Workhorse Watch Round 11

NRLCEO Workhorse Watch Round 11 – Keaon (KK) was a man on a mission, looking to earn himself an Origin jersey!

• KK enters beast mode with the second TWH of the season.
• Nanai needs to go back to WH school.
• Benji is Api to have Koroisau back to his best.
• Fainu has reached the terrible two’s, suffering from second year syndrome.
• Is Stefano a long term project for Bellamy?

In Round 11 there were 67 players who scored a WH, with four players scoring a DWH and one player scoring a TWH. I am going to call it the Terrell May affect as we see our regular WH champions being pushed into scoring a DWH on a more regular basis.

WORKING HARD

Keaon Koloamatangi (Rabbitohs)

53 tackles, 27 runs for 294m in 80 minutes – TWH (0.88 stats per minute)

Keaon has well and truly shaken off his early season laziness, powering to an elusive TWH against the Tigers. He ran for a crazy 294m in the middle, playing the entire 80 minutes as well. The question has to be asked, why wasn’t he in the middle to start the season? He has shed a fair bit of weight this season so he is able to be more effective across the whole match. Will he be stung after missing out on a Blues jersey, or will he maintain the rage and in doing so, repaying the faith that CEO’s had in him during his inconsistent start to the season.

Terrell May (Tigers)

68 tackles, 20 runs for 184m in 80 minutes – DWH (1.10 spm)

An insane 88 involvements over 80 minutes in the middle is amazing even for May. He would have also scored a TWH if he was able to run for 16 more metres. Given that May was the first forward to start pushing the 80 minute barrier playing in the middle, I think he is the reason that we are seeing other forwards starting to follow suit and push themselves just as far. May has cracked the 100 point mark after just 11 rounds (he scored 121 points for the whole of last season).

Apisai Koroisau (Tigers)

58 tackles, 9 runs for 167m in 80 minutes – DWH (0.84 spm)

It is fair to say the you have Api as your starting hooker then you were a winner this week. Api scored a DWH, 3 tries, 3 LB’s and a DME for a massive 25 points (50 if you were brave enough to captain him). I think Api was also auditioning for a Blues jersey, ultimately missing out to Reece Robson. His metres were inflated by a couple of big runs so I don’t see him scoring a DWH very often, but he has shown he is more than capable and the Tigers need more of it from him this season if they are to play finals.

Patrick Carrigan (Broncos)

46 tackles, 16 runs for 156m in 71 minutes – DWH (0.87 spm)

Carrigan stretched his DWH streak to three, making it four DWH’s in his last five matches. He enters the Origin period now and will almost certainly see a reduction in minutes for the Broncos during this period. You would expect him to still score a WH each week unless he is rested. The big minutes will take their toll at some point and CEO’s will be hoping that it doesn’t coincide with NRLCEO Finals. Carrigan is on track for a career best CEO season, like a lot of the big WH forwards this season, currently on 95 points and a career best of 163 points to beat.

Connor Watson (Roosters)

55 tackles, 7 runs for 76m in 80 minutes – DWH (0.78 spm)

Watson has had a steady start to the season, finally scoring a DWH (his first for 2025). Due to form and injuries, Watson’s running game isn’t as good as last season, averaging 64 metres a game compared to 86 metres a game last season. He has spent more time at Hooker and less time filling in at lock and this has hampered his DWH ability. Watson sits just behind Wayde Egan as the highest scoring hooker this season, who would have thought that you could have passed on Harry Grant in the draft and picked up one of those two in the later rounds.

HARDLY WORKING

Briton Nikora (Sharks)

29 tackles, 10 runs for 63m in 80 minutes – (0.49 spm)

If it wasn’t for his six tries so far this season, we would be questioning his value as a WH back rower. He has now scored only six WH’s for the season, missing out on five occasions which gives him a 54% WH scoring rate. On two of those occasions he had 39 involvements which is super frustrating for CEO’s. I still consider him amongst the top back rowers in our game but he has fallen well behind the likes of Hudson Young and Jacob Preston.

Jeremiah Nanai (Cowboys)

25 tackles, 14 runs for 114m in 80 minutes (0.49 spm)

The same can be said of Nanai, except his stats paint a dire picture. Nanai has scored just one WH this season but has four tries to his name to give him some value. He is not a player that is going to score a WH every week, so you are relying on him to score 10-12 tries a season in order to boost his numbers. For this reason I think you should be playing him off your bench most weeks, if you have two regular WH scoring back rowers in your squad. I expect his draft value to continue to drop next season, given how many other quality back rowers we have in our game.

Tavita Tatola (Rabbitohs)

26 tackles, 12 runs for 117m in 35 minutes (1.09 spm)

Tatola seems to fallen out of favour after being dumped last week altogether, only to get a reprieve this week off the bench. It looked like he was getting back to his best, scoring three WH’s in four matches, however Bennett saw it differently, preferring to move Koloamatangi and Arrow into the middle. A lot of CEO’s drafted Tatola late in the hope that he would get back to the form of 2022 when he scored 15 WH’s for the season. I believe the Bunnies will keep the status quo for now as it has seen them score back to back wins over the Broncos and Tigers, after losing their previous three matches. Expect Tatola to continue off the bench for the time being so a WH will be rarely seen.

