Brits Down Under: Burgess’ Bunnies secure record win & Whitehead impressive in defeat

After round 22 of the NRL season we once again look at the performances and stats of the league’s British contingent.

Tom Burgess

The Rabbitohs’ dazzling form continued over the weekend as a 36-6 victory over Gold Coast earned them a 10th win in a row as well as a record eighth game in a row in which they would record 30 or more points. As the end to the regular season gets closer, the Bunnies look set for a decent run in the finals with players such as Burgess being hugely integral to their chances. The 28-year-old has been in fine form all year with his destructive and powerful ball carrying and in the win over the Titans he further cemented his status as Souths’ top metre maker this year as he was able to secure 11 carries, 114 metres, 42 post contact metres and a tackle bust all in 45 minutes of action.

Josh Hodgson

Another top defensive effort from the 31-year-old as he put in plenty of work on that side of the ball despite Canberra’s loss to the Storm. A total of 34 tackles now takes his season tally to 637, the most by any Canberra player this season and the 12th most in the entire league. Despite the loss, the Raiders still have an NRL finals place within their grasp as they sit in ninth place but level on points with the Titans in eighth but with their last three games against the Sea Eagles, the Warriors and the Roosters, it will certainly prove a tough task to secure that spot so key players such as Hodgson are certainly going to become even more vital.

Elliott Whitehead

The Raiders may have succumbed to defeat against top of the table Melbourne but even still they were able to show exactly what they are capable of with some physical defensive sets on top of producing great attacking intent. The 31-year-old was undoubtedly one of the better players on the field for Canberra as he looked a constant threat with the ball in his hand with 95 metres, 42 post contact metres and two tackle busts on top of 21 tackles. The dynamic second-rower now has the third most tackles by a Canberra player this year with 525.

Ryan Sutton

It was not a huge performance from the 26-year-old as Melbourne for the most part were able to stifle Canberra’s attack. However, in 41 minutes of game time Sutton had a steady nine carries, 58 metres, 19 post contact metres and a tackle break. Altogether Sutton has the second most metres gained (2,038) and the second most tackles (529) by a Raiders player this year.