Workhorse Watch Round 22

Corey Horsburgh (Big Red) leads the way this week with the only DWH of the round. A couple of blow out score lines had an affect on the overall number of WH’s scored. The 2 forward packs that have the potential to dominate over the next few seasons are the Warriors and Dragons. Both teams have young, mobile forwards but I think the Warriors are just ahead of them in terms of development. The Warriors have speed and power but the Dragons are more workman like in their performance. There is so much potential in both teams packs and it will be interesting to see which of them develop into gun NRLCEO players.

Big Burning Questions

• Can the Raiders afford to lose Big Red?
• Can Payne Haas hop to another level at the Bunnies?
• Will Smithies be more CEO relevant at the Bears?
• Will Tallyn be able to survive the wrath of Moses?
• Is Eddie Ieremia-Toeava on the verge of starting at the Warriors?
• Is it time for Ricky to put Nicholson back in the starting side?

Workhorse Flow

Workhorse scoring took a dive in Round 22 when compared to last season. The speed of the game has made it very hard for teams to defend sets back to back, so once a team gets a roll on and wins the possession battle, they are very hard to slow down, just ask the Cowboys! In Round 22 there were 70 players who scored a WH, compared to 78 last year in the same round. Only one player scored a DWH this season compared with two players in 2025.

WORKHORSE OF THE WEEK

Corey Horsburgh (Raiders)

45 tackles, 19 runs for 164m in 73 minutes – DWH (0.88 spm)

Horsburgh put in a massive effort against the Panthers, scoring his 2nd DWH of the season. He is on track to record his highest ever NRLCEO score in a season, needing just 2 more points to eclipse his 117 in 2025. There has been talk of Horsburgh potentially leaving the Raiders at the end of his current deal after 2027, which would be bizarre given the players the Raiders have already lost and will lose. Mooney is gone, Papali’i looks certain to retire this season and they do not seem to have much talent coming from their juniors. I cannot imagine Horsburgh playing for anyone other than the Raiders, it just wouldn’t feel right.

WORKING HARD

Isaah Yeo (Panthers)

57 tackles, 13 runs for 121m in 75 minutes – WH (0.93 spm)

Yeo makes a rare appearance at the top of the workhorse list as he begins to wind down a stellar career. He is definitely trending down in terms of his NRLCEO scoring, which should see his draft value drop next season. He is currently the 8th ranked Lock in NRLCEO this season and it will be interesting to see where he finished on this list at the end of the year.

Payne Haas (Broncos)

48 tackles, 13 runs for 129m in 80 minutes – WH (0.76 spm)

Usually when Haas plays 80 minutes he is a lock for a DWH. I think it shows that he is either still carrying an injury or he is not playing at the same level as he was earlier in the season, given that his days as a Bronco are counting down. Injury and Origin has limited Haas to just 12 matches this season which makes his CEO value drop considerably, especially seeing as a lot of CEO’s would have drafted him in Round 1 or 2. Will he be able to improve his game next season under Wayne Bennett at the Rabbitohs?

Patrick Carrigan (Broncos)

49 tackles, 12 runs for 94m in 80 minutes – WH (0.76 spm)

The same can be said for Carrigan as injury and suspension has forced him to miss 6 games this season, limiting him to 13 appearances for CEO’s. How will Carrigan be used in 2027 as the Broncos lose Haas but welcome Mitch Barnett. The Broncos have also been blessed with the emergence of Xavier Willison so they may not need Carrigan to play 80 minutes as often as he has in the past. This season look like being Carrigan’s lowest total score since 2022.

Heilum Luki (Cowboys)

54 tackles, 7 runs for 61m in 80 minutes – WH (0.76 spm)

Luki didn’t have much opportunity with the ball on the weekend as the Roosters demolished the Cows in their own backyard. A whopping 54 tackles from Luki is his highest for the season and his running metres were his lowest since Round 16. It has easily been a career best NRLCEO year for Luki and he appears destined to end up in the Dream team for 2026!

HARDLY WORKING

Tallyn Da Silva (Eels)

34 tackles, 3 runs for 27m in 65 minutes – (0.57 spm)

Tallyn looks to me to be playing without a whole lot of confidence. After some solid performances at the Tigers as a starter, he had an opportunity to come to the Eels and be the #1 Hooker at the club. He really has struggled to make the position his own, evidenced by the fact that he keeps getting sprayed by his halfback Mitch Moses for taking the wrong option in attack. The good news is that he is only 21 years old and has plenty of time to improve and gain more confidence. I believe he can become the Eels permanent starting hooker but he will need to make getting the ball to Moses his top priority.

Morgan Smithies (Raiders)

28 tackles, 6 runs for 57m in 40 minutes – (0.85 spm)

Smithies definitely has an engine built for the NRL but he lacks any kind of attacking ability with the ball in hand. I think this is the main reason why he struggles for consistent minutes at the Raiders, unless there are injuries or a HIA during a game. He has not scored a WH since round 12 and will struggle to match his 10 WH’s scored in 2025. Smithies will make the move west to the Bears in 2027, which improves his draft appeal given they will not have many forwards that can play big minutes, as well as being short on depth. He could be a very handy late round draft pick next season.

