They were pushed all the way in Round 5, but the Sydney Roosters' ability to get over the line against the Broncos was in no small part thanks to the efforts of their halves, Luke Keary and Sam Walker.
While Walker's clutch conversion and final try assist attracted all the headlines, it was Keary's tireless efforts that stood out in the Telstra Tracker data — topping the charts for total distance covered by any player across the round.
Keary's 9532 metres run were more than any other player, edging out Eels fullback Clint Gutherson (9477m) and Sharks fullback Will Kennedy (9408m), while Roosters teammate Victor Radley was narrowly behind the trio with 9396 metres.
Kennedy was one of a number of strong performers for the Sharks as they moved into second place on the Telstra Premiership ladder, with several outside backs proving their worth once again as they ran riot over the Wests Tigers.
Ronaldo Mulitalo finished narrowly behind Sea Eagles tearaway Jason Saab for the highest speed of the round — his 35.4 km/h was just 0.1 that of the Manly winger — while Mulitalo also ranked among the top three players for sprint distance, which ranks metres covered at a speed of greater than 25 kilometres per hour.
Sharks backline fires
Mulitalo's 256 metres was the third most of any player, with Sharks teammate Jesse Ramien coming in at second with 257 metres in another strong performance from the Blues Origin hopeful.
Broncos young gun Selwyn Cobbo topped the charts, however, with 260 metres.
Telstra Tracker: Round 5
Total Distance
- Luke Keary (Roosters) — 9,532 metres
- Clint Gutherson (Eels) — 9,477 metres
- Will Kennedy (Sharks) — 9,408 metres
Relative Distance (metres per minute)
- Reuben Cotter (Cowboys) — 103.8 m/min
- Trent Loiero (Storm) — 101.8 m/min
- Alex Seyfarth (Wests Tigers) — 100.5 m/min
Maximum Velocity
- Jason Saab (Sea Eagles) — 35.5 km/h
- Ronaldo Mulitalo (Sharks) — 35.4 km/h
- Herbie Farnworth (Broncos) — 34.8 km/h
Sprint Distance (metres > 25 km/h)
- Selwyn Cobbo (Broncos) — 260 metres
- Jesse Ramien (Sharks) — 257 metres
- Ronaldo Mulitalo (Sharks) — 256 metres