James Fisher-Harris proving hard work counts

Two of rugby league's hardest workers will go head-to-head in Friday night's vital clash at Suncorp Stadium in a game that could make or break the top-four aspirations of the Panthers or Broncos.

Fisher-Harris has kicked on following an injury-disrupted 2017 season to be labelled the busiest forward in Penrith's pack alongside stand-in skipper Isaah Yeo on the edge.

The Kiwi representative has made more tackles than any other player at the club (599) and ranks second in both support plays and decoy running.

He ranks fifth overall on the season leaderboard.

His opponent this week, Broncos forward Joe Ofahengaue, is enjoying a solid year in an ever-changing forward pack under the watchful eye of Wayne Bennett to remain on the cusp of State of Origin honours in the future.

The Tongan representative is a consistent performer with a solid workload to rate third in tackles (450), second in runs (211), first in decoys (1st) and fifth in supports (130) at the club.

He ranks 23rd overall in the VB Hard-Earned award – the highest of any other Broncos player in the competition.

The VB Hard-Earned Award index number assigned to a player each game is calculated by doubling the amount of runs a player makes, plus adding in the amount of tackles, support plays and decoys, along with offloads, tackles breaks and chargedowns.

Players lose a point for each missed tackle, four points for each error and penalty they concede and a sin bin will cost them eight points.

Sea Eagles forward Jake Trbojevic remains a clear frontrunner on 1395 with Eels prop Daniel Alvaro moving up a place to second spot, while Knights workhorse Aidan Guerra moves to third.

Gold Coast Titans skipper Ryan James and North Queensland forward Jason Taumalolo remain in the top 10 but move down places.