Workhorse Watch Round 17

NRLCEO Workhorse Watch Round 17 – Big Red scores a whole hearted DWH in his 100th NRL game!

• whats up with this Mofo on the Coast?
• Bird looking to fly again?
• Raging Bunny? Duncan on the rise at the Rabbits.
• Big Papa looks to go out with a bang!

In Round 17 there were 79 players who scored a WH, with one players scoring a DWH. Fatigue may be starting to set in with the big name WH scorers all starting to show a drop in involvements.

WORKING HARD

Corey Horsburgh (Raiders)

41 tackles, 19 runs for 170m in 58 minutes – DWH (1.03 stats per minute)

Big Red scored just his 3rd career DWH and first since round 9 in 2023. A whole hearted player who bleeds for his team, Horsburgh has a great work rate, unfortunately he is lacking in all other scoring categories. He very rarely scores a ME (2 in 2025 so far) and his attacking stats are almost non existent. He will almost always score a WH when he plays, whether starting or coming off the bench, and every team needs a player like that.

Mitchell Kenny (Panthers)

68 tackles, 3 runs for 16m in 80 minutes – WH (0.89 spm)

Kenny has been solid for the Panthers since they lost Api to the Tigers but he is very much a defensive dummy half. He led the league in involvements last week with 71 , making a huge 68 tackles against the Dogs. An attacking dummy half that runs the ball is one of the only things missing in the Panthers attack, with Kenny averaging just 28 metres a game.

Isaah Yeo (Panthers)

54 tackles, 11 runs for 74m in 80 minutes – WH (0.81 spm)

Yeo also had to be at his best defensively to hold out the Dogs last week. Interestingly his running metres are down on his season average in his last 3 matches. Last season Yeo scored 10 ME’s which was easily a career best for him, but this season he has only scored 2 ME’s so far. Yeo plays like a halfback at times, like a lot of locks in the modern game, helping give more space and width to the halves.

Terrell May (Tigers)

48 tackles, 15 runs for 107m in 80 minutes – WH (0.75 spm)

May had to feature somewhere, missing a DWH this week due to a lack of metres run. Playing 80 minutes in the middle most weeks has to make fatigue a factor at some point, although he still had 63 involvements. The Tigers need to take a page out of the Panthers and Dogs playbook and find themselves a ball playing lock that can follow on from May’s runs. Twal is a great worker, but he doesn’t have a pass to save his life.

HARDLY WORKING

J’maine Hopgood (Eels)

31 tackles, 5 runs for 38m in 31 minutes – (1.16 spm)

The frustrating season of Hopgood continues, limited to just 31 minutes last week. I have no idea what coach Ryles is thinking in terms of his forward rotation but Hopgood is certainly not to blame as he had a huge work rate of 1.16 spm. Hopgood is just too unreliable to have as a starter in your pack now, relegate him to your bench or dump him altogether if there is someone better in the spud pool.

Alex Seyfarth (Tigers)

27 tackles, 9 runs for 70m in 40 minutes (0.90 spm)

Seyfarth has been very handy this season, scoring 9 WH’s from his 15 matches so far, and in 3 of those matches that he missed a WH, he crossed for a try. He has missed a WH in his last 2 matches which is a concern for CEO’s, he was also named on the bench last week in a sign that Benji is looking for more from him, or someone else.

Moeaki Fotuaika (Titans)

22 tackles, 9 runs for 83m in 38 minutes (0.82 spm)

Fotuaika always seems to fall away during the Origin period and he has now missed a WH in his last 4 matches. Des has been tinkering with his starting props as well which makes it harder for Fotuaika to score a WH when coming off the bench. He has fallen well down the pecking order for props in NRLCEO and should not be considered as a starter on current form. He has scored just 7 WH’s for the season from his 15 matches which puts him under 50% WH efficiency.

Brendan Piakura (Broncos)

18 tackles, 11 runs for 74m in 67 minutes (0.43 spm)

Piakura cannot find any consistency in his performance as he continues to struggle with life as an NRL player. The Broncos are crying out for a quality edge player and Piakura seems to be talented enough to fill that position. Every now and then he produces high quality numbers but far too often its just a paltry 25-30 involvements and under 100 metres. A work rate of 0.43 spm is just nowhere good enough.

SPUD POOL LOOKOUT

Jack Bird (Tigers)

38 tackles, 9 runs for 51m in 74 minutes – WH (0.64 spm)

Bird was preferred to start over Seyfarth last week as coach Benji looks for improvement in his pack. I am not sure Bird could be considered an upgrade in that position as he is clearly past his best footy. If he continues to start he will likely score a WH if he can maintain 60-70 minutes a game, although he will need one more start at back row to get a position upgrade.

