And it could be mine). Either way, I’m putting it down as one of the highest stats per minute (1.28 SPM) for any player this season and especially impressive given the high number of involvements.
Meanwhile Sharks teammate Pat Politoni also scored his second workhorse try of the year. Although Politoni made his debut back in 2012, he hadn’t been seen in first grade since; that it is until he was a late call up in Round 17 this year. Politoni topped the tackle count in round 18 against Newcastle with 39 and his first workhorse. Not bad for a fourth string hooker. Then on Monday night Politoni had 52 involvements (0.88 SPM) to get his second ever workhorse.
Then there’s Tepai “Shoeless Joe” Moeroa who scored a try and a workhorse try against the Knights despite losing his right boot on three separate occasions including when he ran to the line to score in 34th minute. Moeroa finished with 48 involvements for the match (0.60 SPM)
JUST QUICKLY
- Good luck to everyone playing in Grand Finals this weekend.
- For those of you who’ve missed out, commiserations.
- Be sure to check back next week for my last column of the season, the ‘Workhorse Watch End of Season Awards’.
Geoff Adams
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