As Ryan Hoffman edges ever closer to the NRL’s 300-game milestone – he plays his 283rd game this week – resilience remains one of his foremost qualities.
It’s underlined in his output this year which has seen him on the field every one of the 1542 minutes of the 19 games he has played.
But for a virus that kept him out of the home clash against Gold Coast he would almost certainly have had the perfect set in terms of both games and minutes.
Halfback Shaun Johnson is the only player in the squad who has appeared in each of the Vodafone Warriors’ 20 matches so far but of the 19 players who have made 10 or more appearances, Hoffman is the only one who has been on the field every minute. Johnson has amassed the most total minutes (1609) but missed the last 13 minutes of the away win over Newcastle.
The 32-year-old Hoffman leads the Vodafone Warriors for the 20th time when they face South Sydney at Mount Smart Stadium on Saturday (7.30pm kick-off; match day sponsor: Suzuki). He has nine wins and 10 losses as captain.
Apart from missing fellow back rower Simon Mannering’s 250th match, Hoffman has been ever-present on the left edge, more recently part of a settled combination with Thomas Leuluai, Solomone Kata and Manu Vatuvei.
His game averages for the season are 13 runs, 113 metres and 23 tackles while he has the most hit ups of any Vodafone Warriors player with 233, ranking 20th among all NRL players.
His ball carrying numbers are up markedly in the last six games (four of them golden point contests) with games averages of 17 runs and 131 metres while he’s made an average 23 tackles in those six rounds. He has also produced 10 off loads.
In an interrupted 18-game campaign in 2015, Hoffman averaged 13 runs, 109 metres and 20 tackles.
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