NRL Team of the Week: A rare Souths showing, Storm stars and the big hitters

We love an honourable mention in this column – after all, there’s one person per position and, most weeks, a few pile up that we have to leave by the wayside.

Sorry, then, to Jai Gray of South Sydney: that was a defensive showing for the ages at the back against Parramatta, but not enough for Love Rugby League’s 13.

Same goes for Scott Drinkwater: absolutely dominating life is great, but when you do it against a Newcastle side all but on the beach, it’s unfortunately marked down.

Will Kennedy – you’re the same. Great week, but come on: this was the Titans.

Apologies to the halfback fraternity as well.

Sam Walker, you might have pulled apart the Doggies, but you do magic every week. Tom Dearden, go ask Scotty – Knights tries mean nothing. Adam Doueihi, you might not be a halfback all the time, but whatever that was, it was great too.

Less of who didn’t get in, however: here’s who did in your NRL Team of the Week.

1. Reece Walsh (Broncos)

The Broncos fullback pulled out all the stops in a showstopping performance that pulled Brisbane back from the brink of disaster.

They were out of the eight on the live ladder at one point, but Walsh was able to conjure a series of tries from next to nothing that wrenched the momentum back, as well as a booming 40/20.

He got three line break assists – one of which converted into a try – and it could have been more, had Josiah Karapani not dropped the ball with the line begging.

Then again, he might have missed this team too, with Trai Fuller parachuted in, had things gone has they looked like they might just after half time – and Walsh would have looked quite silly, having bought a dummy so hard that was lucky not to have to pay his way back into Suncorp Stadium.

2. Xavier Coates (Storm)

It’s rare to see a game completely dominated by a winger, but we got it on Thursday night.

Xavier Coates single-handedly returned Melbourne to the contest after being strangled in the time-honoured fashion by Penrith.

He’s a bit of a cheat code, because no matter how badly the Storm are going, they can always hoick the ball into the corner and watch their big lad go to work.

Brian To’o, the other contender for best winger in the world, didn’t stand a chance. Coates soared above him for one, caused a mistake for another and took an intercept for a third.

Melbourne didn’t make a line break until the 66th minute – but they didn’t need to because of Coates.

3. Kotoni Staggs (Broncos)

Reece Walsh was the Broncos’ best player in their win on Saturday teatime, but Staggs was probably the most important.

When his side needed a moment, it was Staggs who came up with it – not just scoring twice, but doing so at points that stopped the Dolphins’ momentum stone dead.

He had the toughest ask, too, facing up against Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, but comprehensively won his battle with the Origin superstar to deliver a vital victory to the Broncos.

4. Siosifa Talakai (Sharks)

The barrelling centre hasn’t always been at his best of late, but showed every bit of his potential in the Sharks’ battering of the Titans.

Remember, this is a bloke who is playing in the outside backs but has also lined up in the front row, and Saturday saw a bit of everything that he does well, combining both power and touch in equal measure.

There was a charge that sent no less than Tino Fa’asuamaleaui flying, followed moments later by a deft flick for Ronaldo Mulitalo to cross. It was classic Sifa.

5. Daniel Tupou (Roosters)

Our first winger got two tries, our second got three. We wrote that last week and it’s true again, only this time it’s Xavier Coates and the Roosters’ other winger, Daniel Tupou.
This week’s haul saw him pass Steve Menzies on the all-time list – and he’s only a few behind Billy Slater in third – yet Tupou somehow still feels little underrated.

As far as soaring high to claim kicks, Tupou wrote the manual that Coates and just about everyone else follows.

When Sam Walker plays, it’s second nature. Look up, kick up, Tupou comes down with it.

6. Nicho Hynes (Sharks)

Indigenous Round brought out the best in one of the game’s finest First Nations players as Nicho Hynes turned in a headline performance on Saturday afternoon in the Shire.

Then again, while the round clearly means a lot to him, playing the Titans will also help – but don’t blame Nicho for his opponent’s lack of intensity.

From the first minute, the half was all over the Gold Coast and ended up with two tries, three line break assists and seven goals.

7. Nathan Cleary (Panthers)

Although Penrith lost, it wasn’t for lack of trying from their halfback.

Cleary scored an inspirational try to get his side ahead in the first half, showing pure guts to make it to the line, then demonstrated all his clutch to pot the winning field goal – only for it to get pulled back for a Moses Leota blocker play in front of him.

That was as much Harry Grant buying the penalty as anything else – and more on him later – and it was appropriate that those two had their moment. They’re the best two players in the world, followed by daylight.

8. Terrell May (Tigers)

Either May would do for this week, as both Taylan and Terrell had great games against Manly, but seen as he’s a column favourite, let’s go with the bigger of the two.

Terrell has been the Wests Tigers’ best player this year by a distance and underlined that with a dominant showing, taking on the best that the Sea Eagles had to offer and dealing with them easily.

He was just shy of 200m, but it was the four soul-crushing offloads, just when Manly thought they had their man, that were the most impressive. Everything flowed from the back of Terrell, as it usually does when things are clicking for the Tigers.

9. Harry Grant (Storm)

Last week we wrote that we could just copy and paste from the last time Harry Grant made this side, so often did he appear in it, and guess what? He’s back again.

How could he not be? His try to defeat the Panthers was one of the best moments of the season and one guaranteed to go down in NRL lore. His penalty, earned through a little bit of smarts, saved the game and created the circumstances in which he could win it.

Grant is pretty much the best player in the league at the moment, and as has been mentioned plenty of times, he has put in his best run of form in years at exactly the moment that it was most needed.

In the biggest game, on the biggest stage, he owned the biggest moment.

10. Naufahu Whyte (Roosters)

Another repeat effort from last week as Naufahu Whyte retains his spot.

It was never going to be any different: he might be the form prop in the league, or lock, or whatever. Whyte plays as a big bloke in the middle and wore the number 8, so let’s call him a front rower.

Wherever he is, he’s making a huge difference. There were two tries here, as well as a huge contribution with ball in hand and in defence, where Whyte kept a 100% tackle efficiency.

11. Jack Williams (Parramatta)

We always like to pick a few losers for our winners of the week, and there were few more fitting than Parra forward Jack Williams.

The former Shark was named in the back row but moved around as his team needed him, covering stints in the middle as well.

Wherever he found himself, he was effective: 27 tackles without a miss and well over the 10m per carry that we love of a yardage forward.

12. Tallis Duncan (Souths)

The Souths backrower is fast becoming a TotW favourite – and how could he not be, given his performances?

Remember, this team is picked on individuals who play well regardless of their team, and nobody has turned up more regularly for this battered and bruised Bunnies than Tallis Duncan.

This was another week where he scored points, swapped positions midgame, broke tackles and made bulk tackles.

A proud Wonnarua man playing for a club that puts a huge emphasis on Indigenous Round, it was fitting that Duncan was named man of the match.

13. Jai Arrow (Souths)

Only two players have played every South Sydney game this year – Duncan and Jai Arrow – and only one of them has started all 22.

Arrow, ironically, has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, and only managed 25 total across the previous two, but in the year where everyone has got hurt at some point, he hasn’t.

Keeping going is one thing, but producing is another. Arrow had one of his best of the year on Saturday, punching out 69 minutes of graft, including a huge 22 carries in the middle.

It laid the platform for an inspirational win.