NRL Team of the Round: Origin stars, Panthers duo and Raiders pair all feature

Our weekly top 13 always includes a surfeit of players in one position who can’t make it.

Not for the first time, it’s the fullbacks that miss out. 

Lehi Hopoate, a stalwart of this column on the wing, had maybe his best game of the year as a 1, but just missed the cut. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad ran a ludicrous 300m for the Warriors and still wasn’t the best in the match.

Commiserations to Clint Gutherson, who was exemplary for the Dragons, and to Scott Drinkwater, who lit up Townsville. In the same match, Jahream Bula was also great.

But, to start us off, we cede the floor as usual to Trell Mit – as he would say, dass it.

1. Latrell Mitchell (Souths)

This has been a banner week for Latrell, who produced the best moment of Origin and then backed it up with an impactful performance for Souths.

Two major complaints about Mitchell are that he doesn’t display his unquestionable talent anywhere near enough and that he often fails to show leadership when it is needed most.

On both counts here, he was exceptional. The Warriors looked to have an unassailable 30-12 lead, up by three tries and with Jamie Humphreys, the Rabbitohs’ halfback, off injured.

It was a good time to engage Trell Mit mode. The fullback produced two stellar try assists for Alex Johnston, then slammed one over himself with a trademark close range charge.

The effort wasn’t enough in the end, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

2. Brian To’o (Panthers)

Brian To’o was one of the best in Origin and backed it up big time on Sunday – and the more great showings he has on the wing, the more it becomes clear how much the Panthers missed him when he was out.

As feted as Zac Lomax was on the other wing – in both fixtures – To’o ran for more metres on both occasions, cementing his reputation as the game’s best in his position. 

The Samoa international perhaps doesn’t get the credit he deserves simply because he’s been so good for so long, it’s taken as a given. It shouldn’t be.

3. Casey McLean (Panthers)

Penrith have struggled as the salary cap has eked away at their talent, but they seem to be finding some form as their younger players get used to the rigours of first grade.

Casey McLean is a good example. He’s been learning as he goes in the NRL, which inevitably has its ups and downs, and has been doing so with a fellow rookie, Tom Jenkins, outside of him.

Faced with Zac Lomax this week, they were excellent as a pair – and in attack, McLean set one up with a smart kick and scored one himself, too. 

4. Starford To’a (Tigers)

The Tigers probably didn’t anticipate Starford To’a being one of their best players in 2025, but it’s a testament to the centre that he is.

He’s one of the few in this side that have been around since the bad old days, and while they didn’t get the win this weekend, they played superbly – To’a most of all.

He terrorised Jeremiah Nanai, scoring twice and topping 10m per run across a mountain of work. All the best that the Tigers did went down his side. On another day, it would have resulted in one of the greatest comebacks in NRL history.

5. Clayton Faulalo (Manly)

Clayton Faulalo has been one of the best players in the NSW Cup for several years, but has struggled to make a permanent impact on the top grade due to the depth at Manly. When called upon, he’s generally been excellent.

It started fast: Faulalo scored in the fifth minute and could have been completing a hat trick, having come close twice before. 

The winger caught the eye in other ways, too: he pulled off two miracles to keep the ball in play from wayward passes, chucking it to himself like a boundary rider completing a catch

6. Tom Dearden (Cowboys)

If you listen to the media, there might be a Queensland halfback spot up for grabs next time out. Tom Dearden will know this, and spent most of Saturday evening doing his best audition for the job.

He was at the heart of everything good that the Cowboys did against the Tigers, with four line break assists, plus a try of his own. 

Technically he’s playing halfback now, and that’s where he will likely feature in Origin, but the skillset remains that of a five eighth – it could be that Billy Slater appreciates that.

7. Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly)

The Manly halfback might be on the outer at Brookvale Oval, but he rolled back the years on Saturday night with a classic DCE showing to dominate the Broncos.

