Workhorse Watch Round 10

NRLCEO Workhorse Watch Round 10 – Pat Carrigan is in rare form, despite the Broncos struggling for consistency.

• Mitch Barnett joins the DWH party!
• the evidence is there to see, AFB is playing a lesser role in 2025!
• Halasima backs up his try scoring with some WH form.
• No Stone unturned at the Dolphins, Ray is racking up the WH’s in recent weeks.
• Ipap is back! Now its up to Ivan Cleary to keep it that way.

In Round 10 there were 74 players who scored a WH, with five players scoring a DWH. For the first time in NRLCEO history, there were five players who scored a DWH in the same round. The usual suspects are among them but its Pat Carrigan leading the way with 78 involvements.

WORKING HARD

Patrick Carrigan (Broncos)

58 tackles, 20 runs for 168m in 75 minutes – DWH (1.04 stats per minute)

Carrigan scored his third DWH in his last four matches, playing all but 5 minutes of the match up front against the Bunnies. Carrigan is now averaging 58 involvements and 160 metres a game, which means he is close to averaging a DWH each week!

Mitchell Barnett (Warriors)

44 tackles, 20 runs for 189m in 64 minutes – DWH (1.00 spm)

Barnett joins the DWH party, scoring his first for 2025. He has been Mr Consistent this season, scoring a WH in every match he has played. The downside to Barnett playing at prop this season is his inability to regularly break the 150 metres run each week. This has seen a reduction in his ME scoring, with only two ME’s so far this season. The good news for CEO’s is that Barnett has managed to play every match this year, avoiding injury and suspension which have plagued him in the past.

Isaah Yeo (Panthers)

42 tackles, 22 runs for 162m in 90 minutes – DWH (0.71 spm)

Yeo needed golden point to get him to a DWH this week, scoring his second for the season. Yeo still struggles to score ME’s with the Panthers using him as an extra ball player in the middle, which costs CEO’s the potential for more DWH’s as he is averaging 58 involvements a match this season. It will be interesting to see how the Panthers handle the Origin period and whether they offer players a rest, given they have not banked as many wins this season so far.

Keaon Koloamatangi (Rabbitohs)

41 tackles, 23 runs for 192m in 73 minutes – DWH (0.88 spm)

Keaon is back! KK scored his first DWH of the season after a much maligned start to the season. He was back playing in the middle last week, which is where he played when he went on a tear during the middle of 2024. I think he will remain at prop for the time being but don’t be surprised to see him moved back to an edge after a few weeks, with Bennett getting the desired result of rejuvenating his middle forwards.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (Titans)

36 tackles, 26 runs for 210m in 70 minutes – DWH (0.89 spm)

Tino backs up from last week with his second DWH of the season. He also added a DME in a powerhouse 70 minute performance, carrying the Titans to a much needed win. Tino will continue to play big minutes this season, given he is the captain, but also because they struggle when he is off the field. Tino is on track for a career best NRLCEO season if he can manage to play most of their games this season.

HARDLY WORKING

Addin Fonua-Blake (Sharks)

19 tackles, 20 runs for 160m in 51 minutes – (0.76 spm)

AFB has seemingly had his minutes reduced this season, which was openly the plan from Sharks coach Fitzgibbon. When we look at his numbers, in 2024 in his first 10 matches he averaged 60 minutes a game. In 2025 in his first 10 matches he has averaged 52 minutes a game, so he is clearly playing less minutes in 2025 and this has seen him miss a WH in four of his matches this year. He has also missed a WH in three of his last four matches which hurts when you see a lot of other big name forwards regularly scoring a DWH.

J’maine Hopgood (Eels)

30 tackles, 7 runs for 52m in 40 minutes (0.93 spm)

Coach Ryles is killing Hopgood’s CEO value. After starting the season with four consecutive WH’s, he has now missed a WH in four of his last five matches. Surely the Eels need to find a way to have Walker and Hopgood on the field together for longer periods. I still think playing Hopgood and Williams as props gives them great play the ball speed as well as decent go forward. This then allows Paulo to come off the bench and make an impact against tired defenders. Time will tell but for the moment Hopgood is being dumped to the spud pool in a lot of comps.

Adam Elliott (Knights)

27 tackles, 5 runs for 43m in 40 minutes (0.80 spm)

Elliott has seemingly fallen out of favour at the Knights, despite making his way back from injury in recent weeks. He remains on the bench and I think his speed and quick play the balls have been missed by the Knights. Elliott had a breakout CEO season last year and helped the Knights scrape into the top eight in the last round. He is off contract at the end of this season and may be one of the players tipped to move on which may mean he will remain out of the starting side as the Knights look to develop future combinations.

Marata Niukore (Warriors)

24 tackles, 8 runs for 78m in 66 minutes (0.48 spm)

Niukore plays enough minutes each week to get a WH but his spm has fallen away. I had high hopes when he made the move from the Eels to the Warriors but he didn’t kick on as I thought he would. He is more of an impact player, a good defender but not the best work rate. His is still only 28 years of age and probably has a few good years of NRL left in him, but I don’t see him ever being a WH scorer at this stage of his career.

