Workhorse Watch Round 13

NRLCEO Workhorse Watch Round 13 – Keaon is repaying the faith with another beastly performance!

• Riki leaks no more as Jordan racks up 56 tackles
• the Origin period is a Payne in the Haas for CEO’s
• big Klem is turning back the clock at the Dragons
• Samuela Fainu needs a rev up at the Tigers
• Keaon is on fire but its hurting Hubner

In Round 13 there were 63 players who scored a WH, with two players scoring a DWH. Enter cheat code ‘KK’ to go super beast mode!

WORKING HARD

Keaon Koloamatangi (Rabbitohs)

39 tackles, 26 runs for 219m in 80 minutes – DWH (0.81 stats per minute)

There were calls to trade or even drop him after Round 7, but those CEO’s who kept the faith are being rewarded and then some. The Keaon that plays in the middle is a different beast to the one that plays on an edge. In his last five matches, he is averaging 13.6 pts a game and is showing no signs of slowing down. If you have him in your squad you are putting the captain on him and sitting back knowing you will likely win your matchup, as long as Bennett keeps playing him in the middle.

Terrell May (Tigers)

43 tackles, 20 runs for 199m in 75 minutes – DWH (0.84 spm)

Another week, another May DWH! May continues to produce for the Tigers, basically playing a lone hand in an otherwise weak forward pack. May scored his fourth DWH of the season and he has now scored 18 WH’s in 12 matches this season. Will we see him in an Origin jersey after the injury to Mitch Barnett, or is he too one dimensional to have an impact in Origin. May is a chance to be the first prop to win the NRLCEO MVP!

Jordan Riki (Broncos)

56 tackles, 12 runs for 103m in 80 minutes – WH (0.85 spm)

How the hell did Riki end up in the working hard category? The Broncos were forced to tackle for most of the game against the Sea Eagles and Riki certainly did his fair share. It has been a mixed season for Riki, scoring his sixth WH in nine games this season. To be fair to him, he is now averaging 45 involvements a match, the issue for Riki is how maintaining a high work rate and producing it consistently. He has scored two WH’s in his last five matches which shows he is still a patchy WH scorer.

Siua Wong (Roosters)

58 tackles, 7 runs for 60m in 78 minutes – WH (0.83 spm)

Wong has nailed an edge spot for the Roosters this season, scoring 11 WH’s so far in 2025, missing out only once. Wong has only scored 2 ME’s this year but if he can find some more metres each week and push the 125 metres run a few times, he would be considered one of the more valuable edge players in CEO. He would not have been high on many CEO’s draft lists and was a very astute pick up in the early rounds.

HARDLY WORKING

Payne Haas (Broncos)

27 tackles, 11 runs for 143m in 58 minutes – (0.66 spm)

The Origin hangover has its first casualty as Haas sees a drop in minutes which caused him to miss a WH and a ME. Those CEO’s who had the ‘C’ on him last week were left with a duck egg. CEO’s should be looking at other players to captain during the Origin period as players can be rested randomly depending on performance and whether a match is in the balance or not.

Samuela Fainu (Tigers)

30 tackles, 8 runs for 69m in 80 minutes (0.48 spm)

Fainu is most definitely a drop now. He has not scored a WH since Round 7 and has only scored 3 WH’s for the season. There was high hopes for Fainu in 2025 but he has been hampered by injury in the early rounds and is struggling to make an impact each week. It could be time for Benji to drop him to the bench or to NSW Cup in an effort to rejuvenate him, however the Tigers do not have a lot of depth in their forwards.

Lachlan Hubner (Rabbitohs)

26 tackles, 11 runs for 101m in 40 minutes (0.93 spm)

Hubner still has a high work rate but he has seen a drop in minutes over the last 2 weeks. With Keaon playing 80 minutes in the middle and both Duncan and Aitken playing 80 minutes on an edge, there is not a lot of playing time left to go between the other five forwards. Hold onto him for a few more weeks and see how it plays out as he definitely has the work rate to be a regular WH scorer.

