Stat Attack: Saab scorches but falls short of season best

To the naked eye, Manly flyer Jason Saab moved remarkably quickly to score against the Warriors last Friday - and Telstra Tracker data has backed that perception.

Saab now owns the second-fastest speed of the season having been clocked at 38km/h when he chased Daly Cherry-Evans's daring 75-metre kick off a scrum to collect his first try for the Sea Eagles.

Had he achieved the feat two weeks earlier, Saab could have laid claim to being the NRL's fastest man ion 2021 - but Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr retains that title having run 38.1km/h against Brisbane in round four.

Saab threw down the challenge to Addo-Carr in round one when he maxed out at 37.5km/h - a speed that eclipsed the Melbourne premiership winner's 2020 personal best of 37.2km/h. Addo-Carr's all-time record of 38.5km/h, set in 2019, is still the benchmark.

Broncos winger Xavier Coates is also on the speed podium, with his 37.6km/h coming against Addo-Carr in round four.

Behind Saab, Canterbury's Jack Hetherington (36.1km/h), Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (35.8km/h), Nick Cotric (35.8km/h) and Coates (35.8km/h) made the most recent weekly leaderboard.

Elsewhere, Sam Walker, the rookie Roosters halfback who led a special fightback against the Sharks in his second game, covered a round-high 9.97km to back up the 10.07km he did on debut.

Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary (9.54km) and Sea Eagles five-eighth Kieran Foran (9.32) also worked hard. Walker was the standout in the relative distance category, too - averaging 105 metres per minute to rank equal third; the only 80-minute player on the list. 

Bulldogs winger Corey Allan led the way for high-speed metres (20km/h or more) with 808m, followed by Parramatta's Blake Ferguson (802m).