NRL Team of the Week: Latrell stars, Bulldogs and Panthers duos make the cut

This week, we’re handing out apologies to the fullbacks. 

Ryan Papenhuyzen, it doesn’t matter how many tries you score. Latrell gets in. Sorry, Dylan Edwards, it’s got to be Latrell. Guess what, Connor Tracey? Latrell.

When we’re doing the best individual, one-game performances of the season, it will be a surprise if Latrell v Brisbane – more him than South Sydney – doesn’t make the podium, and to put how good he was into perspective, the fullback didn’t really play that well in the first half either.

With Origin squads set to be selected at the end of next week, it was timely stuff. Blues coach Laurie Daley was already a big fan, but now he’s almost impossible to leave out.

That’s our number 1 sorted – here are the rest.

1. Latrell Mitchell (Souths)

For 40 minutes, Latrell Mitchell was quiet for South Sydney. In fact, bar getting suspended, he hadn’t really done much in a while.

With his side trailing badly against the Broncos, he produced several game-changing moments to win the game: a try-saved on Deine Mariner that kept Souths in it, a booming drop goal to put them ahead and a brilliantly cheeky try, feigning the end of the game before leaping over, to underscore the victory.

It was peak Trell Mit: turning around calmly, walking away as he pings a 50m kick straight between the posts. When it works, it looks effortless.

He’s often quiet, regularly looks like he’s not that interested and sometimes actively detrimental to his own team. Then he does something like this and everyone remembers why he’s one of the best players in the world.

2. Jacob Kiraz (Bulldogs)

The Doggies’ epic comeback win over the Raiders was sparked by Jacob Kiraz, who kicked it off with a superb carry and kept going with superb yardage work and, as is his trademark, a killer late offload.

His try to settle the game was everything that Kiraz is about – bustling running, all elbows and knees, with the skill to swap hands with the ball, palm off defenders and keep his feet.

The Lebanese international should walk into the NSW team next week – he’s earned it.

3. Stephen Crichton (Bulldogs)

The best argument for Kiraz to get picked is the fact that he’ll play outside Stephen Crichton.

The second stanza in Canberra was madness from the centre, who scored the first, set up two more and utterly dominated his side of the field.

In a straight up battle with Seb Kris, this was as comprehensive a win as they come: Critta just sailed past him, ball often in one hand, or drew him in and passed around to Kiraz. 

Crichton might well have had his best half in the NRL – and that’s saying a lot, given that he’s won three Premierships.

4. Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins)

Herbie is being increasingly elevated to the Terrell May/Hudson Young tier of being picked every week after another killer showing.

The Burnley man is the league’s best tackle breaking centre, which he showed to great effect here to split the game wide open with a long range try that saw him burst through two tacklers, then swerve the fullback.

Even better was his contribution to save the game, tearing down a charging Will Penisini with the game on the line and his defensive line shot. 

5. Alofiana Khan-Pereira (Titans)

The man they call Lofi is usually more about scoring than setting up, but had a crucial hand in two of the tries that got the Titans over the line in their comeback over Newcastle on Friday teamtime.

Khan-Pereira has missed a lot of this year through injury and reminded Gold Coast fans of what they have been missing with a superb inside ball for AJ Brimson to break the resistance of the Knights, as well as two line breaks of his own.

AKP can be emblematic of the Titans as a whole, in that he’s great to watch but often suspect defensively, but you can’t argue with the upside of his performances when they occur. This was one of the good nights.

6. Blaize Talagi (Panthers)

The new Panthers five eighth had something of a coming out party in Townsville, stepping from the shadows of his halves partner, Nathan Cleary, and his predecessor, Jarome Luai, to stand on his own two feet in the famous Penrith jumper.

Talagi impressed last year at Parramatta but was forced to bide his time in reserve grade before getting the call from Ivan Cleary. 

His performances have improved week on week and this was the best so far, racking up four try assists with both hands and boot before getting one of his own with an opportunist effort.

