Workhorse Watch: Week 2
Another cracking week on the workhorse front; whilst there were less workhorse try scorers this week (38) compared to last week (45), there were a more workhorse doubles scored with some players posting some massive numbers.
None more so than Shaun Fensom: Fensom made a very handy 40 tackles and 14 hit ups in Round 1 and by all rights should have been in the Workhorse Team of the Week. Why there was such an oversight I’m not sure, perhaps his numbers were revised after last week’s edition was finalised or perhaps the fault lies with me. Either way, Fensom made sure his crown as one of the hardest working forwards in the NRL would not be overlooked in round 2, making 51 tackles and 21 hit ups to deliver the biggest workhorse tally of the year so far.
NRLCEOs with Jamie Buhrer will be sad to see Glenn Stewart return this week after the one-time Origin player put in a massive game on the weekend to score his first workhorse try of the year. Buhrer tallied 27 tackles and just 3 hit ups in round 1 but with a starting berth against the Rabbitohs he made 36 tackles and 13 hit ups. Buhrer, who can play both as a hooker and a back rower was incorrectly sitting on a double workhorse try over the weekend as if he’d slotted in at dummy half. The Workhorse Watcher noticed as he looked over the stats on Monday and was quick to point it out to the NRL powers that be who soon downgraded him to just the one workhorse try. Sorry about that guys; but if I didn’t mention it your opponents certainly would have.
The NRLCEO website saw a massive spike in the number of people recruiting Mike Cooper after his 41 tackles and 10 hit ups off the bench on Saturday. The English forward came close last week with 35 but managed to get through a lot more work in less game time in what was a fairly tight contest against the Warriors (at least for the first hour or so). Other players to emerge this round included Cronulla’s Tupou Sopoaga and Canberra’s Paul Vaughan. Sopoaga topped the tackle count in the Bulldogs vs Sharks game (44) to go with 10 hit ups and Vaughan tallied 25 tackles and 15 hit ups off the Raiders bench. Both players have been named in the run on side for their respective teams this week.
I don’t imagine he’s on many free lists but snap up Manu Ma’u if he’s still available in your comp. The Eels back rower made 31 tackles and 8 hit ups to fall just short of a workhorse try and whilst he did miss four tackles, he was the only Eels forward to play the full 80 minutes. The Eels look to be in for another tough year and with plenty of hard work to be done in the middle Ma’u could be your man. It was a might effort considering the number of breaks in play due to the cricket score the Roosters racked up but not every week will be filled with breaks in play every few minutes because of another try conceded so expect him to start scoring sooner rather than later.
WORKHORSE OF THE WEEK:
Shaun Fensom; his double workhorse try was massive. Unfortunately one of his 51 tackles went wrong so he’ll be on the sidelines this week.
FORWARD PACK OF THE WEEK (Round 2)
8. Trent Merrin: 49 tackles + 15 hitups = 64
9. Matt Ballin: 56 tackles + 9 hitups = 65
10. Josh McGuire: 44 tackles + 11 hitups = 55
11. Gavin Cooper: 41 tackles +14 hitups = 55
12. Corey Parker: 46 tackles + 17 hitups = 63
13. Shaun Fensom: 51 tackles + 21 hitups =72
14. Robbie Farah: 39 tackles + 13 hit ups = 52
15. Andrew McCullough: 58 tackles + 10 hit ups = 68
Congratulations to Merrin, Ballin, Parker, Fensom and Farah who all scored workhorse doubles. Andrew McCullough put up some big numbers but fell 5 metres short of the total required to score a double.
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
Every week we also look at those who fell short by one, causing their NRLCEOs no end of frustration.
Feliti Mateo: 27 tackles + 12 hitups = 39
Manu Ma’u: 31 tackles + 8 hitups =39
Matt Prior: 27 tackles + 12 hitups =39
JUST QUICKLY
- ANZ Stadium wouldn’t look so empty if they put palm trees behind the in-goal areas
- What’s with all the bad moustaches in the NRL, were players watching too much of Mitch Johnson over the summer?
As an Eels fan I was feeling pretty good after the Warriors game.
Geoff Adams
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Hey mate, did ashley harrisson not workhorse last week? Also where do you get your stats from and are these numbers publicly avaialable?
Hi Anton. Harrison only got 32 + 6 last week (38). We get out Stats from Champion Data, the official stats provider for the NRL. You can view the official stats on NRL.com