Effort on effort: Gutho equals his own record
His team may have lost the game but Eels fullback Clint Gutherson set a new individual record on Friday night with the most run metres ever recorded for a player in a match, according to NRL Stats.
Gutherson notched a massive 369 run metres from 34 carries in Friday's 14-12 loss to the Dragons, eclipsing the old record set by Warriors custodian Roger Tuivasa-Sheck by a single metre.
Tuivasa-Sheck ran for 368 metres in last year's 18-18 draw with Brisbane in round 17, a match that lasted an extra 10 minutes with extra-time.
Star Cowboys lock Jason Taumalolo set the record for the most metres made by a forward with 345 metres against the Bulldogs in March.
Match: Eels v Dragons
Round 14 -
home Team
Eels
3rd Position
away Team
Dragons
11th Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Gutherson's latest feat comes after he finished with the most high-speed efforts – bursts of 20km/h or more – for the second week running in round 13, equalling his own season record of 45.
Only six high-speed effort totals of 40 or above have been logged during 2020, according to Telstra Tracker data, with Eels captain Gutherson also managing 45 in round five.
Roosters fullback James Tedesco, who hadn't featured in the weekly top five for high-speed efforts since round one, was credited with 41 in last Thursday's win over the Dragons.
Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen and St George Illawarra winger Jason Saab (both 42, round seven) and Dragons centre Zac Lomax (40, round five) are the only others to have reached 40 this year.
Gutherson led the way with 38 high-speed efforts in round 12 alongside Bulldogs fullback Nick Meaney.
Meaney came third this time, again with 38, followed by Cowboys young gun Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Sharks No.1 Will Kennedy (both 36).
Elsewhere, Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr recorded the fourth-fastest speed of the season (36.7km/h).
Rabbitohs flyer Alex Johnston and Broncos rookie Xavier Coates share the overall lead on 36.9km/h, which they both achieved in round six, just ahead of Addo-Carr's 36.8km/h in round two.
Dragons custodian Matt Dufty (36.2km/h, round 12) is the only other player to have been clocked at 36km/h.
Trailing Addo-Carr in round 13 were Coates (34.7), Warriors centre Patrick Herbert (34.6), St George Illawarra weapon Zac Lomax (34) and Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt (33.8).
There was a three-way tie for most distance covered, with Knights halfback Mitchell Pearce, Dragons No.7 Adam Clune and Cronulla's Kennedy all running 9.6km.
Roosters hooker Jake Friend – just the seventh forward all year to make the top five – and Gutherson (both 9.4) came next.
