Workhorse Watch Round 15
Workhorse Watch 2023 – Payne and Gain!
Round 15 was a high scoring round. The Warriors spoiled the Croker party in Canberra with a blistering second half. Have the Dolphins hit the wall? Can the Roosters salvage something form their season that is quickly slipping away? There were 62 players who scored a WH in Round 14, with one DWH this week.
WORKING HARD
Payne Haas (Broncos)
42 tackles, 21 runs for 182m in 69 minutes – DWH (0.91 stats per minute)
Haas does not let up at the moment. Surprisingly it is his first DWH of the season and the most involvements he has had in a match this year. The Broncos needed every ounce of it to get past a gutsy Knights outfit. I think Haas will manage the Origin workload better this year as he has now played 11 Origin matches and has experience on his side. Expect Walters to give him a spell at some stage though.
Jake Turpin (Roosters)
67 tackles, 0 runs for 0m in 80 minutes – WH (0.84 spm)
I said last week that Turpin is just a tackling machine and that Teddy wont let him run the ball. The Roosters need some spark out of dummy half but it will not come from Jake Turpin.
Corey Horsburgh (Raiders)
51 tackles, 14 runs for 105m in 71 minutes – WH (0.92 spm)
Big Red continues to grow in expectation in CEO land. A player who plays with such emotion each week is bound to have a quiet match here and there. By no means was he quiet against the Warriors but they were over-run in the second half and the Raiders just ran out of gas.
Isaah Yeo (Panthers)
45 tackles, 13 runs for 141m in 80 minutes – WH (0.73 spm)
Yeo led the Panthers extremely well on the weekend in the absence of Nathan Cleary. He finished a few involvements and 9 running metres short of a DWH in a dominant Panthers win. He is another player who will likely get a spell towards the end of the Origin series. On a positive note, he seems to have moved on from the concussion issues that affected his CEO performance for a period of time.
HARDLY WORKING
Tevita Pangai Junior (Bulldogs)
24 tackles, 14 runs for 129m in 51 minutes (0.75 spm)
TPJ gave us a glimpse of what he can do for 2 weeks, then he falls back into some bad habits. Some poor reads in defence and a lacklustre start against the Eels has seen him lose his NSW Origin spot just as quickly as he was given it. Gus Gould has been crying out for consistency with Tevita and if he doesn’t continue to produce, he will be looking for a new home. I thought he may have turned a corner in terms of his CEO scoring reliability, however we will have to wait a few more weeks to see which Tevita turns up.
Connelly Lemuelu (Dolphins)
30 tackles, 8 runs for 71m in 80 minutes (0.48 spm)
Very disappointing couple of weeks from Lemuelu, perhaps he is adjusting to the 80 minute grind each week. I still think he has tremendous upside to holding him long term. Wayne Bennett has publicly stated that they want him to be a career back rower at the Dolphins and its just a matter of getting the consistent game time into his legs. Still a hold and sign him long term in keeper leagues.
Leo Thompson (Knights)
27 tackles, 12 runs for 86m in 48 minutes (0.81 spm)
That is 5 weeks now without a WH for Thompson after he produced 7 in his first 8 matches to start the season. His minutes are slightly down during this time which will obviously have an affect on his involvements. I still think he is a player to watch for the future but I am leaning towards dropping him for this season. He may manage to score the odd WH here and there but he is not a player you can rely on going in to your finals.
SPUD POOL LOOKOUT
Lindsay Smith (Panthers)
37 tackles, 16 runs for 10m in 57 minutes – WH (0.93 spm)
I have wrapped Smith a couple of times this season and told you all to get on him for the long term. Smith played the most minutes of all the Panthers big forwards last week although Leota was sent for a HIA. A spm of 0.93 is huge for a middle forward so keep an eye on his minutes each week and if he can start to consistently get a WH, even from the bench, then grab him for the run home.
Jake Simpkin (Tigers)
45 tackles, 7 runs for 70m in 65 minutes – WH (0.80 spm)
On the surface he is an easy pick up whilst Api recovers from a broken jaw. I think he will get you a WH each week for the time being, however Sheens has also included Tallyn Da Silva on the bench who is a lively player. Expect Tallyn to come on at the back end of halves and try to spark the Tigers attack, and if he impresses enough, he might just take some minutes away from Simpkin.
Francis Molo (Dragons)
33 tackles, 13 runs for 138m in 58 minutes – WH (0.79 spm)
I will leave Francis here for this week as I know he still sits in a few spud pools. Four WH’s in a row now! For me I want to see how his minutes are affected with Lawrie and De Belin both back in the starting lineup before I am convinced of his value. If you can afford the roster spot and need a Front Rower you likely wont find many better options at the moment.
Dylan Lucas (Knights)
34 tackles, 7 runs for 46m in 73 minutes – WH (0.56 spm)
Lucas was switched to the Back Row in Round 2 of the NSW Cup this year. This suggests to me that this has been a planned move by the Knights coaching staff to get him conditioned in the forwards so they could give him a crack at NRL level on an edge. It was a solid hitout against the Broncos although he only just managed a WH. He has been named to start in the Back Row again so he could be in line to replace Fitzgibbon in the Knights best 13 if he can hold his own. Worth watching his performance this week before he earns dual CE/BR position.
WORTH MENTIONING….
Jacob Preston (Bulldogs)
37 tackles, 14 runs for 170m in 80 minutes – WH (0.87 spm)
I cannot get enough of Prestonmania! In his debut season he is a whisker away from being included in the CEO Dream Team, he is currently the 3rd highest scoring back rower this season, sitting behind only Briton Nikora and David Fifita. Let me be clear that it is his first season, he will only get better!
Addin Fonua-Blake (Warriors)
32 tackles, 17 runs for 188m in 64 minutes – WH (0.77 spm)
Since Round 7, AFB has scored a WH in every match (1 x DWH) and a ME in all but 1 of those matches. It has been a sublime patch of form for the last 2 months and the he is one of the main reasons for the Warriors rise in 2023. If he can maintain this run of form, he won’t be far behind Tino and Haas.
Jayden Okunbor (Bulldogs)
31 tackles, 9 runs for 85m in 69 minutes – WH (0.58 spm)
Okunbor has now earned Back Row position and is available to name in your forward pack. I am not quite sold on his long term scoring viability in CEO. He is still learning his new position but he has made a great fist of it so far. There is not w whole lot of options in the Back Row available in free agency at this time of the season so he is worth taking a chance on if you need help in that position.
WORKHORSE PACK OF THE WEEK (most involvements by eligible position)
8. Payne Haas (Broncos) – 63
9. Jake Turpin (Roosters) – 67
10. Tohu Harris (Warriors) – 53
11. John Bateman (Tigers) – 71
12. Nat Butcher (Roosters) – 65
13. Corey Horsburgh (Raiders) – 65
Adz
NRLCEO Commish
WH – Workhorse
DWH – Double Workhorse
ME – Metre Eater
DME – Double Metre Eater
SPM – Stats per minute played
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