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Telstra Tracker data: Shock No.1 revealed as NRL’s official fastest player
Phil Gould once called Josh Addo-Carr the fastest man on the planet. But, these exclusive stats reveal which NRL star would really be a contender for that crown. See the exclusive top 20 here.Peter Badel and Brent Read
Meet the three fastest men in the NRL as revealed by Telstra Tracker data.
It’s official. Ronaldo Mulitalo is the Usain Bolt of the NRL.
The Sharks flyer has torched some of the NRL’s traditional speed merchants - including Josh Addo-Carr, Jason Saab and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow - to be crowned the fastest man in the NRL.
In the first of a three-part series, this masthead has exclusively obtained the NRL’s official GPS tracking data for the 2023 season.
Using the Telstra Tracker recordings, all 502 first-graders this year were assessed in six major statistical areas, with this masthead analysing the top three-ranked performers for each category at the 17 NRL clubs.
On the score of maximum speed, Mulitalo comes out on top, with the New Zealand Test winger going into Saturday night’s Pacific Championships final against Australia as the NRL’s sprint king gold medallist.
The Cronulla ace recorded the highest top-end speed of the 2023 Telstra Premiership at 37.18km/h, just edging out Manly rival Jason Saab (37.11km/h), with Parramatta’s Fijian flyer Maika Sivo (36.86km/h) claiming bronze.
Newcastle tryscoring sensation Dominic Young finished fourth, clocking 36.82km/h, while Bulldogs speed demon Addo-Carr - long regarded as the NRL’s fastest man - rounded out the top five at 36.75km/h.
As a comparison, Jamaican sprint legend Bolt, the fastest human ever, recorded a top-end speed of 44.72km/h when he set the 100-metre world record with his 9.58sec dash at Berlin in 2009.
Theoretically, if Mulitalo held his top speed over 100 metres, he would clock 9.68 secs, and there is no question the Kiwi Test star could go sub-11 seconds on an athletics track.
Mulitalo had an outstanding 2023 campaign, scoring 21 tries from 23 games and at just 23, the veteran of 87 top-grade games has time on his side to be the fastest man in the NRL for many years.
His New Zealand coach, Michael Maguire, says Mulitalo mixes raw speed with a fierce determination to be the best at whatever he does.
“I’m not totally surprised by that figure,” Maguire said of Mulitalo’s maximum pace.
“His speed is a reflection of his training ethic.
“He really rips in and he has been born with some handy genetics that gives him the ability to run fast.
“It’s one thing to run quick, but you have to utilise it and keep using it in an NRL game and Ronaldo does that.
TOP 20 RECORDED SPEEDS IN 2023
1. Ronaldo Mulitalo (Sharks) 37.188km/h
2. Jason Saab (Sea Eagles) 37.116km/h
3. Maika Sivo (Eels) 36.864km/h
4. Dominic Young (Knights) 36.828km/h
5. Josh Addo-Carr (Bulldogs) 36.756km/h
6. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Dolphins) 36.684km/h
7. Alofiana Khan-Pereira (Titans) 36.144km/h
8. Mitchell Moses (Eels) 36.108km/h
9. Jake Averillo (Bulldogs) 36.072km/h
10. Kalyn Ponga (Knights) 35.892km/h
11. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (Roosters) 35.784km/h
12. Dylan Edwards (Panthers) 35.748km/h
13. Jahream Bula (Tigers) 35.748km/h
14. Blake Wilson (Bulldogs) 35.712km/h
15. Tyrell Sloan (Dragons) 35.676km/h
16. Herbie Farnworth (Broncos) 35.64km/h
17. Reuben Garrick (Sea Eagles) 35.64km/h
18. Fetalaiga Pauga (Roosters) 35.64km/h
19. Clinton Gutherson (Eels) 35.532km/h
20. Reece Walsh (Broncos) 35.46km/h
“‘Ronnie’ is athletic but he is a competitor as well. He just loves to win, whether it’s a three-on-three drill at training or an actual NRL game, he likes to compete and that’s what makes him the player that he is.
“Ronnie has great energy. He is a character, that’s why the boys love playing with him, but he flicks the switch when he knows it’s time to get to work.
“Unfortunately, he wasn’t eligible for Queensland for State of Origin, but I’m glad he found his way into the New Zealand system.
“He has great buy-in as a player and throws himself into whatever he does.”
The NRL’s top 10 speed demons throws up some surprises.
Dolphins, Queensland Origin and Australia sensation Tabuai-Fidow, widely considered the biggest threat to Addo-Carr, registered sixth with a top speed of 36.68km/h.
