NRL Team of the Week: X-Factor shines as Roosters and Raiders stars included

It’s hard picking this team – not least when several players put their hand up for the same position.

This week, that was the fullbacks, as Will Kennedy was man of the match for Cronulla and Ryan Papenhuyzen laid on three tries before half time for the Storm, but neither made the cut for our XIII.

In the centres, Jaxson Purdue had a breakout game for the Cowboys, as did Moses Leo – an Olympic medalist at rugby union no less – for Melbourne. Not good enough for us, however.

It was another big round in the NRL – here is our selection of the best of the best in Round 6.

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Dolphins)

When the Dolphins were rubbish, so was the Hammer, and now they’re a little better, so is he.

It’s never as simple as saying that, when Tabuai-Fidow plays well, so does his team, but it’s not a million miles away either. The fullback is their x-factor, the guy who turns gaps into breaks and half-breaks into tries.

The Hammer was the standout player on the field in the win over Penrith, scoring a hat trick – the last of which was a belter, slaloming through weary, disorganised defenders in his trademark fashion.

Xavier Savage (Raiders)

There was a running joke among footy nerds that, on commentary, they’d refer to Xavier Savage as having ‘x-factor’ – because his name started with an X.

Certainly, in his first iteration as an NRL player, Savage did have an element of x-factor about him, but that was the light in a mountain of shade.

Yeah, he’d score the occasional long-range try – one in the finals at Parramatta stands out in the memory – but would also drop the ball on play one, run far too close to the touchline or forget how to catch the ball.

Ricky Stuart bombed him out as a fullback, but Savage has fought his way back onto a wing and is now in career–best form.

There’s still a few clangers in there, but when he’s on, as he was against Parramatta, he’s very much on. The Eels couldn’t deal with Savage’s pace and elusiveness, and now he appears to have added composure too.

Finally, the X-Man might have found his superpower.

Billy Smith (Roosters)

It would take a heart of stone not to feel for Billy Smith. The centre debuted in 2019 but is yet to mark his 30th NRL game, such has been his run of injuries.

This week was a reminder of why the Roosters kept giving him contracts, even if it was, fitness-wise, more in hope than expectation. He’s huge, fast, skillful and – crucially in Easts’ edge defence – knows where to stand.

He dominated Kotoni Staggs, one of the best in the comp, and made Reece Walsh look like a gnat at times. If the Chooks can keep Smith on the field, he’s a gamebreaker for them.

Valentine Holmes (Dragons)

This week saw Val Holmes rolling back the years in Wollongong – not just to his stellar career as a young bloke, but also to his time in the NFL.

Some of the body movements were more than a little like running back, using movement before catching the ball to catch defenders in one instance, then standing them up with a step in the other.

Hopes were not high that Holmes could ever live up to the form that made him one of the best players in the world circa 2018, and while that still remains largely the case, we saw some of the old moves in the Dragons’ win over the Titans.

The swerve for his try was exceptional, and the step to befuddle Beau Fermor and create another for Kyle Flanagan perhaps even better.

Xavier Coates (Melbourne)

Our second Xavier of the team is the more established one, who is also looking about as good as he ever has.

Xavier Coates used to be about yardage and finishing, but under this iteration of the Storm, he’s also added a game breaking ability to roam across the field and inject himself.

Melbourne are attacking from further and further out, aided by Coates’ rampages from deep. Often they’re slanted off a wing and challenge the line, daring defences to condense. When they do, space appears elsewhere.

Either Coates exploits it himself or gets tackled, wins a play the ball, allowing someone else to strike.

The Warriors had no answer. Nobody really has so far in 2025.

Brayden Trindall (Sharks)

The Sharks five eighth is a little miscast here, as he really plays as a halfback even though he wears the number 6. Whatever the orientation, he was the difference between Manly and Cronulla on Saturday in Perth.

Fullback Will Kennedy was the consensus man of the match, but in the two crucial moments that defined the first half, Trindall was the star.

It had been attritional in the extreme prior to that and Manly had been on top, but squandered field position through poor attack.

When Cronulla got their chance towards the end of the first 40, Trindall first spotted a short side and found his winger for a try, then moments later, picked him out with a kick.

The irony was that he’d had little involvement before that, but the sign of a good half is often their ability to pick a moment and strike. Trindall did that with aplomb.

