NRL Round 26 Team of the Week: Old timers, big hitters and Marky Mark.. again

Each week is a festival of one position, and it’s hard to pin down just a single player to fit in the team. More of than not, it’s in the fullbacks – and this week is no different.

So apologies to Daine Laurie, picked from reserve grade for a second-string Panthers, who pulled off one of the passes of the season and some big defensive plays too.

No luck Tom Trbojevic, who tore the Dragons asunder from the back, or Trai Fuller, another reggies battler who produced big when given the chance.

Isaiah Iongi, best on ground in Parramatta’s unlikely win in Auckland, and James Tedesco, en route to the Dally M, both miss out too.

There’s a lot of competition this week for the 1 jumper, and everywhere else too. Let’s get into it.

1. Reece Walsh (Broncos)

The Broncos fullback has to be in, if only for posting a massive six line breaks as his side grabbed a vital win over the Cowboys on Saturday night. When he plays like this, it’s easy to see what the Walsh hype is about.

The pace is one thing, and creates an extra yard based on the fear that defenders get when the fullback appears on the sweep.

But even more impressive is Walsh’s willingness to throw the pass, make mistakes and do it all again. Even after gifting a try to North Queensland via an intercept, he kept throwing the ball wide with risk.

It’s that mentality that wins out in the end. Walsh, when he’s on, has it in spades.

2. Ronaldo Mulitalo (Sharks)

This hasn’t been a standout year for one of the competition’s most talented wingers, with Ronaldo often opting to get into mind games with opponents rather than concentrating on his role.

When he’s fully focused, there’s few better finishers around – as Newcastle found out.

Mulitalo scored a hat trick here, including one superb flowing move worked with Will Kennedy, and by the end, was getting licence to roam to get himself involved. This was the best of him – let’s hope we see more of it.

3. Kotoni Staggs (Broncos)

Kotoni Staggs is a bit of a cypher for the Broncos.

It’s not a case of ‘if he plays well, they play well’, because that’s Reece Walsh, who has much more influence and, indeed, much greater swings between good and bad.

It’s more that the most obvious sign of a good Broncos performance is Staggs getting early ball, from which he can be devastating.

That was in full effect on Saturday night, admittedly aided by typically charitable Cowboys defence.

The centre turned that into 145m and two line breaks, and by the end, Walsh was just striding through as defenders looked so worried about what might happen if he passed that they let the fullback go.

4. Tolu Koula (Manly)

When we’re totting up the Team of the Year, only one Sea Eagle will be close: Tolu Koula.

This was a relatively quiet week by his standards, which still means that he scared the living daylights out of the Dragons defence, scoring a trademark jagging run and burned them for pace multiple times.

Though Manly’s backline have failed to ignite for much of the year, Tolu has come on leaps and bounds from a raw recruit to a tackle-breaking expert.

If only they gave him the footy more frequently – he only got six runs, which he turned into almost 100 metres.

5. Mark Nawaqanitawase (Roosters)

Just the four tries for the flying Fijian – or the flying Kangaroo, as he might be come the end of the year.

Mark Nawaqanitawase will be playing rep football for somebody come October, and deservedly so given his stellar form in recent weeks. There’s a strong argument that, on form, he’s about the best player in the comp at the moment.

The Roosters star is irrepressible, whether its ending moves or keeping them alive with superb offloading. The yardage was good this weekend too – 157m – and the defence was barely tested.

Greater examinations will come, but this was another great week for Marky Mark.

6. Kodi Nikorima (Dolphins)

Kodi Nikorima is one of the most unlikely success stories in a Dolphins attack full of them. They look like world beaters now, but Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was no cert when he joined, and Jamayne Isaako was playing Q Cup prior to switching to Redcliffe. Jake Averillo, too, was on the outer at Canterbury.

Nikorima might be the most impressive of the lot. He had bumbled through three clubs, always doing something but nothing spectacular, until finding himself at the new team.

With Isaiya Katoa empowered to pull the strings, Kodi has blossomed into both a veteran voice and a chaos merchant, able to influence games in unusual ways. This weekend saw the best of that, scoring one and setting up two as the Phins again piled on the points. It won’t be enough in the long run, one suspects, to make the finals – but it’s been a lot of fun.

7. Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly)

The old stager has waited until the very end to show his best in 2025, but with just one game left in his Sea Eagles career, he is going out in style.

This was an exceptional showing, turning Corey Waddell into Haumole Olakau’atu for an evening with passes that invited his backrower to stride through. When he wasn’t there, Tommy Talau was.

DCE ended up with four try assists – plus another that he finished himself – is a superb showing.

Next week is the big sendoff at Brookvale, and he’ll be hoping for another win.

8. Terrell May (Tigers)

The Tigers lost, but once again, their prop was among the best on the field. Terrell managed a full 77 minutes in the middle, raising 50 tackles without a single miss, as well as over 100m with ball in hand.

For him to be doing this now, at the back end of the year, with nothing much to play for, speaks volumes for the bloke.

There was a lot of chat about just how much he loved footy when he left the Roosters. It’s all quiet now.

9. Blayke Brailey (Sharks)

Another week, another nod for the Sharks number 9, who set up two more tries in his side’s win.

It would have been even sweeter coming against brother Jayden – who, in fairness, set up one of his own late in the game.

The Cronulla hooker has been on top from since the middle of the year and, were it not for Harry Grant, would be well in with a shout for big honours come the Dally Ms.

Instead, he can celebrate a new contract and, in all likelihood, first dibs on the NSW 9 jersey next year.

10. Josh Papali’i (Raiders)

Another week in which either of the Raiders’ front row pairing could have snuck in.

Both Josh Papali’i and Joseph Tapine were immense in the middle, laying the platform from which Ethan Strange et al could play, but given that he made one more metre in three minutes fewer game time, we’ll give the nod to Big Papa.

He was all but done earlier in the year, signing for St Helens and bringing down the curtain on a stellar NRL career. Now, Papali’i is a Minor Premier, Origin winner and will go around again in 2026. What a turnaround for one of the game’s modern day cult heroes.

11. Jacob Preston (Bulldogs)

There weren’t many upsides for the Bulldogs on Thursday night. Whatever happened, they were going to lose – win, as they did with comfort, and it was Penrith’s second string anyway; lose and it was an all-time defeat.

Jacob Preston ensured that it wouldn’t be the latter, scoring three as he dominated his edge. It’s all well and good knowing that you’re better, but you have to show up and prove it. Thanks to their backrower, the Bulldogs did exactly that.

12. Leka Halasima (Warriors)

Leka the Wrecker was out in full force on Friday night, causing havoc for Parramatta even if he didn’t end up with anything to show for it.

The backrower has been starting from the bench at times – perhaps understandably as this has been a long season for a young player in the NRL – but still making impacts.

Here, he got two tries and was the spark for the Wahs’ comeback. They didn’t make it in the end, but not for lack of trying.

13. J’maine Hopgood (Eels)

OK, so he played prop again this week, but J’maine is a lock to his core and will be picked as such here.

Hopgood was listed for a huge 61 tackles after playing a whole 80 in the middle of the field for Parramatta, providing a crucial contribution in their win in Auckland.

There’s probably an argument somewhere that Jason Ryles is wasting one of his most creative forwards by turning Hopgood into an ersatz Jake Trbojevic, but you can’t argue about the results at the moment. J’maine, for his part, seems to be happy to help the side win in whatever way he can.