The 2016 Workhorse Awards
Welcome to the 2016 Workhorse Watch Awards Night.
The Workies are a chance to celebrate all that is great about rugby league’s toughest players.
This is a very important category as NRLCEOs are already planning their draft for 2017. The four nominees from last year (Lichaa, Lowe, De Belin and Trbojevic) all finished in the Top 20 for workhorses this season.
The nominees are:
Cameron McInnes may not have a club for next season but he does have 14 workhorse tries to his name; perhaps that’s why he doesn’t want to be part of the logjam for the hooking role at Souths next year.
David Klemmer was already a NSW representative before the season started but 2016 has been a breakout year in terms of workhorse tries with the Bulldogs forward scoring 12 this year.
Daniel Alvaro has eight workhorses tries to his name this season but it’s the manner in which he gets them. His workrate is extraordinary with a stats per minute score of 0.98.
Mitchell Barnett was an NRLCEO nobody until a move up the F1 created a perfect storm for any aspiring workhorse, the opportunity to start in a side that was getting belted every week. The result? Nine workhorses in nine games.
WINNER: Mitchell Barnett
In the past the Close But No Cigar Club’s annual tally included those who finished on 37, 38 and 39 but so depressing is this category for NRLCEOs everywhere that this year we have focussed solely on players that finished on exactly 39 involvements in a game.
Going into the final week there were 84 players that finished on the dreaded 39 this season with 22 players doing it on multiple occasions. Some of worst offenders were Tim Grant and Kenny Bromwich (3 times) and Nate Myles (4) but the winner as a result of Paul Green’s extremely even handedness in dishing out minutes goes to James Tamou with five.
It just goes to show how critical one or two involvements can be. Last year Tamou was the recipient of the Workhorse Lite Award but had 13 workhorse tries, this year he has just 7.
WINNER: James Tamou
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WORKHORSE LITE AWARD
As with the No Cigar Award I’ve cut this down just to those who finished on exactly 40 involvements. This year five players finished on exactly 40 on three occasions meaning that for the first time (granted it’s only the second time this title has been handed out) the award will be shared, which is nice, because the essence of this category is about not doing it all on your own.
Congratulations Luke Douglas, Mick Ennis, Manu Ma’u, Mitchell Barnett and Zeb Taia (with Barnett and Taia pulling it out in the penultimate round.
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MOST DOUBLE WORKHORSE TRIES
Those worried about workhorse numbers at the start of the year needn’t have with James Graham blitzing the field with 10 double workhorse tries, 4 more than last year’s winner Paul Gallen.
Teammate Aiden Tolman finished second with seven and Mitch Rein and Sam Burgess tied for third with five each.
WINNER: James Graham
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TRY / WORKHORSE TRY AWARD
The introduction of Metre Eaters added some interest this season but with many leagues opting not to include them, the try/workhorse try combo is still the most exciting way for forwards to score points.
Last year Bodene Thompson took the title with 6 try/workhorse try doubles and backed that up with an honourable 5 this year. Meanwhile Tohu Harris finished the season with 6.
In the final round the Cowboys squared off against the Titans and in the battle within the battle, Ethan Lowe and Ryan James each had 7 try/workhorse tries going into match.
Lowe managed to get a workhorse but it was James who crashed over to keep the Titans hopes alive and give himself the try/workhorse try title.
WINNER: Ryan James
Last year this title was taken by a half who moonlighted at hooker, this year it goes to a genuine back in Euan Aitken. It’s been an unhappy year for the Red V with the Dragons boasting one of the worst attacks in the league.
To put it in perspective, Aitken scored 5 workhorse tries, only 4 Dragons players scored more than that in actual tries, and one of them was Aitken.
WINNER: Euan Aitken
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MOST INVOLVEMENTS IN A MATCH
We let this one slip the other week, of course it was James Graham but did you know last year there were 10 occasions where players had 70 or more involvements, this year there have been 13.
In fact, despite the concerns at the start of the year over what counted as a stat, workhorse numbers have been up right across the board. There were more double workhorses scored this year (64) compared to last year (52) and more try/workhorse try combos this year (156) compared to last year (133).
WINNER: James Graham
- James Graham: (34)
- Mitch Rein (26)
- Aiden Tolman (29)
- Ryan James (24)
- Dale Finucane (22)
- Sam Burgess (26)
- Jake Friend (24)
- Josh McGuire (22)
* Honourable mention to Cameron Smith who had 22 workhorse tries but missed out on bench spot due to McGuire playing less games.
Before we get to the winner, I want to take a moment to remember last year’s victor. Shaun Fensom took the title with 5 Workhorse of the Week crowns and topped the workhorse tally with 28. This time last year he was crowned king of the workhorses. Today he is nowhere to be seen outside of a NSW Cup ground.
The race to be this year’s best has been a two workhorse race since the beginning but other players who received multiple Workhorse of the Week crowns included Sam Burgess (3) Paul Gallen (3) and Ryan James (2).
The player with the most Workhorse of the Week crowns (5) and the most workhorse tries in 2016 was James Graham who narrowly held off teammate Aiden Tolman (4). Graham finished with 34 workhorse tries, a massive leap from the 16 he scored last year and better than anything we have ever seen in NRLCEO.
WINNER: James Graham
Check out the previous awards:
Geoff Adams
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