SPUD POOL LOOKOUT

Klese Haas (Titans)

29 tackles, 12 runs for 118m in 68 minutes – WH (0.60 spm)

With David Fifita missing for a few weeks, Klese has an opportunity to score a few WH’s in the coming rounds. The only down side is that he may not play 80 minutes each week and he will likely need the full 80 minutes to guarantee a WH. Hasler has Tino playing big minutes which means someone else has to spell to allow the bench players to play some minutes, and that is likely to be Haas.

Leka Halasima (Warriors)

33 tackles, 11 runs for 112m in 80 minutes – WH (0.55 spm)

Halasima is adjusting well to the grind of being an 80 minute NRL player. He scored his second consecutive WH on the weekend which is music to the ears of CEO’s who know he is a genuine try scoring threat each week. I can see him becoming a similar type player to David Fifita and Eliesa Katoa, making big metres and constantly threatening to score. Lock him up long term if you are in a contract/keeper league.

David Klemmer (Dragons)

37 tackles, 8 runs for 73m in 44 minutes – WH (1.02 spm)

Klemmer turned back the clock to produce his first WH of the season. He may be an outside chance at a WH the next few weeks with Toby Couchman sitting out with a shoulder injury. This would be a last ditch option only as he will likely let you down.

Ray Stone (Dolphins)

37 tackles, 13 runs for 101m in 64 minutes – WH (0.78 spm)

Stone is the Dolphins Mr Fix It, filling in wherever is needed in their pack. He has always been a WH threat, he just needed to play enough minutes based on his high spm. The Dolphins have a few aging forwards and perhaps Stone will continue to play a bigger role throughout the season. He scored his third consecutive WH on the weekend to coincide with the absence of Max Plath.

WORTH MENTIONING…

Samuel McIntyre (Cowboys)

45 tackles, 9 runs for 67m in 71 minutes – WH (0.76 spm)

McIntyre is having a breakout CEO season, scoring his fifth consecutive WH and his seventh for the season from his nine matches so far. Unfortunately he is more of a defender than a ball runner, only once this season has he run for more than 100 metres so you will likely be scoring just the five points. At 27 years of age he is coming into his prime as a front rower, although he can play anywhere in the middle and has also started on an edge this season. He is contracted for next season at the Cowboys so he could be a solid addition to the Perth Bears roster in 2027, a no frills forward with a decent work rate.

Isaiah Papali’i (Panthers)

40 tackles, 19 runs for 137m in 90 minutes – WH (0.66 spm)

Ipap is back! Papali’i showed some of his form from 2022 when he was the number one back rower in NRLCEO. I think the Panthers need to persist with him and Liam Martin on their edges and have Sorensen come off the bench. Papali’i at his best offers so much more than Sorensen, he is a solid defender and a constant try threat close to the line. CEO’s will be hoping that he remains in the starting side moving forward and if he can, his value rises significantly given his dual position status.

Lachlan Hubner (Rabbitohs)

28 tackles, 14 runs for 108m in 46 minutes – WH (0.91 spm)

Hubner has been solid for the Bunnies, scoring his sixth WH of the season in his seven matches played. Given that Cameron Murray is out for the season, Hubner looks to have won the lock spot and should be a regular starter there. His high work rate means he only needs to play 45-50 minutes to score a WH. He may have been forgotten about by other CEO’s given his value was unkown and he missed a few weeks due to HIA and injury.

Jack Williams (Eels)

35 tackles, 9 runs for 80m in 54 minutes – (0.81 spm)

Williams has made the transition to the Front Row, giving him triple position status. He scored a WH in his last two matches and could develop into a regular WH scorer if he can remain injury free for the rest of the season. He seems to be in a battle with Hopgood for minutes, a battle that he won in the Eels match against the Dolphins.

BACKS IMPERSONATING FORWARDS….

It is time we paid some attention to those skinny little bludgers who think they can play in the forwards. There may be some comps out there that reward backs for scoring a WH, so lets call them out, if only to shame the forwards in their pack for not doing the work themselves. Take note that in  some public comps you can name backs in bench position 1 and 2 where they are eligible to score a WH.

AJ Brimson (Titans)

28 tackles, 14 runs for 108m in 80 minutes – WH (0.53 spm)

Brimson has been solid without being spectacular for the Titans this season. I think most of believe his best position is fullback, but given the lack of halves depth at the Titans, Brimson is likely to remain as the five eighth for the time being. When Foran returns from injury they might make the change to Campbell/Foran as halves and allow Brimson to return to his running ways at Fullback.

Lachlan Galvin (Tigers)

28 tackles, 13 runs for 76m in 80 minutes – WH (0.51 spm)

Not much joy for the Tigers in Melbourne on the weekend, blasted off the park by Papenhuyzen and company. Galvin continues to develop as an NRL player and the fact that he continues to make his tackles is a great sign. He will be a damaging ball runner in the coming years as his body fully develops.

 

WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK (most involvements by eligible position)

POSITION	PLAYER	TEAM	INVOLVEMENTS	PACK OF THE WEEK
Front Row	Patrick Carrigan	Broncos	78	3
Hooker	Reece Robson	Cowboys	65	2
Front Row	Mitchell Barnett	Warriors	64	1
Back Row	Keaon Koloamatangi	Rabbitohs	64	1
Back Row	Alex Seyfarth	Tigers	60	2
Lock	Isaah Yeo	Panthers	64	4

WH – Workhorse

DWH – Double Workhorse

ME – Metre Eater

DME – Double Metre Eater

SPM – Stats per minute played