Workhorse Watch Round 18

NRLCEO Workhorse Watch Round 18 – Forget about Covid, there is a DWH pandemic and it is sweeping through NRLCEO!

• The Roosters are on the Whyte track!
• Willison shows there is life without Haas at the Broncos
• Bennett adds some Garlick to his 2026 Rabbit stew?

In Round 18 there were 41 players who scored a WH, with four players scoring a DWH. It is well and truly a DWH pandemic as the record is set to be smashed in 2025.

THE DWH TREND

2023 – 17 DWH’s

2024 – 32 DWH’s

2025 so far – 36 DWH’s

WORKING HARD

Naufahu Whyte (Roosters)

43 tackles, 22 runs for 221m in 73 minutes – DWH (0.89 stats per minute)

Whyte breaks the DWH barrier for the first time in his young CEO career in a mammoth performance against the Tigers. It has been a breakout season and then some for Whyte who has recently signed on at the chooks until the end of 2029. He has scored 12 WH’s this season, missing out in only 2 matches, whilst he averages 148m a game, scoring 7 ME’s so far in 2025. His value will jump significantly next season and those CEOs in contract/keeper leagues should be signing him up long term.

Keaon Koloamatangi (Rabbitohs)

40 tackles, 22 runs for 164m in 80 minutes – DWH (0.78 spm)

Keaon bounces back from a quiet week with his 4th DWH of the season, once again playing the full 80 minutes for the Rabbits against Manly. In his first 8 matches this season he averaged 4.1 CEO points, in his next 9 matches he is averaging 13.3 CEO points. How high will he be drafted next season?

Xavier Willison (Broncos)

41 tackles, 20 runs for 193m in 68 minutes – WH (0.90 spm)

No Haas, no Carrigan, no worries. Willison showed that the future is bright at the Broncos, revving up for his first career DWH in a powerhouse display against the Bulldogs. He looks like he will develop into a quality middle over the next couple of seasons, adding more grunt to an already impressive engine room. He has only scored one other WH this season despite getting a few starts on an edge at times.

Terrell May (Tigers)

38 tackles, 22 runs for 159m in 70 minutes – WH (0.86 spm)

It is looking more and more likely that the NRLCEO MVP will be won by a non-hooking forward this season. May scored his 7th DWH of the season which is a record high in a season for NRLCEO. If we are being honest though, he is more quantity over quality, which is exactly what you want for NRLCEO. It is getting to the point where you are disappointed if he does not reach the DWH mark.

HARDLY WORKING

Josh Curran (Bulldogs)

23 tackles, 12 runs for 80m in 38 minutes – (0.92 spm)

It was a surprise to see Curran miss a WH against the Broncos but he only played 38 minutes. I don’t think there is anything to worry about here as Curran has a very high work rate. The Dogs have a lot of depth in their squad now so perhaps a few of their forwards will be up and down with their WH scoring.

Kai O’Donnell (Cowboys)

30 tackles, 8 runs for 59m in 62 minutes (0.61 spm)

O’Donnell had the potential to be a sneaky good pick up early in the season, especially when he was preferred over Jeremiah Nanai in Round 2. Well what a spud he has turned out to be, scoring just 1 WH for the season and averaging just 25 involvements a game for the year.

Joseph Tapine (Raiders)

15 tackles, 11 runs for 117m in 29 minutes (0.89 spm)

There were a few CEO’s let down by Tapine on the weekend after he picked up an injury against the Dragons. He only played 29 minutes, coming back on late in the match after seemingly unable to return. The fact the he did come back on, eases concern for CEO’s for the immediate future, especially with the Raiders having a bye this week.

SPUD POOL LOOKOUT

Michael Molo (Dragons)

48 tackles, 12 runs for 111m in 80 minutes – WH (0.75 spm)

The Dragons are going through a forward crisis at the moment and Molo could be a player that sees increased minutes over the next few weeks. He was solid without being great in their loss to the Raiders but he did smash out 60 involvements. Keep an eye on the team sheets this week and see where Molo is named before making a decision.

Salesi Foketi (Roosters)

41 tackles, 12 runs for 107m in 80 minutes – WH (0.66 spm)

Foketi is a player to watch in the future, scoring his 2nd WH in a row as he covers for the injured Victor Radley. Radley will return at some point but they also have Siua Wong out for a number of weeks which means there are minutes available for Foketi. He runs the ball well, possesses great footwork and defends well and I see him as another player to target for those in contract/keeper leagues.

Bailey Hayward (Bulldogs)

37 tackles, 7 runs for 50m in 50 minutes – WH (0.88 spm)

Hayward has scored 3 consecutive WH’s since starting at lock again. I think moving forward we will see Hayward continue to start at lock with Kurt Mann coming off the bench. When Mann is introduced we might see Hayward spend time at dummy half but then you also have Lachlan Galvin that needs to play somewhere off the bench. Hayward’s attack has been quiet recently with no attacking stats scored in his last 5 matches.

WORTH MENTIONING…

Alec MacDonald (Storm)

32 tackles, 13 runs for 106m in 47 minutes – (0.96 spm)

MacDonald scored his first WH for the season and just his third ever for his career on the weekend. He is not a player that you think of at all for NRLCEO but I feel like he is developing into a player that could find a starting spot somewhere. He is 23 years old and is in a Storm system that has a history of turning average players into quality players.

Jordan Riki (Broncos)

39 tackles, 11 runs for 110m in 80 minutes – WH (0.63 spm)

Riki is starting to find some consistency with his WH scoring having scored 9 WH’s this season from his 13 matches for an efficiency rate of 69%. He still needs to run the ball more, only scoring 1 ME for the season so far. He is a big body and I cannot understand how he is not used as a ball runner on an edge more often.

Bronson Garlick (Storm)

38 tackles, 10 runs for 96m in 65 minutes – (0.74 spm)

Garlick has always been a good understudy to Harry Grant, developing his craft under one of the best hookers in the game. The Rabbitohs have picked him up for the next 2 years which could be a hint that Wayne Bennett is looking for a change at dummy half next season. If he does look like being the starting hooker next season, he will be a great mid to late round draft pick.

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.

There were no backs who scored a WH in round 18.

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

POSITION	PLAYER	TEAM	INVOLVEMENTS	PACK OF THE WEEK
Front Row	Jaimin Jolliffe	Titans	60	1
Hooker	Jayden Brailey	Knights	70	1
Front Row	J'maine Hopgood	Eels	64	2
Back Row	Jai Arrow	Rabbitohs	59	3
Back Row	John Bateman	Cowboys	56	2
Lock	Reuben Cotter	Cowboys	67	1