Workhorse Watch Round 9

Kieran Foran has rejuvenated the Sea Eagles in 2026, none more so than Haumole Olakau’atu. His performance in Round 9 saw him score his first ever DWH. Its amazing the difference a player’s performance can have between different coaches. It is good to see Big Red back at prop and no coincidence that he produces a DWH, he just doesn’t have the same fire when he wears the 13 jumper. Jackson Ford continues to do his thing, scoring another DWH as well as crossing for his 4th try of the year.

BBQ’s (Big Burning Questions)

• What can you do if you don’t have Ford or Twal?
• Is there some WH form left in Taumalolo’s tank at the Cowboys?
• Naufahu Whyte returns to form but is he a hold?
• Can Tallyn Da Sylva establish himself as a CEO starting hooker?
• Is Haumole just playing for an Origin spot or can he be the Manly alpha?
• What has happened to Tevita Tatola after a promising start?

Workhorse Flow

The similarities between this season and last season in terms of WH’s is interesting. The start of season 2026 is the only anomaly so far with +19 WH’s in Round and +13 WH’s in Round 2 compared to last season. Since then it has been mostly the same, including a jump in Round 9 in both seasons, although the increase was higher last season. We are reaching the point of the season where defence usually starts getting better but we may not see that in the same way we have in previous seasons. With so many points being scored leading to stoppages in play, we are seeing players that usually score a WH miss out more often. There are more DWH so far in 2026 (17) compared to 2025 (11), continuing on from the increase we saw from season 2024 to 2025.

WORKHORSE OF THE WEEK

Haumole Olakau’atu (Sea Eagles)

44 tackles, 21 runs for 196m in 80 minutes – DWH (0.81 spm)

Holy Haumole! The beast is back in 2026, well since round 4 at least. Foran has a clear plan to utilise his edge weapon as much as he can and it is working well for Manly. Haumole should come into calculations for a NSW spot based on his current form, most likely off the bench though. It is a career first DWH for him in NRLCEO and his average running metres (158m a game) are up on last year (127m a game). He can be seen as a genuine captain option moving forward.

WORKING HARD

Corey Horsburgh (Raiders)

41 tackles, 19 runs for 154m in 65 minutes – DWH (0.92 spm)

Big Red started the season well enough but then he struggled from rounds 3 to 6. Corey is an emotional player that would die for his team and sometimes that can be overwhelming for him. His running metres are down on last year (from 119m per game in 2025 to 102m per game this year) but is good to see him back to his best as the Raiders have several forwards out with long term injuries and they needed him to step up! It was his first DWH since Round 17 last season (which was his only DWH for the year), hopefully for CEO’s he can manage a few more in 2026.

Jackson Ford (Warriors)

52 tackles, 18 runs for 164m in 71 minutes – DWH (0.99 spm)

It is just an incredible run of WH form for Ford as he continues to lead the MVP race. He scored his 4th DWH of the season, having scored only two DWH’s in all of last season. He really should be the first prop picked for NSW this year as he has certainly earned it, leading a Warriors pack that is the envy of the NRL. He is currently averaging 62 involvements and 175m per game so he is an easy choice for captain each week.

Alex Twal (Tigers)

65 tackles, 12 runs for 90m in 73 minutes – WH (1.05 spm)

Twal made an impressive 65 tackles against the Sharks as the Tigers could not get an even share of possession and were forced to defend for much of the game. It is safe to say that falling short in running metres is the only way Twal will miss a DWH moving forward. It will be interesting if the Tigers can maintain their early season form after the loss of Adam Doueihi and whether that will have an impact on Twal’s running game and thus his DWH scoring.

Josh King (Storm)

56 tackles, 11 runs for 77m in 68 minutes – WH (0.99 spm)

King has struggled for WH consistency this season as the Storm struggle to find a way out of their current seven game slump. He has scored 5 WH’s from his 9 matches this season, which puts him on track to match last season’s haul of 12 WH’s, which is barely enough to have him as a starter in your squad. Given the Storm have key forwards you would think that King would be called upon to play big minutes each week but it has not gone that way.

HARDLY WORKING

Tevita Tatola (Rabbitohs)

28 tackles, 7 runs for 63m in 40 minutes – (0.88 spm)

Tatola started the season well, scoring a WH in his first 3 matches but since then he has only scored a single WH from his last 5 matches. He only managed 40 minutes of game time on the weekend but did not appear to be injured so there has been a change in the Rabbitohs forward rotation which has hurt Tatola’s output. It would appear that Sean Keppie has moved ahead of him in the pecking order for minutes for some reason, with Keppie playing 64 minutes as the other starting prop. Tatola still averages 40 involvements a game this season so I would hold him for a few more weeks and hope he comes good.

Morgan Knowles (Dolphins)

25 tackles, 8 runs for 66m in 54 minutes – (0.61 spm)

Some concerns for Knowles owners as he misses a WH for the second match in a row. His minutes are enough for him to score a WH based on his output in the early rounds so that would suggest he is still coming to terms with the pace of the NRL. The Dolphins also have players returning from injury, including JMK this week, which means Knowles may see his minutes reduced even further. With zero attacking stats, Knowles relies solely on his WH form for CEO scoring so it could be time to punt him to the spud pool.

