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Workhorse Watch – Round 9

Geoff Adams

Remember when every second thought piece on rugby league was titled something along the lines of “6 things we learned from Round X” or “This team vs that team: 5 things we learned”? They seem to have gone just as quickly as they came. Yours truly was guilty of writing one or two articles along similar lines, mainly to do with the Auckland 9s, but I’m glad that trend has passed because in Round 9 there was only one things we learned:

You don’t need to be a starter to be a workhorse

There were 58 workhorse tries scored over the weekend and of them, a season high EIGHT were scored by players not named in the starting 13.

Joe Ofahengaue scored his first workhorse try of the season coming off the bench for the Broncos with 27 tackles and 14 runs. Alex Twal and Michael Chee-Kam both managed to score workhorses off the Tigers bench with the latter getting a big opportunity following the injury to Chris Lawrence. Twal’s workhorse try coming lightning fast in just 39 minutes. To say nothing of Tim Grant’s 38 involvements off the bench as well. Even Tim Mannah got among the workhorses despite coming off the bench on Saturday.

Then there’s Victor Radley who finally cracked it for his first workhorse try of the season, coming off the pine for the Roosters with 37 tackles and 9 runs. It’s been an odd season for Radley, for the most part he’s been sharing the dummy half duties with Jake Friend, then in patches of games he’s spent some time in the back row. Sunday saw him come on late in first half and spend the rest of the game in the back row as Kurt Baptiste slotted in at hooker for the tri-colours.

Others from of the eight that I mentioned, were elevated to the starting side prior to kick off and made the most of the opportunity. Isaiah Papali’i (43 involvements) was came into the run on side and scored his second ever workhorse try while Siosiua Taukeiaho was also named on the bench but was moved back into the starting team to collect his second workhorse try of the year with 30 tackles and 17 runs against Manly.

 

Workhorse of the Week:


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Elijah Taylor. Playing in just his fourth game of the year and back after missing a week due to concussion, Taylor had 64 involvements but with the Warriors enjoying 58% of the ball, he was never going to get the metres required to get a double workhorse. Mind you no one did this week.

 

WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK

  1. Daniel Alvaro: 48 tackles + 9 hitups = 57
  2. Jayden Brailey: 51 tackles + 6 hitups = 57
  3. Andrew Fifita: 39 tackles + 18 hitups = 57
  4. Elijah Taylor: 60 tackles + 4 hitups = 64
  5. Ryan James: 51 tackles + 11 hitups = 62
  6. James Fisher-Harris: 44 tackles + 9 hitups = 53
  7. Jake Trbojevic: 32 tackles + 20 hitups = 52
  8. Andrew McCullough: 44 tackles + 7 hitups = 51

 

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

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Api Koroisau: 36 tackles + 3 hitups = 39

Aaron Woods: 29 tackles + 10 hitups = 39

Felise Kaufusi: 34 tackles + 5 hitups = 39

Aidan Guerra: 33 tackles + 6 hitups = 39

Mark Nicholls: 26 tackles + 13 hitups = 39

 

STATS PER MINUTE

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Still on the subject of workhorse tries scored by players not in the first 13, Rhyse Martin wasn’t even named in the first 17 but was a late inclusion and managed to not only score a workhorse try on debut with 48 involvements in 80 minutes (0.60 SPM) but get an actual try as well along with a line break assist. Martin can also kick goals having kicked 16 from 21 for Papua New Guinea at last year’s World Cup.

Matt Scott’s first workhorse try of the season is a timely one following legal news surrounding teammate Scott Bolton. Scott had 31 tackles and 11 runs in 50 minutes (0.84 SPM) for his first workhorse try since Round 22 of 2016. With Jordan McLean and John Asiata already out injured, the Cowboys front row stocks are starting to thin. At the time of writing, Bolton had returned to Townsville while the rest of the team remain in Sydney in preparation for Thursday’s game against the Tigers.

What about the cracking work rate of Daniel Alvaro on the Saturday? Alvaro had a workhorse try in 31 minutes and was sitting on 51 involvements by half time. And Twitter was loving it!

After posting an SPM of 1.28 in the first half, Alvaro only saw nine minutes in the second half to finish with 57 involvements in 49 minutes (1.16 SPM). We’ve seen this kind of work rate from Alvaro for a number of seasons now but this year he’s finally getting the minutes to ensure he gets past the 40 involvement mark. Alvaro is one of only four players that have scored a workhorse try every week and the only front rower to do so.

One of those other four is Damien Cook who scored his 14th workhorse try of 2018. He had 44 involvements in 72 minutes (0.61 SPM) which was the first time this year he hasn’t played the full 80 minutes. But no matter; when you score a try, a line break, a line break assist and a metre eater, you deserve to have a spell. Cook has plenty of admirers and the only way I could be a bigger fan of the Rabbitohs’ hooker was if he was in my NRLCEO team. And whilst I would love that, there’s only one type of person that is thinking about draft picks for 2019. They’re the kind of person that also holds up ladders. Say it ain’t so Fletcher Terence.

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Geoff Adams

Geoff Adams is the foremost authority on Workhorse Watching. A past time no one else does mind you. Get the lowdown on all things workhorse related including Stats Per Minute.
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Geoff Adams

Geoff Adams is the foremost authority on Workhorse Watching. A past time no one else does mind you. Get the lowdown on all things workhorse related including Stats Per Minute.