Harrison Edwards (Cowboys)

36 tackles, 7 runs for 52m in 47 minutes – WH (0.91 spm)

Edwards has a high work rate and only needs to play 45-50 minutes to score a WH. He has now scored a WH in his last 3 matches, starting at lock on the weekend with Cotter moved to an edge. He could be handy for another 2 weeks with Cotter and Nanai on Origin duty and Bateman dealing with injury.

Blake Lawrie (Dragons – NSW Cup)

32 tackles, 14 runs for 138m in 59 minutes – WH (0.78 spm)

Lawrie could see some time in the NRL over the next few weeks with the Dragons dealing with a number of injuries in their pack. Lawrie was a WH beast just 2 seasons ago but has fallen out of favour with Flanno in recent times. If he is named this week he could provide some value over the back end of the CEO season.

Emre Guler (Dragons)

50 tackles, 6 runs for 58m in 61 minutes – WH (0.92 spm)

Guler could also be in line for bigger minutes with the Dragons short on middle forwards. Guler has never really showed that he can be a consistent WH scorer but he may just have to be over the next month or so. Pick him up only if you are really desperate.

WORTH MENTIONING…

Jayden Brailey (Knights)

51 tackles, 3 runs for 35m in 62 minutes – (0.87 spm)

Brailey has settled back into life as a starting hooker, scoring a WH in each of his last 3 matches. He looks set to remain the starting hooker for the time being, with Crossland preferred at lock to cover the loss of Adam Elliott. Whilst ever he is a starter, Brailey will score you a WH each week.

Tallis Duncan (Rabbitohs)

46 tackles, 10 runs for 113m in 80 minutes – WH (0.70 spm)

Duncan is now entrenched as a starting edge player and he seemed to come of age on the weekend, crossing for a 2 tries, both from good line running. He has now scored 8 consecutive WH’s since round 9 and looks like a solid CEO player of the future. For those in contract/keeper leagues you probably only have next year’s draft to sign him long term whilst he is still under valued.

Siosiua Taukeiaho (Sea Eagles)

38 tackles, 15 runs for 129m in 48 minutes – (1.10 spm)

Taukeiaho has become a consistent WH scorer this season, scoring 8 WH’s in his 12 matches so far. The Sea Eagles needed him to step up after losing a number of forwards to long term injuries. Those CEO’s that held firm with Taukeiaho have been rewarded.

Josh Papali’i (Raiders)

36 tackles, 11 runs for 96m in 43 minutes – (1.09 spm)

Papali’i has been rewarded with a QLD swansong after his performances over the last few weeks. He scored a WH in both of his last 2 matches after been thrust back into the starting lineup, with Horsburgh moving to lock. It remains to be seen how long Papa can keep this up but surely its enough for die hard Raiders fans to ride with him for one more season.

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.

Cameron Munster (Storm)

30 tackles, 15 runs for 116m in 80 minutes – WH (0.56 spm)

Munster scored his third WH of the season as the Sharks ran plenty of traffic at him on the weekend. Ina great sign for CEO’s, Munster looks to be running freely again this season, scoring 7 ME’s so far in 2025 after he managed just 6 ME’s in all of last season.

Blaize Talagi (Panthers)

30 tackles, 15 runs for 104m in 80 minutes – WH (0.56 spm)

Talagi is starting understand the Panthers systems and you can see he looks a lot more comfortable when he plays now. It was his first ever career WH on the weekend and his first ME as a Panther at five eighth.

Nicho Hynes (Sharks)

33 tackles, 11 runs for 84m in 80 minutes – WH (0.51 spm)

Hynes scored his 2nd WH of the season against the Storm. Hynes career has stalled in recent times as the Sharks struggle to evolve their game. Hynes has only scored 2 ME’s this season in a sign that he is either carrying a slight niggle or worried about injury if he pushes too hard.

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

POSITION	PLAYER	TEAM	INVOLVEMENTS	PACK OF THE WEEK
Front Row	Jaimin Jolliffe	Titans	60	1
Hooker	Jayden Brailey	Knights	70	1
Front Row	J'maine Hopgood	Eels	64	2
Back Row	Jai Arrow	Rabbitohs	59	3
Back Row	John Bateman	Cowboys	56	2
Lock	Reuben Cotter	Cowboys	67	1