Stocks Up

Sosaia Feki - He rarely plays a bad game on the wing for the Sharks and in their win over Newcastle, Feki was once again very solid. Running for 93 metres along with two try assists, a tackle break, an offload and a line break is a pretty good night out for a winger.

Ricky Leutele/Gerrard Beale - They both played well against the Knights and given that I have had them in my Stocks Down list for much of the season, it's only right that I give them some loving. They were busy, both running for more than 100 metres while Leutele made five tackle breaks and Beale had the two. I don't think it's a coinkidink that these two are playing well and so is Cronulla.

Joseph Tapine - A young kiwi backrower who is enjoying the opportunities with the Knights, he's back on the bench and played 20 minutes. He was very productive in those 20 minutes running for 47 metres with six carries and getting through plenty of defensive work with 20 tackles.

Alex Glenn - The Broncos are traveling well and it goes hand in hand with Glenn's efforts out on the left edge. He ran for 143 metres, broke three tackles, made 25 tackles, squeezed out an offload and broke the line once. As I said last week, having Glenn get through a mountain of work and play reliable footy is exactly what Wayne Bennett.

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves - He's been out of form for a while but against the Broncos JWH was closer to his best. Trent Robinson doesn't have his props playing big minutes, but JWH ran for 105 metres, made 37 tackles and offloaded twice which is definitely an improvement.

Siosuia Taukeiaho - I reckon Trent Robinson loves Taukeiaho and he's getting better with each week in the NRL. This week his minutes sky rocketed to 41 while he also had plenty of impact with the ball running for 133 metres, with 14 carries, broke four tackles and made 30 tackles himself. Those are similar numbers to JWH and Sam Moa.

Eddy Pettybourne - Off the bench, Pettybourne gave the Titans a bit of impact running for 96 metres off 13 carries as well as 14 tackles and an offload. 40 minutes of service in the middle off the bench is a nice thing for a coach to have.

Tui Lolohea - A big night for Lolohea against the Tigers, running for 135 metres along with three tackle breaks and he threw the final pass to Manu Vatuvei for his first try. Good signs for Warriors fans and Lolohea's stocks took a boost after that effort.

Peta Hiku - I'm not sure if there's anything that Hiku can't do. After playing mostly in the centres recently, Hiku shifted to fullback where he's played plenty of footy and even showed that he can kick goals, kicking 2/3. Oh, yeah he also ran for 160 metres and broke three tackles plus an offload. Not bad huh?

Steve Matai - Back at it with a crunching hit on fellow kiwi Dallin Watene-Zelezniak. He also crossed for a try, ran for 91 metres and broke four tackles. Welcome back Skivi.

Hold the phone, turns out it's not the first time that Matai has given DWZ a whack...

Justin Horo - He's had to be patient, but Horo is showing that he's an asset to this Manly side as he's got a great connection with Kieran Foran on their left edge. He played 60 minutes off the bench and scored a try, I like it.

Jesse Bromwich - Here's a tip, if you want a low key player to hail as the best kiwi in the NRL at the moment, mention Jesse Bromwich. The dude is a beast as he ran for 237 metres, broke seven tackles and dished out two offloads. Best prop in the game.

Tohu Harris - Also shining in the Storm's win over Canberra was Harris who ran for 145 metres, broke three tackles, made 40 tackles and topped it off with an offload. Harris continues to impress and will be a mainstay of any Kiwis side in years to come.

Benji Marshall - Two try assists for Benji shows that he's nearing his best footy in a slightly different role. He made four more kicks than Gareth Widdop and had seven more touches than his halves partner which is great to see.

Jason Taumalolo - Bromwich had seven tackle breaks, so did Taumalolo. Up the kiwis.

Stocks Down

Manu Ma'u - It was a difficult afternoon for the Eels and Ma'u slipped slightly from his lofty standards. This is more a product of how he's been playing recently but against the Titans, both he and his fellow forwards couldn't make much progress down field.

Martin Taupau - Like Ma'u, Taupau struggled to make much impact with the ball and only ran for a mediocre 63 metres; all five outside backs made more metres than Taupau.

Sika Manu - There was a large lack of impact from many of our kiwi forwards and Manu was one of them. 61 metres with 11 carries means that he averaged 5.5 metres per carry, which isn't much.

Elijah Taylor - 45 tackles? C'mon bruh.

Kevin Proctor - While Harris dined out on the left edge, Proctor struggled to get into the game out on right, playing 51 minutes and making 41 metres with eight touhces . Compare his numbers to those of Harris who played 80 minutes, had 21 touches and made 145 metres.

Greg Eastwood - 35 minutes of action, 65 metres and not much else from Eastwood which is a shame. He's one of my favourite players when at his best but he's not quite there at the moment.