Hugo Savala (Roosters)

The big team news of the week was the Chooks dumping veteran Chad Townsend for rookie Hugo Savala. It was, depending on your view of such things, either a hospital pass or a free hit: here, lad, go play Brisbane in Brisbane and see what you can do.

Savala is a big body in the 7 jumper, so there was probably an expectation that he would run a little more than Chad – though, in fairness, it would be hard to run less.

Instead, the new bloke only twice challenged the line, but instead impressed with his kicking. Essentially, he played like Townsend is meant to play.

Reece Walsh has been miles off it at the back for Brisbane and was left looking all at sea by the boot of Savala, who found turf time and again from distance.

Easts battered Brisbane in the middle, and plenty of that came as a result of bad set starts, which in turn were the result of strong set ends – provided by the number 7.

Tom Hazelton (Cronulla)

The Goulburn Goliath – not his nickname, but should be – runs with the weight of goodwill behind him.

He’s the sort of guy that old school NRL fans love: a big guy from the bush, prematurely bald, tape around the head, no backward steps.

Hazleton has a killer instinct near the line, too, and scored the crucial clincher against Manly for his side. Beyond that, he managed over 100m, the most of any forward, despite coming off the bench.

Tries get you the headlines, but it’s that second part that keeps you in the side.

Harry Grant (Melbourne)

Pretty much every week, one should assume that Harry Grant is the best hooker in the NRL. It’s so routine that, for the sake of variety, LRL likes to pick other players in this column, but really: Harry Grant, all the time.

The Storm 9 didn’t look as good on the statsheet as he sometimes does, but hooker is probably the least quantifiable role: you touch the ball more than anyone else, but rarely at the end of the move.

Instead, Grant just moves markers around, attacks the space behind the ruck and lets someone else take over. As good as Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes are, they need their rake to get that space.

Terrell May (Tigers)

Alongside Grant in the could-be-picked-every-week column is Terrell May, who is just about the best front-rower in the NRL at the moment.

He topped the metres and the tackles for the Wests Tigers against Newcastle, as well as busting out a ridiculous five offloads.

In fact, he’s been so good that he is in danger of being lost to the Tigers for all of Origin, because on this form, it would be insane for Laurie Daley not to pick him.

Nat Butcher (Roosters)

Arguably the best thing about the Roosters’ win at Brisbane was how much they competed in the forwards despite several key outs.

Remember, this was against a front-row featuring Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan, arguably the best duo in the competition. Easts went in with Naufahu Whyte, a career bench player, and Nat Butcher, a stand-in.

Butcher has five appearances in the front row in 152 first grade games – we’ll slot him in here in his traditional second row position – but muscled up to lead the pack with a mammoth 20 carries through the middle – in just 50 minutes, too – as well as 23 tackles.

It was herculean stuff – though the man himself might not fancy doing it too often.

David Fifita (Titans)

Big Dave is the NRL’s great enigma. He’s clearly got it all, but a succession of coaches haven’t really known what to do with him.

More than one has decided to use the bullocking backrower off the bench, including Des Hasler as recently as last week.

A skill-based player can have a bad night and it looks like things didn’t come off, but you tried. For a guy like Fifita who trades in unmatched physicality, that same bad night tends to appear like you’re not interested rather than unsuccessful.

Despite losing heavily to the Dragons, this was a good night for Fifita. When those happen, he’s a one-man team, carrying a fundamentally dysfunctional and, well, rubbish Titans team.

Fifita created two tries, the second of which was a rampage from a kick off that is well worth looking up, and added 200m at over 10m per run. He didn’t deserve to lose, but, given that he chose to play for the Titans, at least he’s used to it.

Corey Horsburgh (Raiders)

It’s a subtropical game in the Northern Territory, so what do you need? That’s right, the NRL’s most ginger player.

Needless to say, Darwin is not the natural habitat for Corey Horsburgh, but you wouldn’t have known on Saturday night.

Big Red was everywhere against Parramatta, racking up 13 runs in the first half alone to help his side race into a 24-6 lead.

In the humidity, that was just about all she wrote, with the Eels never looking likely to overcome that deficit.

Horsburgh has had ups and downs, from a stirring showing for Queensland to a season in the NSW Cup, but now seems back to his best. This was his best showing of the year so far, and a timely reminder as Origin looms over the horizon again.