The Panel
Standout Performer
Chief Biggums - Billy Slater. We all know what Billy is capable of, but we haven't really seen much of it this year. However, against the Eels he put on a close to vintage Billy the kid performance with two tries, two my assists and six tackle busts.
Mystery Doctor - Hard to look past Billy the kid, he's showing that a key part of his game is his distribution as well as his running. That floating long ball was lovely, just lovely ... not bad for a lad who is pretty hard to tackle.
The Bain - Jesse Bromwich. For the second week in a row his numbers were superb. What a beast!
Senor Spectre - I thought Dane Gagai was pretty spectacular for the Knights. He was all over the place and a tackle busting machine.
Battler making his mark
Chief Biggums - Ben Roberts. As a second string half at the Storm, the former Kiwi and Samoan rep. showed he still has the goods be an NRL starter. He set up three tries, took some good running options and was consistent off the boot.
Mystery Doctor -Leeson Ah Mau is loving life outside Benji Marshall. Ah Mau hasn't really secured a first grade spot in the past but he's been a freuqent contributor on the right edge for the Dragons recently.
The Bain - Benny Roberts. In the absence of top dog Cooper Cronk he has stepped up just when the storm needed it.
Senor Spectre - Ben Barba isn’t your typical battler you would say, but he has been struggling this season. He looked back to somewhere near his attacking best against the Warriors and capped it off with a nice try.
Young gun watch
Chief Biggums - Jake Granville. Starting hooker against the Warriors, the talented youngest showed why he has the attention of other clubs already. He scored the Broncos opening try (his first NRL), busted six tackles while making 31 tackles on defense.
Mystery Doctor - Young Koni. He's becoming the type of player who can win a game for the Warriors when they aren't quite on song. We all know what he's capable of but he's becoming a pure match winner.
The Bain - Jake Granville. Showed why a few clubs are chasing him for next season.
Senor Spectre - Kurt Mann continues to impress for the Storm, but may have a fight on his hands with Koribete coming over from the Tigers now.
Biggest thing you learnt
Chief Biggums - The Origin players on both sides for the most part, looked a bit spent. I'm sure they were all keen to play for their clubs but a few looked like they had the sting taken out of them. Maybe Origins getting a bit too much to do in the same week as NRL, I don't have a solution I just know fans don't wanna watch star players struggle round the pitch.
Mystery Doctor - The Storm scare me. They could be anything, but they could also fall behind the other top clubs if they aren't quite on song. They've shown that they can stack on the points and not just defend and out grind teams.
The Bain - Manly remain the dark horse team to beat in my opinion.
Senor Spectre - The Sharks are in a right royal mess. They cant even get any points without Todd Carney and they will need to resurrect things quickly against a hurt Broncos side this week.
Best team performance
Chief Biggums - Manly. Despite going up against a team who hadn't scored in their last two games. The Sharks should have been able to get on the board with all their returning starts. However, to Manly's credit, like clockwork they were posting points on the Sharks - 26 unanswered points to be exact.
Mystery Doctor - The Newcastle Knights did well to get past the Cowboys who could have been rampant on the back of Jonathan Thurston, instead the Knights fronted up and did what they should have done long ago.
The Bain - Dogs or manly. Both were strong wins but can't go past some of their origin stars backing up with strong performances.
Senor Spectre - The Sea Eagles are just so clinical. Some will call them boring, but there’s no substiture for results, and Manly generally take the 2 points most weeks. Doing the basics well and winning the battle of the ruck to great effect.
Needs a hug
Chief Biggums - You cant really look past the Sharks. Setting records for the wrong reason (most consecutive games scoreless). I'm not a Sharks fan, but come on now, get across the line at least for your true loyal fans.
Mystery Doctor - Take ya pick from the Sharks and Raiders. Paul Gallen would deserve a hug for being an absolute trooper, but he won with NSW so I'll keep my hugs to myself.
The Bain - Titans. Poor lads lost yet another game. By only one point too. That's gotta be tough after a string of losses and crucial injuries.
Senor Spectre - The Raiders are playing pretty average right now, but you cant go past the Sharks. They might need more of those roids to turn this season round…