Teig Wilton (Sharks)

30 tackles, 9 runs for 82m in 80 minutes – (0.49 spm)

Is it just me or are the Sharks not utilising their back rowers the same as other clubs? You think of Haumole at Manly and Kulikefu at the Dolphins yet the Sharks do not have a back rower commanding the ball like those players. I understand Wilton scored a 3 tries on the weekend but his WH scoring is his base so that needs to happen at a minimum. Wilton has missed a WH in his last 2 matches (just barely), having scored 3 WH’s in a row after returning from injury. With Burns and Nikora both rotating on the edge it is a worry for owners of all three of those players.

Reece Robson (Roosters)

32 tackles, 6 runs for 60m in 80 minutes – (0.48 spm)

Robson is not producing the usual high work rate of a starting hooker, missing a WH in 2 of his last 3 matches. He got there comfortably in his first 3 matches of the season but there are signs that he may not be a lock for a WH each week in the Roosters pack. The good thing for CEO’s is he is producing some attacking stats to supplement the missing WH’s.

SPUD POOL LOOKOUT

Siosiua Taukeiaho (Sea Eagles)

35 tackles, 16 runs for 130m in 52 minutes – WH (0.98 spm)

Taukeihao saw his minutes increased this week and he produced a quality WH and ME. He has had a slow start to season 2026, coming back from injury in round 7 but he his performance against the Panthers suggest that we may see him move into the starting side soon. He is a much better middle than Hetherington (who is out this week) and he can form a powerful combination with Paseka and Olakau’atu. If you pick him up now instead of waiting to see if he can maintain his WH form then you may beat the other CEOs to a mid season gem.

Tristan Hope (Tigers)

57 tackles, 5 runs for 36m in 80 minutes – WH (0.78 spm)

Playing in just his 7th NRL match, Hope got plenty of tackling practice against the Sharks and he held his own. We were not able to see much of his running game due to the Sharks dominating possession but he did enough to suggest he can become a future NRL starting hooker. If you need bye cover for the next 2 weeks whilst Koroisau is serving his suspension, then there is Hope for you!

Josh Curran (Bulldogs)

38 tackles, 10 runs for 64m in 68 minutes – WH (0.71 spm)

I am not sure if Curran is better suited to an edge role or in the middle. He played on an edge on the weekend, replacing the injured Kikau and was solid without being spectacular. He scored a try to go with his WH which was a bonus for those CEO’s who picked him up before kick off. It is unclear which way the Bulldogs will go moving forward, it could be Curran, Hayes or Tupouniua to fill that spot so it is a wait and see on TLT.

Tallyn Da Sylva (Eels)

44 tackles, 3 runs for 22m in 72 minutes – WH (0.65 spm)

This is Tallyn’s chance to show coach Ryles that he deserves to be starting at hooker for the Eels in the long term. He did not really get a chance in attack as the Eels were dominated from start to finish against the Warriors but he has shown signs of it coming off the bench in the earlier rounds. It looks like Ryley Smith will be out for a while so Tallyn is a good addition to your squad.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…….

Leo Thompson (Bulldogs)

43 tackles, 18 runs for 141m in 57 minutes – WH (1.07 spm)

Thompson was just 9 metres short of a DWH on the weekend in a great sign for his future WH scoring. It took him a couple of matches to get his fitness up but he looks to be hitting his straps now and will be key to the Bulldogs fortunes moving forward. If you have held him all this time then you are about to reap the rewards and if he is sitting in your spud pool (somehow) then sign him up immediately.

Reed Mahoney (Cowboys)

61 tackles, 3 runs for 20m in 80 minutes – WH (0.80 spm)

Reed was always going to have a red hot crack against the team that punted him last season but has he shown enough to keep Soni Luke on the bench? There were some good signs in attack for Mahoney, setting up 2 tries but the Cowboys need to see him run the ball more (currently averages 28m a game). Luke’s biggest assett is his running game, which is why he is being utilised at the back end of games when the opposition defence is tiring. It will be interesting to see if Mahoney goes back to playing 80 minutes or if we see Luke continue to replace him during the second half, thus potentially hurting his WH scoring.

Naufahu Whyte (Roosters)

25 tackles, 20 runs for 206m in 66 minutes – WH (0.68 spm)

We finally see a dominant performance from Whyte but was it just because his front row partner Collins failed a HIA? CEO’s who are holding onto him will take it and hope for more of the same but its hard not to wonder if this was just a one off due to unplanned increased minutes. It is just his 2nd WH of the season so If you are holding him, leave him on your bench if you can.

Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys)

22 tackles, 18 runs for 193m in 49 minutes – WH (0.82 spm)

Is there any chance that Taumalolo becomes CEO relevant again? It is his first WH of the season and just his 2nd since 2024 but his overall points (23) has already surpassed last season (15). He has scored 7 ME’s this season (granted 4 of them have come due to the decrease in criteria) and there are signs that he is playing with a bit more confidence in his body. I would say that he is still playing to restricted minutes to protect his ling term availability but if he could just be on the field slightly longer each week then he would be doing enough to regularly score a WH and a ME. Are you game enough to pick him up?

WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK

• Jackson Ford – 70 (involvements)
• Reed Mahoney – 64
• Josh King – 67
• Haumole Olakau’atu – 65
• Jacob Preston – 55
• Corey Horsburgh – 60