Pearce on, shackles off as veteran half shines

It clearly hasn't taken long for Mitchell Pearce to regain match fitness after an injury lay-off with the Knights halfback covering the most distance during round 16.

According to Telstra Tracker numbers, Pearce registered 9.9km as he helped Newcastle to a 38-0 victory over North Queensland in his second game back after 10 weeks on the sideline with a pec injury.

Chad Townsend, meanwhile, racked up 9.5km in his return to the Warriors on a short-term deal after being released by the Sharks.

The Warriors were beaten 19-18 in golden point by the Dragons, but Townsend was brave in playing through a bad shoulder injury.

In news that will surprise no one, Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr was the fastest player of the round with a max speed of 36.8km/h.

Sea Eagles flyer Jason Saab, who has been Addo-Carr's main rival all season, was clocked at 35.6km/h against the Bulldogs.

Sharks flyer Ronaldo Mulitalo (35.4km/h) and recalled Panthers back Brent Naden (35.1km/h) also showed serious wheels.

Elsewhere, Bulldogs halfback Kyle Flanagan ran the most high-speed metres (more than 20km/h) in his NRL return with 922.

He pipped Tom Trbojevic (883m) and Saab (814m) - a small win given the Manly pair terrorised Canterbury with respective hat-tricks in last Saturday's 66-0 demolition at Bankwest Stadium.

Eels utility forward Bryce Cartwright led the way for relative distance with an average of 107 metres per minute, however he only played eight minutes in a 13-12 defeat to the Panthers.

In the same match, Penrith hooker Api Koroisau (106 metres per minute) and Parramatta's Clint Gutherson (103) and Mitchell Moses (103) maintained a remarkable intensity for 80 minutes.