2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

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greeneyed
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2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by greeneyed »

2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

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Now it is season over for the Canberra Raiders, we will be reviewing the year of all 31 players who pulled on a green jersey in first grade in 2021. So far, we have looked at the season of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Xavier Savage, Caleb Aekins, Jordan Rapana, Bailey Simonsson, Semi Valemei, Harley Smith-Shields, Sebastian Kris, Jarrod Croker, Curtis Scott, Matt Timoko, Jack Wighton, Sam Williams, George Williams, Matt Frawley, Josh Papalii, Joseph Tapine, Emre Guler, Sia Soliola, Ryan James, Dunamis Lui, Josh Hodgson and Tom Starling.

English second rower Elliott Whitehead joined the Canberra Raiders back in 2016. Since then he's barely missed a game. He averaged 25 appearances in his first five years at the club - and has played 144 games from a possible 149 in his six seasons in green. Three of those missed matches came this year.

It was almost a shock when he was sidelined, due to the shoulder injury and serious facial cut he suffered in the Round 17 clash with the Titans. He'd never missed a game at the Raiders due to injury before.

"Elliott Whitehead. He doesn't miss much football, Elliott," Stuart said when deciding to give the 32 year old a break.

"His body needs a rest. He's got a bad shoulder and he's got a very bad cut to the eye and the eyelid. He needs a rest. It's a credit to Elliott in regards what he puts his body through week in and week out. It's why we say we love playing with Elliott. He puts his body on the line every week. He didn't pull out. I made the decision because I know he would have played."

That's how much he loves the club.

He was deservedly given the honour of the co-captaincy this year, after Josh Hodgson decided to stand himself down from the role after the Round 6 loss to the Eels.

Elliott Whitehead made 21 appearances this year, starting in all but one of them in the second row. In the Round 8 loss to the Rabbitohs, he was forced into the halves, after George Williams was a late withdrawal due to a hamstring twinge in the warm up. Not many forwards can do that, but it is a testament to his ball playing ability.

I rated him 6.1/10 during the course of the season (6.6 in 2020) - and his season rating of 7/10 (8 in 2020) reflects that. He only picked up two points in this year's Fans' Choice Player of the Year count - for the match against the Cowboys when forced into the halves. He's remarkably consistent, but his form probably did tail off in the second half of the year. I rated him a "7" in five games, all in the first eight rounds. I rated him a "5", his lowest score, only twice.



He ranked equal first among the Raiders forwards for total try involvements (14, the same as in 2020), alongside Josh Hodgson. He also ranked in the top five for try involvements amongst his NRL second row peers. His line breaks fell to four (nine in 2020). He was second among NRL second rowers in that department last year, behind Villiame Kikau - but was well down the list this year. He lifted his offloads from nine to 15 - and he did get a couple of more try assists. He scored one less try this year - but also bagged one of the Raiders' best. He's never made a lot of running metres or tackle breaks, but both fell slightly on a per game basis.



Whitehead's defensive workload remained very high. He ranked second for total tackles at the Raiders (behind Josh Hodgson), and equal second, with Hudson Young, for average tackles per match. It is tough defending on the edges and a lot of traffic comes his way. He's always had a lower tackle efficiency rate than many of his NRL second row peers - but this year it declined a little (86 per cent, compared with 89 per cent in 2020). His missed tackle count also rose to 3.3 per game this year (2.6 in 2020). That put him into the top five second rowers for missed tackles on a per match basis. His tackle efficiency rate was the lowest among the regular Raiders forwards.

In July, Whitehead's contract was extended by two years, to the end of 2024. It will likely make him a Raider for life - as he'll be 35 by the time his deal expires. He might be a Canberran for life too. He recently became an Australian resident.

"I think I've found home here now so I'm happy to be staying a bit longer in Canberra and after rugby I'll probably stay around as well. I don't see myself moving anywhere else. I really like the Canberra lifestyle, it really suits me and my partner, so we'll probably stay here after my career," he said.

2021 wasn't Whitehead's best season with the club - and that is reflected in his numbers. He was probably affected by injury in the second half of the year - not just his shoulder and cut eye, but a range of more minor injuries. He required surgery on his elbow after the season ended. It is difficult to be at your best when the whole team is not performing well too. Some Raiders fans have suggested that he was affected by the pace of Vlandysball, or that perhaps we saw some signs of time catching up with him. I think it is certainly premature to say that. There are no doubt things he'll be working on in the off season. That reflects his dedication and commitment to consistency. And the off season will give the body time to heal. I'm looking forward to a refreshed Elliott Whitehead leading the club back to the finals in 2022.

How did you rate Elliott Whitehead's 2021? Tell us below.

Elliott Whitehead's 2021: 7/10

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2021 Statistics: (Stats from Fox Sports Lab)
Games: 21
Average minutes: 79
Points: 16
Tries: 4
Try assists: 6
Try contributions: 4
Total try involvements: 14
Total kicks: 5
Kick metres: 48
Forced drop outs: 1
Kick errors: 1
Total runs: 157
All run metres: 1322
Average metres per carry: 8
Average metres per game: 63
Tackle breaks: 17
Offloads: 15
Line breaks: 4
Line break assists: 5
Tackles: 638
Average tackles per game: 30
1 on 1 tackles: 47
Missed tackles: 71
Average missed tackles per game: 3.3
Ineffective tackles: 31
Tackle efficiency: 86 per cent
Try causes: 12
Line break causes: 15
Errors: 16
Penalties conceded: 5
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Billy Walker
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by Billy Walker »

I think a 7 is a bit over the odds GE. He needs a big 2022. He’s been great but I worry about whether his best is behind him.
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by Matt »

Hmmm... this is tricky. Normally 1 of our most consistent performers, but his form slipped later in the yr. I also didn't like the switch of sides. I dont think that helped him, even if it may have helped to rookies outside him. Gut feel is 7 is too high, but I wanna say 6 feels harsh. It's probably a 6-6.5 though.
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by Canberra Milk »

7 is massive overs
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by Rickmando »

Phoned in most of the 2021 season.