7. Nicho Hynes (Cronulla)

Normally, one might suggest that Nicho Hynes had timed his performance perfectly for NSW Origin selection next weekend.

But Nicho, who played for the Blues as recently as last year, is considered damaged goods at rep level following defeat in Game 1 2023, defeat in Game 1 2024 and a loss in the Pacific Championships as well.

The big winners are the Sharks. Amazingly for a side doing as well as they are in the comp, the chances are that they will lose zero players to rep footy, barring a surprise call-up for Cam McInnes. 

Hynes, for his part, keeps on keeping on. He was comfortably the best player in the Sharkies’ win over Manly, setting up two tries and kicking five from six.

8. Addin Fonua-Blake (Cronulla)

The Sharks big man is never really one to take prisoners, but he’s even less likely to hold back on Manly.

The Sea Eagles ditched him back in 2020 following a string of behavioural incidents, not least abusing a referee, and despite his subsequent maturation into one of the best front rowers in the game, there’s no feeling on the Northern Beaches that they were wrong to let him go.

Suffice to say, the feeling is mutual. AFB rampaged through the home side on Sunday afternoon, reminding everyone what they were missing. 

Manly, for their part, rolled out the red carpet with their defence for Fonua-Blake’s try, leaving the prop to rack up the most metres of any forward despite only playing 50 minutes.

9. Tom Starling (Canberra)

Canberra might have thrown away their lead, but that shouldn’t undermine the performances of the Raiders’ hooker.

He was their best player in the first half and a constant competitor in the second, even as the game ebbed away in the face of an epic Bulldogs showing.

Starling was nobody’s idea of an elite hooker prior to this year, relegated to a succession of stints off the bench without even looking like becoming the main man even in his own club.

Now, he’s got all the running threat that he always had, now with added defensive starch, longevity and nous. His first half try was all smarts, but perhaps more impressive was the consistent leading of the line speed. 

The Raiders didn’t get the win, but Starling can hold his head high.

10. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (Titans)

It’s a bit of a stretch to put Tino in as a prop, given that he wears the 13, but in truth, he is one of the remaining lock forwards to play like it’s 2015. 

There’s little pretence of ball-playing about Fa’asuamaleaui, but the Titans don’t really need it. This is a side desperately lacking starch, so picking a bloke who can run for 200m and make his tackles is far more important than fancy playmaking.

Not to say that Tino doesn’t offer that on occasions, however: he picked up two line break assists on Friday teatime.

11. Isaiah Papali’i (Panthers)

There had been a bit of a feeling that Isaiah Papali’i might have been a one-season wonder, the beneficiary of a perfect storm under Brad Arthur at Parramatta.

Certainly, his performances at the Warriors before and the Tigers afterwards didn’t suggest that the heights Ice reached at the Eels were the new normal.

Now, back in a strong system at Penrith, he’s flourishing again – and against the Cowboys, put in his best showing in a long time.

The backrower kicked off the scoring for his side, then continued to carry the ball strongly with 129m – 45 of which post-contact – in a stellar showing.

12. Shawn Blore (Storm)

Shawn Blore doesn’t get top-billing at Melbourne. Indeed, he’s not even their top backrower, not as long as Eliesa Katoa is running around. And he was one of the few not to cross the stripe in the 64-0 thrashing of the Tigers, too.

Yet he was among the best on ground on Sunday afternoon, smashing through 168m from 17 carries – topping the majestic 10m per run standard – without a line break, meaning he did it all in hard yard hit-ups.

13. Erin Clark (Warriors)

The Warriors lost Tohu Harris, their long-time link man, to retirement and ditched Dylan Walker, his most obvious replacement, and barely missed a beat. 

Erin Clark has been around the traps for ages – just over 100 games to be precise – but has never played as well as he is playing at the moment. 

It’s his ball-playing that catches the eye, especially in a side that has sometimes struggled to impress in attack. With Clark at 13 and Wayde Egan straightening things around the ruck, halfback Luke Metcalf is finding plenty of space to shine.

Oh, and Clark managed a ridiculous 49 tackles, topping his side’s count for the game.