NRL 2022, Stephen Crichton, Penrith Panthers, Round 7 Telstra Tracker data

Author: Dan Talintyre NRL Content Lead
Timestamp: Thu 28 Apr 2022, 01:06 PM

Stephen Crichton's first career hat-trick saw the Panthers centre light up the Telstra Tracker data in Round 7, topping the maximum velocity charts with a top speed of 37.4 kilometres per hour.

Crichton's top speed was well clear of every other player in the competition, with Bulldogs flyer Josh Addo-Carr coming in at second with a high speed of 35.4 km/h.

Scott Drinkwater's solo try off the scrum in North Queensland's win over the Titans saw him reach a maximum of 34.8 km/h — the third highest speed of the round.

The Telstra Tracker data also highlighted just how intense Cronulla's first half against Manly was to kick off the ANZAC Round.

With their outside backs on fire, the Sharks raced to a commanding half-time lead before holding their nerve in the second half to see off the Sea Eagles in a 34-22 win that had plenty of players covering significant amounts of ground.

Mulitalo scores a double

Incredibly, the top six sprint distance figures from the round — which records metres covered by a player at a speed of greater than 25 km/h — all came from Thursday night's game. Cronulla trio Ronaldo Mulitalo (349 metres), Jesse Ramien (243 metres) and William Kennedy (233 metres) led the way from Manly pair Jason Saab and Reuben Garrick (both 210 metres) while Matt Moylan chalked up 200 metres.

Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey and Manly fullback Garrick were also the only players to cover more than 9,300 metres in total for the round, with the pair taking out the top two spots in total distance covered.