NRL Team of the Week: Old heads, unsung heroes: and plenty of Bulldogs

How many players from the same teams can we pick?

In a week where the Raiders, Bulldogs and Panthers all had wins of the statement variety, it’s only fair that our Team of the Week leans heavily into those three outfits and their stars.

For the Raiders, it is one unsung hero and one staple of the LRL XIII. For the Panthers, it’s some familiar names who are ominously returning to form. For the Bulldogs, obviously, it’s Jacob Kiraz. Sure, there’s others, but always Kiraz first.

More and more teams have nothing to play for, but that doesn’t mean we neglect them either – including one superstar who rolled back the years and an Origin standout who brought a little of that rep magic to clubland.

Here’s your Team of the Week.

1. Dylan Edwards (Panthers)

Another exceptional showing from the Penrith fullback, who is fast approaching peak form at exactly the right time.

He’s always been good for a load of metres – and you can add 275 to the tally this week – but is now adding the creativity stuff that hasn’t always come naturally to him.

When the Panthers have been good, it’s been with Edwards setting a platform before, largely, getting out of the way. Now, with no Jarome Luai at the club, he’ll have to step up more for the five-peat.

It’s looking like he could – just maybe leave the cartwheels to the professionals.

2. Jacob Kiraz (Bulldogs)

We’re running out of things to say about the Bulldogs winger, other than that he’s really, really good.

This weekend was all of the hits: a running style that makes him look like he’s only elbows and knees, superb finishing and an ability to get the arm away that is basically unmatched in the NRL – and not just for wingers, for everyone.

Kiraz got seven offloads against Manly, who had no idea how to stop it. They’re not the first and won’t be the last.

3. Matt Timoko (Raiders)

Timoko is a spreadsheet favourite, with running stats that vastly overperform others in similar positions, but even though Canberra have been great this year, he hasn’t always been at his best.

That might be because other blokes have stepped up – making Timoko look normal, rather than exceptional in a worse team – which definitely ranks among the better kind of problems to have.

This week was the Kiwi at his rampaging best, not just in yardage but in finishing too, with three line breaks, two tries and an assist for his troubles.

4. Bronson Xerri (Bulldogs)

This was a banner weekend for Xerri, as much for what went wrong as what went right.

Marking up against Tom Trbojevic, he excelled to score twice and create havoc in yardage, easily winning his personal battle.

It was even better for having missed time on the field due to a sickening incident that saw him collected by both of Viliame Kikau’s boots in quick succession, splitting his head wide open. Toughness? You bet.

5. Josh Addo-Carr (Eels)

Both Parramatta wingers were excellent in their upset win over the Broncos, but seeing as this column has spent a lot of time giving Zac Lomax flowers in 2025, we’ll tip the cap to Josh Addo-Carr.

The Foxx notched his 150th try in first grade to seal the result, cementing him in the very highest echelons across NRL and NSWRL history.

He’s not the force he was when in his pomp at Melbourne, but remains a much-loved character and, when given the opportunity, as he was late in the game at Suncorp on Friday, an elite finisher.

6. Tom Dearden (Cowboys)

There might be a successor to Dane Gagai in the Origin specialist stakes, with the Cowboys half putting in a performance reminiscent of his showing in the recent series to down the Dragons.

This was all the hits: running with the footy, setting up others, try-saving tackles. Move over, Origin Gagai, Decider Dearden is here.

We can’t punish players for the standard of opposition they face, but let’s just say that the Dragons were accommodating of Dearden’s running game on Friday teatime, failing to track his movements across the defensive line.

He can only face what’s in front of him, however, and with two tries and two assists, Dearden beat their brains out.

7. Jayden Campbell (Titans)

Jayden Campbell: halfback edition is a bit of a microcosm of the Titans as a team, a guy with near-limitless attacking potential but not really anything other than bottom half defensively.

Away in Auckland, we got all the upside – or at least, enough to forget the other stuff. Campbell managed two key assists, eight tackle breaks and a huge 150m with ball in hand – bear in mind, he played 7 – as well as superb kick and control

Sure, he missed a heap of tackles in the bargain, but coaches can and will forgive that from a half if you’re winning the game for your side with the footy. Campbell certainly did that.

8. Sam Hughes (Bulldogs)

We’re not immune to the big-man-crashes-over narrative in this team, so when a lump gets two in the same game, doubling his career tally in the process, you better believe he’s making the cut.

Lucky for Sam Hughes, there was plenty more to it than just that. His tries were testament to staying alive on the play and getting up around the footy – y’know, the free stuff that all the best teams do – and the rest of his play was equally committed, with a combined 36 runs and tackles in just 31 minutes.

9. Harry Grant (Storm)

This was a true captain’s knock from Grant, standing up in the absence of basically everyone to get the Storm home against the Roosters.

His side began without Cameron Munster and Ryan Papenhuyzen in the spine, then lost Jahrome Hughes just after half time. They desperately needed a spark, and found it from dummy half.

Grant scored, created two more and topped the tackle count. He’s always great, but even by his own standards, this was exceptional.

10. Lindsey Smith (Penrith)

Of all the Panthers heroes, Lindsey Smith is perhaps the most unsung – even though he actually made the Kangaroos team last year.

When there’s been a leadership vacuum to be filled, he often has, and when there’s been a need for outright aggression, the unassuming blonde has taken on the role left by James Fisher-Harris.

Never was that more the case than this weekend gone, when Smith battered the front door in with 17 runs.

11. Charlie Guymer (Eels)

The backrower looked a serious talent on debut last year, only to get injured. In 2025, he’s been in and out, shuffling between first and second grade waiting for a chance.

This Friday gone, Guymer produced his best game to date in the NRL, turning in a team-high 42 tackles to help shut down the Broncos attack.

The backrower comes with little expectation, hailing from the famous country rugby league nursery of Temora, which gave the NRL two of its best edge forwards in Angus Crichton and Liam Martin. In Guymer, we might have another.

12. Hudson Young (Raiders)

A mainstay of these teams, Young again topped the metres for the Raiders in a performance that was typically industrious and, for his opponents, annoying.

Alongside Kiraz, there can be few players who are more irritating to play against, just constantly a problem to put down and guaranteed to do two ridiculous things per game that you can’t account for.

Young did all that and more against the Knights – in fact, statistically speaking, he did everything except score: line breaks, assists, offloads, metres, tackles – the lot.

13. Isaah Yeo (Penrith)

This has been far from Yeo’s best season at the Panthers, but more than most, he’ll know that nobody remembers your form at the start of the year.

He’s entering the Arjen Robben/Mitchell Starc territory of athletes, where they have a move that literally everyone knows but seems powerless to stop, where the deception we’re all looking out for works anyway.

For Isaah, that’s his ball-playing in the middle, which was back in full force against the Tigers. In Origin, Yeo’s pass per run ratio was pretty much 1:1, only trucking the ball in with little passing, whereas here, it was far more slanted to moving the footy.

As the Tigers found out, that’s when he’s at his best. Oh, and he topped the tackle count too – of course he did.