Samuela Fainu (Tigers)

30 tackles, 7 runs for 48m in 50 minutes (0.74 spm)

To be fair, Fainu was well on track for a WH on the weekend, but he went off injured and was unable to return. It seems he is suffering from second year syndrome in the NRL as he struggles to maintain his form after a breakout 2024 season. Fainu has now scored just three WH’s this season and two of those came in the opening two rounds. I think he is a potential gun back rower in the making, CEO’s may just have to wait a few more years for him to continue to develop. For those in contract/keeper leagues, Fainu could be a great late round pick up long term over the next few seasons, as his value will drop leading into next year’s draft.

SPUD POOL LOOKOUT

Stefano Utoikamanu (Storm)

32 tackles, 10 runs for 97m in 45 minutes – WH (0.93 spm)

Stefano produced a cracking work rate on the weekend and he was rewarded with some extra minutes, at the expense of Josh King, who played just 34 minutes. It was interesting to see him named on the extended bench for NSW, especially seeing as his club coach Bellamy is an advisor for the Blues. This could mean that Bellamy has a long term plan in place for developing Stefano and we may not see the CEO benefit until the coming seasons. We know Stefano has a good engine, so its just a matter of him playing regular minutes of 45-50 a game and he will become a regular WH scorer again.

Billy Walters (Broncos)

37 tackles, 8 runs for 58m in 59 minutes – WH (0.55 spm)

Walters seemed to be on the way out at the Broncos but he has emerged as the starting hooker once again. The form of Corey Paix fell away and add to that the long term injury to Ben Hunt, Walters seems to be back in favour. Whether that is good for the Broncos is another matter, but Walters may have some WH value over the next 4-6 weeks until Hunt returns (which will likely be at Hooker).

Morgan Smithies (Raiders)

44 tackles, 15 runs for 135m in 64 minutes – WH (1.02 spm)

Smithies rockets back into WH contention after the Raiders lost Mathew Nicholson for up to 10 weeks. He didn’t disappoint against the Titans with 59 involvements and an out of character 135 running metres (the third highest for him since his NRL debut). I think he has responded to the high amount of competition for spots at the Raiders and will look to lock down his starting spot for the next few months. This is great news for CEO’s, especially seeing as he is sitting in a few spud pools around the leagues.

Lipoi Hopoi (Bulldogs)

29 tackles, 14 runs for 151m in 45 minutes – WH (0.96 spm)

Not a name you will forget in a hurry, Hopoi had a breakout game against the Roosters, scoring his first ever WH. Hopoi was given the chance to impress with the Dogs missing a heap of forwards due to injury and suspension. He won’t have much value this season, but mark him down as a player of the future that will fly under the radar, in a similar way that Kitione Kautoga did this season. Kautoga was at the Bulldogs in 2024 before being signed by the Eels under new coach Ryles. Kautoga has been one of the big surprises this season and Hopoi could follow a similar career path and emerge as a starter in another team (like the Bears in 2027).

WORTH MENTIONING…

Viliame Kikau (Bulldogs)

31 tackles, 12 runs for 97m in 80 minutes – WH (0.76 spm)

Kikau has been on fire over the last month, scoring a WH in each of his last four matches, which is one more WH than he scored in all of season 2024. It does coincide with the Dogs missing a heap of forwards though, so we may see him fall back to attacking stats only once the Dogs are back to full strength. If you have cover, it may be a good time to trade him and try and boost your squad in another position.

Jacob Liddle (Dragons)

33 tackles, 5 runs for 115m in 52 minutes – (0.66 spm)

How is Liddle not a starter at the Dragons? He came off a career best year in both the NRL and NRLCEO and then Flanno signs an aging Damien Cook. I have said a number of times that the Dragons play their best footy when Liddle is on the field. If you can hold Liddle as your back up hooker then I think you may seem some decent rewards from that soon enough. Liddle to start at hooker and Cook either starting at lock or coming off the bench. Liddle is the younger of the two and can handle the bigger load, whilst Cook will be fresher off the bench and be able to have more of an impact when he comes on.

David Klemmer (Dragons)

35 tackles, 10 runs for 94m in 45 minutes – WH (1.00 spm)

Flanno is squeezing every ounce of football out of big Klem as he deals with an injury crisis in his forward pack. Dylan Egan is the latest to go down in a major blow, whilst Toby Couchman is still a few weeks away from returning. Klemmer may be good for another WH or two but when the Dragons get some troops back (especially Couchman), expect Klemmer to see his minutes drop again.

Corey Waddell (Sea Eagles)

31 tackles, 15 runs for 119m in 44 minutes – WH (1.04 spm)

Waddell has been a regular WH scorer throughout his career, he just needs the playing time. He has seen an increased role at Manly over the last few weeks which has resulted in him scoring two WH’s in his last three matches. He is capable of playing in the middle or on an edge and has a great work rate.

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.

Its a forwards world at the moment, with no backs scoring a WH this week. I could have given Jack Bird some credit but nobody wants to see that.

 

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

POSITION	PLAYER	TEAM	INVOLVEMENTS	PACK OF THE WEEK
Front Row	Terrell May	Tigers	88	6
Hooker	Apisai Koroisau	Tigers	67	1
Front Row	Patrick Carrigan	Broncos	62	4
Back Row	Keaon Koloamatangi	Rabbitohs	80	2
Back Row	Alex Seyfarth	Tigers	59	3
Lock	Connor Watson	Roosters	62	1

WH – Workhorse

DWH – Double Workhorse

ME – Metre Eater

DME – Double Metre Eater

SPM – Stats per minute played