Geez, these bye weekends are dull!
But it’s a good time to provide an update on the Kingz Container Crew TWL Player of the Year award standings, based on our weekly KCC-sponsored player ratings.
Fashioned on now-defunct Rugby League Week‘s system of giving every player a rating out of 10 for every game – which Will Evans has been dishing out for each Warriors game since the start of 2018 – the TWL POTY gong goes to Warriors player with the most accumulated points at the end of the season. To give players that miss a few games with injury an opportunity to still vie for the honour, we’ll eliminate every player’s three lowest scores at the end of year (including matches missed).
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck took out the prize in 2018 and ’19, Tohu Harris lead the way in 2020 and Jazz Tevaga was a surprise winner in 2021. Due to the player ratings being missed for a chunk of last season, there was no TWL Player of the Year in 2022.
Let’s see how the contenders stack up after 14 games:
KINGZ CONTAINER CREW 2023 TWL PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD LEADERBOARD
110 – Shaun Johnson
105.5 – Addin Fonua-Blake
91.5 – Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
91.5 – Marcelo Montoya
88.5 – Tom Ale
85 – Adam Pompey
83.5 – Marata Niukore
83 – Tohu Harris
With 10 regular-season games to play, Shaun Johnson and Addin Fonua-Blake are streets ahead of the pack – but bear in mind the high-performing marquee men are among just six players to have featured in every game this season, along with Adam Pompey, Marcelo Montoya, Tom Ale and Bunty Afoa.
Every other player has missed at least two games, which highlights third-placed Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad’s outstanding, super-consistent efforts since returning to the club. Ditto for Tohu Harris, who has been sidelined for three matches this season. Both players remain very much in the Kingz Container Crew TWL Player of the Year mix, with each player’s three lowest scores (including zeroes for games missed) deduct from their tally at season’s end.
With that in mind, the player ratings averages are a more accurate indication of how each Warriors is travelling comparatively.
KINGZ CONTAINER CREW 2023 TWL PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD – HIGHEST AVERAGE SCORES (minimum 5 games)
7.86 – Shaun Johnson
7.63 – Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
7.55 – Tohu Harris
7.54 – Addin Fonua-Blake
7.50 – Mitch Barnett
7.42 – Jazz Tevaga
7.35 – Wayde Egan
7.05 – Dylan Walker
SJ still leads the way, but it’s tight at the top – with CNK and Harris just in front of AFB. Mitch Barnett and Jazz Tevaga have missed far too many games to be in with a shot, but their excellent average scores reflect their superb form in limited outings.
Here’s a few more odds and ends to come out of the 2023 Kingz Container Crew Player Ratings so far:
- Three match ratings of ‘9’ have been handed out this season: Wayde Egan in Round 1 against Newcastle, and Shaun Johnson and in Round 5 against Cronulla. The all-time highest rating was Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s 9.5 for his superhuman display in the Warriors’ amazing comeback in Canberra in early-2021.
- There’s been 11 scores of 8.5. Johnson has accounted for four of those, Nicoll-Klokstad three, and Fonua-Blake and Harris two each.
- Johnson has scored less than 7.5 just twice (in Round 1 against the Knights and Round 13 against the Broncos), while Fonua-Blake has not scored below a 7 all season. Nicoll-Klokstad’s only score below 7 was when he was forced off early in Round 2 against the Roosters.
- Tuivasa-Sheck averaged 7.61 when he won the inaugural TWL award in 2018 and a record 7.78 in going back-to-back in 2019, while Harris averaged 7.55 per game in 2020. If Johnson maintains his current average, he’ll set a new high watermark.
- At the other end of the 2023 scale, Bailey Sironen (5.71), Bunty Afoa (5.86), Adam Pompey (6.07) and Viliame Vailea (6.20) have the lowest average scores – though in the case of Sironen and Afoa, there modest scores have predominantly been due to limited minutes.
This Warriors Life’s exclusive player ratings and Player of the Year award are brought to you by the legends at Kingz Container Crew – head to kingzcontainercrew.com if you’re on the hunt for a job or a new customer looking for container packing/unpacking solutions in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Auckland or Christchurch. Hit the ‘Work With Us’ tab.
Categories: Articles + Inteviews, WARRIORS NEWS
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