Edwards is marathon man in dynasty, Yeo the warrior

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Edwards is marathon man in dynasty, Yeo the warrior

Dylan Edwards has emerged as Penrith’s marathon man, with the Panthers fullback totalling more metres than any other player during the club’s five-year dynasty.

According to official NRL data since Penrith’s glory run began in 2020, Edwards has narrowly edged out Brian To’o for both metres and tackle busts.

Co-skipper Isaah Yeo is the clear toiler of the Panthers’ side, playing more games and making more tackles than any other player.

And Nathan Cleary is unsurprisingly the attacking king, setting up more tries and scoring more points than any other Panther in the past five years.

Mitch Kenny has now ousted Apisai Koroisau for the most touches of the ball during the five-year *******, while Jarome Luai is the surprise leader for offloads.

But it is Edwards’ numbers that highlight his importance ahead of Sunday’s NRL grand final against Melbourne, as Penrith vie for a fourth straight title.

Since returning to Penrith’s team from injury for the first game of their 17-match winning streak in 2020, Edwards has totalled some 22,022 metres with ball in hand.

He has also broken the most tackles with 583, seven more than winger To’o over the same *******.

The pair’s early-set yardage is crucial to Penrith’s territorial gains, with Edwards often chiming in for a quick play-the-ball late in sets before kicks.

It was the same work rate that convinced Michael Maguire to hand Edwards a NSW State of Origin debut this year, with his desperation in both defence and *******.

“I think he’s got like, a genetic thing going on or something,” Luai said of Edwards.

“They need to go do a blood test on him. He’s been crazy since day dot. He’s been crazy in terms of fitness.

“He doesn’t train the offseason, comes back and wins all the drills first training session.

“I was a lot fitter (than him) back when we were kids. But he’s just got better. He was just always known for his hard work.”

If Edwards is Penrith’s marathon man, Yeo can lay claim to being their warrior.

Only shifted to the middle early in 2020, the lock has barely missed a game outside of representative duties.

While To’o just had Yeo covered in minutes played, the Penrith No.13 is the only Panther to have registered 100 wins during the run.

His 4476 tackles are also the most of any Panther since 2020, more than 800 clear of the next best in James Fisher-Harris.

And he has done so while barely picking up a judiciary charge, and never being suspended.

“I definitely take pride in that, and fitness as well,” Yeo said.

“When you get tired, that’s when you become a bit sloppy.

“There is certainly a bit of luck in terms of injuries. But when you’re on the rollercoaster and it’s going really well, you don’t want to jump off.”

PENRITH’S DYNASTY STAT LEADERS

Games: Isaah Yeo – 118

Wins: Isaah Yeo – 100

Tries: Brian To’o – 71

Goals: Nathan Cleary – 394

Field goals: Nathan Cleary – 13

Points: Nathan Cleary – 936

Try assists: Nathan Cleary – 91

Linebreaks: Brian To’o – 88

Run metres: Dylan Edwards – 22,022

Offloads: Jarome Luai – 123

Tackle breaks: Dylan Edwards – 583

Tackles: Isaah Yeo – 4476

Kick metres: Nathan Cleary – 44,616

Forced dropouts: Nathan Cleary – 102

Touches: Mitch Kenny – 7756

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Edwards #marathon #man #dynasty #Yeo #warrior

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up