It was all kicking, of course, with three tries created and a whole heap of field position that left the stand-in fullback Jesse Arthars blowing out of his backside as he was sent from sideline to sideline.

Cherry-Evans’ future has been one of the big stories of the year, but his slump in form barely merited a mention until it hit Origin. With questions being asked about his future in that arena, this was the perfect riposte.

8. David Klemmer (Dragons)

Just about all of the Dragons’ victory on Friday night was about the forwards. They clearly saw the route through as straight down main street, and ended the game with the whole rotation of David Klemmer, Toby Couchman, Blake Lawrie and Loko Pasifiki Tonga putting in big shifts.

Any could have made this side, but Klemmer gets the nod for his effort areas: alongside his 14 actual runs, he ran 18 dummies, keeping the defence on their toes the whole time.

The veteran went an hour straight to start the game, laying a platform that ensured that he never had to come back on.

9. Damien Cook (Dragons)

What happens when a pack performs well? The hooker has a field day.

Damien Cook is more susceptible to that than most, as he relies on a quick play the ball to operate, but when he gets one, he is lethal.

The veteran brought back the beach sprinter with rapid footwork out of dummy half, keeping markers honest and ensuring that his team’s roll never stopped.

And, of course, he topped the tackle count too – 52 made from a 353 team total, meaning the hooker was involved in a massive 14% of all the tackles that his side made.

10. Keaon Koloamatangi (Souths)

The footy gods work in mysterious ways. Koloamatangi was left out of the NSW side and, at NRL level, finds himself playing prop, a position that he’s pretty openly said he doesn’t like.

Yet it’s that ability to play in the middle, combined with an untimely injury to Mitch Barnett, that seems likely to get him back into the Origin squad. 

As a backrower, Keaon is miles behind Liam Martin, Angus Crichton, Hudson Young and probably Haumole Olakau’atu, but the backup middle is playing so well that he’s next cab off the rank for the Blues in the front row.

This week was that writ large. 25 possessions, 24 runs, 186m and a try. It’s Origin form, and if Laurie Daley calls, Koloamatangi will deserve it.

11. Leka Halasima (Warriors)

The 19-year-old is increasingly moving himself into Rookie of the Year contention after another dominant performance on the right edge for the Warriors.

He grabbed a fourth try of the season, and almost all of them have come in the same fashion: bullocking, angular runs that look like he’s about to get tackled, until nobody can.

This week’s edition broke the game in the Wahs’ favour, turning a slender half time lead into a much larger one that his side would never relinquish.

Perhaps even better was that, in a game that descended into defence-optional footy, he was one of the few not to miss a single tackle.

12. Hudson Young (Raiders)

Another week, another appearance for the NRL’s ultimate impact player. That works because Young doesn’t appear to do a great deal a lot of the time, but invariably has a match-changing moment in every single game he plays.

As we have mentioned in his many appearances in Teams of the Week, he has led the league in the past for forced turnovers – aka tackles that cause and error – and is one of the best one-on-one stealers since Gavin ‘The Pinch’ Clinch hung up his eyemask and stripey jumper.

This year, it’s all about sneaking tries. Young has 11 in 13, most of them acquired through extreme opportunism. It’s a skill you can’t teach, the inherent ability to know where to stand and how to anticipate play.

His try this weekend came as Savelio Tamale was bundled into touch, but threw a blind offload that Young caught and touched down. No Rooster was near him, but somehow, Hudson thought something might happen and took the gamble.

13. Joe Tapine (Raiders)

We’re going for the third prop approach to picking a lock forward this week rather than the extra halfback angle, simply to get Tapine into the team.

The inspirational Raider is up there with Payne Haas for the best middle in the comp the moment, and put in another stellar showing as Canberra, again, came from behind to win.

Tapine scored and ran a heap of metres, roughing up the Roosters along the way. It’s not popular with other teams, but that’s pretty much the Raiders and everyone else, clearly, has to get with the programme.