Wigan Warriors, Huddersfield Giants provide 6 players in Super League Team of the Week
Top to bottom: Adam Swift (Huddersfield), Moses Mbye (St Helens) and Junior Nsemba (Wigan) are included in Love Rugby League's Team of the Week from Round 8 of Super League
There were a plethora of outstanding individual performances in Round 8 of Super League, making it tough to finalise our Team of the Week selections.
Several players were unlucky to miss out on Love Rugby League‘s Team of the Week from Round 8 – but here are our picks: with no fewer than six clubs represented this week…
1. Bevan French
French slotted in at full-back for Wigan during their 36-14 win against Castleford on Friday night, with Jai Field absent. Unsurprisingly, he proved a very capable deputy, scoring the opening try and going on to grab two assists as he made the second-most metres of anyone on the field at the DW Stadium.
2. Adam Swift
Swift was also in our last Super League team of the week, and returns after another impressive showing as Huddersfield earned their first win in six years at Leeds on Friday night, winning 30-24. Scoring a try to take his tally up to 14 in 10 appearances across all competitions this year, only one man made more metres at Headingley…
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3. Esan Marsters
That man was his Giants team-mate Marsters, who is also enjoying a sterling season so far and picked up Sky’s man of the match medal. The New Zealand & Cook Islands international – who also grabbed a try – clocked up 215 metres and is proving a pivotal cog in the machine being set up by head coach Ian Watson.
4. Nene Macdonald
Papua New Guinea ace Macdonald makes the cut for our team of the week after Salford’s 12-4 win at London, one of few standouts on the day. The centre – named Sky Sports’ man of the match – took the ball in at the Broncos’ defence 19 times and made 161 metres, also making 11 tackles in defence.
5. Deon Cross
Red Devils team-mate Cross also gets into our 13 for his performance in the capital. Clocking up an eye-watering 252 metres with a 16-metre average gain, the 27-year-old got the try that his performance deserved early on in the second half. In a bit of a drab game, not many stood out, but he certainly did.
6. Theo Fages
Half-back Fages was a big reason as to why Catalans made such light work of Hull KR in their 36-6 win on Saturday evening, pulling the strings and acting as one of the main orchestrators in the Dragons’ attack. The Frenchman got his reward with his try, but also put in a huge performance defensively with 30 tackles!
7. Adam Clune
Another Huddersfield ace who put in a huge showing at Headingley on Friday night was Australian Clune. The half-back – who made 20 tackles in defence – led his side around the field throughout, teeing up one try before racing the best part of 70 metres in the 78th minute to seal the win with one of his own.
8. James Harrison
Warrington pipped Leigh with a 16-14 win in a thriller at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and Harrison was once again a big reason as to why Sam Burgess’ side got over the line. The powerhouse is exactly that – a real force when he gets going. Difficult to stop in attack and difficult to get past in defence.
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9. Moses Mbye
Aa they were expected to by most, Saints trounced a youthful Hull FC side at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Friday night. Mbye – for us – was one of the standouts in their 58-0 win, and that’s despite him not being one of the nine try-scorers. Slotting in at hooker, Mbye was more than happy to make runs from dummy half and wasn’t shy about putting boot to ball either.
10. Patrick Mago
Mago is going to prove a handful to most opponents, and was exactly that on Friday night for Wigan as they beat Castleford. Drawing defenders in, he made four offloads – the most of anyone on the field – and 119 metres, bettered by only three of his team-mates.
11. Junior Nsemba
One of those team-mates was Nsemba, who for the second Super League game on the spin picked up Sky’s man of the match medal. The youngster, set to get a run of games following Willie Isa’s injury, couldn’t have got off to a better start. Driving Wigan up the field throughout, he made 148 metres and took in 23 carries, top of the charts in that aspect of anyone on the field.
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12. Lachlan Fitzgibbon
Another man who picked up a man of the match medal from Sky over the weekend was Fitzgibbon, who shone in Warrington’s win against Leigh. The Australian ace got Wire’s first try of the game, and offloaded to Matt Dufty to fall over the line in the second half for the effort which got the Wolves back into the contest. 25 tackles were made by Fitzgibbon in defence too.
13. Morgan Knowles
Rounding off this week’s top 13 in Super League is Knowles, who the young Hull side just couldn’t get past on Friday night. Of his team-mates, only Joe Batchelor (25) made more tackles than Knowles’ 24, and only three took more carries in, with the fourth-most metres of anyone on the field made by the loose forward.
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