VB Hard Earned: Jennings, To'o prove wingers are more than finishers
George Jennings scored a try and set up another with great skill against the Bulldogs last Saturday, but the Storm flyer didn't shirk the tough stuff either.
The 27-year-old, who arrived at Melbourne from Parramatta, racked up a VB Hard Earned index score of 82 in the 52-18 win.
On that basis, Jennings was the busiest winger in round five, beating out Penrith's consistent Brian To'o (79). The Baseline of Hard Work for players in their position is only an index score of 38.
Jennings had a whopping 26 carries, according to data provided by VB, with 17 of his runs resulting in a gain of eight or more metres. He collected a game-high 278m overall, broke six tackles and made five.
South Sydney's Campbell Graham was another player who exceeded their positional average, scoring 75 in a 35-6 thumping of Brisbane when the baseline for a centre is just 40.3.
Agile middle forwards are crucial in the modern era, with Warriors lock Jazz Tevaga and Cowboys interchange utility Reuben Cotter showing why as they produced massive VB Hard Earned stats.
Despite his team losing to Manly 13-12, Tevaga produced a colossal 57-minute performance to record an index score of 101. His teammate Tohu Harris also raised the bat with a hard-fought even century.
And Cotter, who was mainly used at hooker before this season, punched out 60 minutes from the bench to reach 100 and help North Queensland secure a relieving 34-30 win over the Wests Tigers.
On the overall leaderboard, 2019 VB Hard Earned winner James Fisher-Harris has returned to the top spot after posting 89 for the Panthers in their victory against the Raiders on Friday.
Newcastle front-rower David Klemmer is back in second while the aforementioned Harris, Titans weapon David Fifita and Roosters bookend Siosiua Taukeiaho round out the top five after five games.