SPUD POOL LOOKOUT

Jaimin Jolliffe (Titans)

40 tackles, 13 runs for 111m in 61 minutes – WH (0.89 spm)

Jolliffe could be a handy pick up during the Origin period, with both Tino and Fotuaika potentially playing less minutes for the Titans after playing for QLD. Jolliffe is a known WH scorer when he starts at prop, scoring 12 WH’s in 17 matches in 2024. He scored just his 2nd WH for the season against the Storm as the Titans have a stack of quality forwards to choose from and a case of too many horses to feed.

Blake Lawrie (Dragons)

35 tackles, 14 runs for 127m in 46 minutes – WH (1.07 spm)

Lawrie has emerged as a potential WH scorer as the Dragons deal with injuries in their pack. Egan is out for the season and Su’a will be out for 2-4 weeks with an ankle injury which could see Couchman move to an edge, allowing Lawrie to potentially start at prop (as it happened against the Knights). Lawrie could be handy depth cover for your squad over the next month.

Corey Waddell (Sea Eagles)

27 tackles, 19 runs for 142m in 53 minutes – WH (0.87 spm)

Waddell is in good form, scoring a third consecutive WH on the weekend. Manly have a stack of injured forwards and Waddell is seeing playing time in the middle which helps his running metres. Waddell has the highest work rate of the Manly forwards so he has a decent chance to score a WH playing off the bench.

Moses Leota (Panthers)

29 tackles, 15 runs for 129m in 44 minutes – WH (1.00 spm)

Leota scored his third consecutive WH on the weekend and he seems to have made a conscience effort to lift his work rate. I mentioned him last week and he has backed it up again but he is still available in many spud pools. The Panthers have been unable to fill the void left by JFH and perhaps Cleary senior has had a word in Leota’s ear that they need him to step up. If he continues to WH each week you want to be the one that said you picked him up before others noticed him.

WORTH MENTIONING…

David Klemmer (Dragons)

34 tackles, 15 runs for 141m in 57 minutes – WH (0.86 spm)

Klem has wound back the clock, scoring his third consecutive WH after not scoring a WH prior to that. He is playing longer minutes due to injuries affecting the Dragons depth in their forwards and he seems to be relishing being the old head in their pack. Time will tell if he can maintain this form but so far so good.

Scott Sorensen (Panthers)

38 tackles, 14 runs for 102m in 80 minutes – WH (0.65 spm)

Sorensen returned from injury on the weekend and looked be running pain free. It was easily his best performance of the season (52 involvements) which creates an issue for Ivan Cleary as to whether he starts Sorensen or Papali’i. You would expect one of those two to miss out on a starting spot and the one who comes off the bench will likely miss out on a WH.

Luca Moretti (Eels)

30 tackles, 11 runs for 82m in 39 minutes – WH (1.05 spm)

I like what I see from Moretti as he scored his first WH of the season and just his second ever career WH. I can see that Ryles is trying to get him more involved and increase his playing time to see if he can develop into a starting edge player. Moretti is 25 years of age and I feel he is on the cusp of breaking out as an NRL player. He could transition into a decent CEO scorer if things work out and he could be a sneaky good pick up long term for those in contract/keeper leagues.

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.

Dane Gagai (Knights)

22 tackles, 18 runs for 173m in 80 minutes – WH (0.50 spm)

Gagai scored his 4th WH of the season and 2nd in a row, putting a few 80 minute forwards to shame in the process. At the ripe old age of 34 years, Gagai isn’t letting father time catch him just yet, producing every week. If you have him in your squad, name him in your bench 1 or 2 spot so you score the WH.

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

POSITION	PLAYER	TEAM	INVOLVEMENTS	PACK OF THE WEEK
Front Row	Keaon Koloamatangi	Rabbitohs	65	3
Hooker	Connor Watson	Roosters	61	2
Front Row	Terrell May	Tigers	63	7
Back Row	Jordan Riki	Broncos	68	1
Back Row	Siua Wong	Roosters	65	2
Lock	Patrick Carrigan	Broncos	61	5

WH – Workhorse

DWH – Double Workhorse

ME – Metre Eater

DME – Double Metre Eater

SPM – Stats per minute played