Cody Hopwood (Knights)

22 tackles, 14 runs for 132m in 48 minutes – (0.75 spm)

Hopwood has had a slow start to his NRL career, scoring just one WH since he made his debut in round 27 last season. His work rate looks to be good enough so it will just be a matter of his playing time, which will slowly increase as he gets used to the daily grind of the NRL. I think he will be a WH gun in a few seasons and is one to keep an eye on.

Phoenix Crossland (Knights)

36 tackles, 1 run for 12m in 61 minutes – (0.61 spm)

In what is already a career best NRLCEO season, Crossland has missed a WH in his last 2 matches. Lately we are seeing Thomas Cant come on and play a bit of dummy half which is keeping Crossland on the pine for longer. He was playing well enough to be a starting hooker in your squad but now he could be a risk if this current strategy continues.

SPUD POOL LOOKOUT

Eddie Ieremia-Toeava (Warriors)

38 tackles, 18 runs for 171m in 54 minutes – WH (1.04 spm)

The Warriors pack just gets scarier by the week with the emergence of Ieremia-Toeava over the last month. He has scored 4 WH’s in his last 6 matches, all playing off the bench. They will lose Mitch Barnett next season but for mine they will still improve as they have a host of young players that are getting a taste of NRL. Eddie will battle Laban and Halasima for a starting edge role next season the way he is going.

John Radel (Rabbitohs)

33 tackles, 10 runs for 100m in 45 minutes – WH (0.96 spm)

Radel is a worker in the old fashioned, no nonsense kind of way. He is 23 years of age and will be on a development contract with the Rabbits in 2027. He has already scored 2 tries in his limited 5 match career in a sign that he knows how find his way to the line with support play. He could be one to monitor early on next season.

Matthew Nicholson (Raiders)

37 tackles, 5 runs for 41m in 47 minutes – WH (0.89 spm)

Nicholson could find himself back in the starting side at some point so he might be worth taking a punt on before that happens. He was very solid as a starter in the early rounds of 2025, before injury ruled him out for the rest of last year and the start of this season. With Hudson Young out for the year, Nicholson could be the one to step up for the Raiders and play that ‘Huddo’ type role.

Sam Tuivaiti (Eels)

34 tackles, 11 runs for 87m in 48 minutes – WH (0.94 spm)

Tuivaiti has a tremendous work rate for such a big man, with a stat per minute of (0.94). He scored his 3rd WH in his last 4 matches and his 5th WH for the season. Even with Junior Paulo making his comeback from injury on the weekend, I expect Tuivaiti to keep starting, given that Paulo is off to the Bears next season and coach Ryles will want to keep developing his young bull.

WORKHORSE LEGEND

Simon Mannering (Warriors)

Mannering was quite an unheralded player in his time but he would eventually finish with quite a distinguished career at the Warriors. he played 301 NRL matches, all for the Warriors. He was named captain of the Warriors in the 2010 season and would lead them to a Grand Final appearance in 2011. He took over as NZ Kiwis captain in 2013 and was a part of the national team for the next four years. He was the first player to pay 300 games for the Warriors and was eventually inducted into the NZRL legends of league in 2024. In terms of his NRLCEO career, his best season came in 2017, scoring 26 WH’s including 5 DWH’s. He was never at the top of anyone’s draft priorities but he flew under the radar and was a very handy player to have in your squad. These days Simon works in building and construction in NZ after he completed an apprenticeship following his retirement from the NRL.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…..

Owen Pattie (Raiders)

54 tackles, 4 runs for 42m in 73 minutes – WH (0.79 spm)

Pattie has been in superb form over the last month, after earning a starting spot in Round 16. He has scored 4 WH’s in his last 5 matches, to go with 4 TA’s and 3 Forty-Twentys. It appears Ricky Stuart will continue with Pattie as his starting hooker into 2027, leaving Tom Starling to play a bench role or potentially even a lock role. Pattie has great attacking instincts and the sky is the limit for him in NRLCEO.

Jacob Laban (Warriors)

37 tackles, 15 runs for 133m in 70 minutes – WH (0.74 spm)

The yo-yo season of Jacob Laban continues as he bounces back with a WH and ME against the Titans. In his last 9 matches, he has scored 7 WH’s, 3 Tries and 4 ME’s. Once he finds some consistency he will be a real weapon for the Warriors and a solid back row option for CEO’s.

Jacob Halangahu (Dragons)

34 tackles, 8 runs for 87m in 44 minutes – WH (0.95 spm)

Just another young forward on the rise at the Dragons, Halangahu got an opportunity after a HIA ended Toby Couchman’s night against the Dolphins. Watching this kid play and you can see why they were happy to let Jayden Su’a move to the Eels. Once he adds a bit more size to his frame he could become a damaging ball runner, to go with his already high skillset with the ball. He is currently contracted to the end of 2027 but it is hard to see him getting much opportunity to start next season barring injury.

WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK

• Corey Horsburgh – 64 involvements
• Owen Pattie – 58
• Payne Haas – 61
• Heilum Luki – 61
• Beau Fermor – 59
• Isaah Yeo – 70