Dallin Watene-Zelezniak's length-of-the-field intercept not only paved the way for the Warriors' stunning upset over the Bulldogs but also for the winger to top the Telstra Tracker charts from Round 22.
Watene-Zelezniak ended the round with pole position in the high speed distance category, which measures the total number of metres covered by players at a velocity greater than 20 kilometres per hour. The Kiwi international had 783 metres in his side's win over the Bulldogs, while teammate Marcelo Montoya was narrowly behind, coming in second with 778 high speed metres.
Watene-Zelezniak also recorded the fifth highest velocity of the round, with a top speed of 34.2 kilometres per hour bettered only by a handful of player; his opposite number on the night Josh Addo-Carr chalking up the fastest speed with 35.5 kmh.
Elsewhere, Cooper Johns filled in admirably for the injured Jahrome Hughes to lead the Storm to an upset win over the Panthers in Penrith, finishing the round with the most metres covered (9,484) by any player. Panthers halfback Sean O'Sullivan — who himself is covering for the suspended Nathan Cleary — finished second with a total distance of 9,459m with Bulldogs halfback Kyle Flanagan (9,393m) in third.
Telstra Tracker: Round 22
Total Distance
- Cooper Johns (Storm) — 9,484 metres
- Sean O'Sullivan (Panthers) — 9,459 metres
- Kyle Flanagan (Bulldogs) — 9,393 metres
- Sam Walker (Roosters) — 9,337 metres
- Adam Clune (Knights) — 9,336 metres
Maximum Velocity
- Josh Addo-Carr (Bulldogs) — 35.5 km/h
- Jason Saab (Sea Eagles) — 34.7 km/h
- Brent Naden (Wests Tigers) — 34.4 km/h
- Bradman Best (Knights) — 34.2 km/h
- Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (Warriors) — 34.2 km/h
High Speed Distance (metres > 20 km/h)
- Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (Warriors) — 783 metres
- Marcelo Montoya (Warriors) — 778 metres
- Brad Parker (Sea Eagles) — 776 metres
- Viliame Vailea (Warriors) — 745 metres
- Brian Kelly (Titans) — 724 metres
Relative Distance (metres per minute)
- Drew Hutchison (Roosters) — 112.6 metres/min
- Tyran Wishart (Storm) — 107.6 metres/min
- Davvy Moale (Rabbitohs) — 106.9 metres/min
- Bryce Cartwright (Eels) — 104.0 metres/min
- Ofahiki Ogden (Eels) — 103.8 metres/min