Never looked fully fit, which may have had something to do with it? The alternative theory is worse - that he’s become too comfortable at the Raiders. Didn’t seem to be a lot of accountability for his poor performances ie. it never seemed like he was in discussions to be dropped despite weekly stinkers.

Bloated Croker-esque contract signed as well! So let’s hope this season was a blip on the radar. He gets benefit of the doubt based on his excellent career with us prior.

PS. Has to play 13 in a rotation next year. Doesn’t have the 80mins in him regardless, but he’s extremely inefficient in both attack and defence on an edge these days.
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by BadnMean »

He was not only our worst edge defensively, he was one of the poorer edges defensively across the entire comp, by stats and eye test. In the worst 6-7 2nd rowers for linebreak cause, try cause. No real great shakes in tackle efficiency either. Not like he has to protect a weak half on that side either...

6 for effort.
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by Roger Kenworthy »

I'm ranking these guys on a bell curve vs other players in their positions across the competition. Whitehead was a 4-4.5/10, middle of the pack. Needs to get back to running the ball with aggression 3 or 4 times a game.
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by Seiffert82 »

Don't want to say anything negative about Whitehead, so I won't.

Tough year for him. I hope the coach has a new role for him in 2022. I love having him at the club. One of our best ever.
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by Botman »

He's been such a quality player for so long, genuinely a world class, skillful footballer

Very concerned about his campaign in 2021. Was it an off year because of the changes in the game and our well known fitness issues? Or was 2021 the beginning of the end?
We'll know the answer pretty early in 2022. I suspect Stuart will start him on the edge thinking last year was an aberration, what happens if that proves not the be the case and that he's no longer as effective on the edges as he once was... that's anyone's guess. I'd personally like to see him in the #13 jersey

I think his style and his ball playing compare favourably to Isiah Yeo who's found his role as the #13 for the Panthers and plays it's superbly.
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by bonehead »

agreed, Elliott is probably my favourite raider currently based off so many things.
His skillset for a backrower, workrate, silky hands, speed(for a genuine forward), nous for finding a gap and setting up his support, defensive reads and the ability to be the guy who gets to the loose ball or make the cover tackle go unnoticed by many.
Yes, a serious decline in 2021 and I'll be very interested in 2022 to see if he can get back up, I do feel he was let down on either side in defence as we went back to lazy middle putting higher pressure on our edge that hasn't really been seen in the hodgson era.
I'll be gutted when he's not in our 17 any more.

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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by zim »

Dude's just getting older. It happens. Needs to be managed for once in his career instead of just being able to set and forget. Either through interchanges or positional changes there needs to be some tweaking. The skills are all still there.
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2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by zim »

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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by RedRaider »

I really like EW and so does the coach who made him Captain of a badly damaged ship. Skillful with the ball. The wear and tear of NRL was showing on him at the end of the season. Switching from left to right side and partnered with FG rookies or poor defenders did not help his own defensive game. He is either playing on the left or playing at lock for mine. Defensively found out too often at the end of the season but I reckon he was playing busted. A score of 6/10 due to defensive lapses.
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by GreenMachine »

Terrible season by his standards..
He either has a "Rapana level" revival next year or we look like true fools giving him that new contract at his age....
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by dubby »

His body is really banged up, and he needs a good break with heaps of recovery.

His 2021 reminded me of Rapa last year. Trying to play with a body at about 70% fit.

With a good off season I'm sure we'll see him return to form in 2022
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Re: 2021 in review - Elliott Whitehead

Post by Billy Walker »

Botman wrote: October 15, 2021, 8:04 am He's been such a quality player for so long, genuinely a world class, skillful footballer

Very concerned about his campaign in 2021. Was it an off year because of the changes in the game and our well known fitness issues? Or was 2021 the beginning of the end?
We'll know the answer pretty early in 2022. I suspect Stuart will start him on the edge thinking last year was an aberration, what happens if that proves not the be the case and that he's no longer as effective on the edges as he once was... that's anyone's guess. I'd personally like to see him in the #13 jersey

I think his style and his ball playing compare favourably to Isiah Yeo who's found his role as the #13 for the Panthers and plays it's superbly.
Agree with all you have said. I think Whitehead would go well in the 13 role, but I’m not sure that is the right long term thinking. Yeo reinforced how essential the 13 is to a team - arguably most key position outside the spine. If we were in a premiership window then yeah let’s see if Whitehead can job a job for us for a year or two. I suspect we are a little way off being a true contender and it worries me a little that we are putting players in key positions that may not be the long term answer. While I agree Elliot would go well in the 13 jumper I’d be more excited if we could unearth someone that will give us a good 5+ years in it. Not saying Hudson has the right skill set to make it but for arguments sake even if he took 18-24 months to get to Whitehead standards in the 13, at least you’d expect some return on that investment. I took a while to mould Jack into a 6 but it very nearly won us a premiership.
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