Stocks Up

Steve Matai: Another solid week for Matai who is stringing 100m games together rather easily this season under Trent Barrett's guidance. Matai had 13 runs for 102 with 2 tackle busts, which was double the work of his centre partner Jamie Lyon.

Martin Taupau: Manly need Taupau to serve up 15 runs/137m games which much more consistency if they are going to be a force in the competition this year. Taupau was steady throughout against the Eels and when he does have 15 runs, he's going to be causing some damage.

Lewis Brown: Good to see the versatile hooker get a start, promoted off the bench as he's played in a range of positions this season for Barrett. Any time Brown does a nice job in whatever position he's playing, his stocks rise.

Addin Fonua-Blake: A former Junior Kiwi, Fonua-Blake made his debut for Manly after a few dramas saw the Dragons give the big bopper the flick. Fonua-Blake was snapped up by Manly over the summer and showed he's a decent prospect with 82m from 7 carries in 32 minutes of footy.

Kieran Foran: You've got to like the combination in the halves for the Eels, which obviously involves Kiwis half Foran. Interestingly, against Manly, Foran took a back seat to Corey Norman with Norman getting more touches and adding his silky touch to the Eels' attack while also taking the lead with his boot (19 kicks to Foran's 4 kicks). Parramatta will benefit from having both Norman and Foran take control depending on the game, I will point out however that Foran's best work came alongside Daly Cherry-Evans, who was the dominant half in that combination. There's similarities here with Parramatta which bodes very well for Foran.

Peni Terepo: Who was Parramatta's best forward? Well none other than Mangere East's Peni Terepo who came off the bench to play 39 minutes and ran for 122m off 14 carries with a tackle bust and an offload. 

Kalifa Faifai Loa: After trecking around Queensland, Faifai Loa finally made his return for the Dragons and showed that he's still very much an NRL winger, plus he did so against his former club. With 122m from 14 carries and a try, Faifai Loa gives the Dragons a powerful running option as well as a classy finisher, which helped ease the workload on Jason Nightingale who had less runs and less metres than he usually does.

Agnatius Paasi: Since the NRL Nines, I've loved watching Paasi, he tends to be quite inconsistent though as he puts up big numbers one week then has a quiet game the next. If Paasi can string a few games - like his effort against the Dragons - together then he'll start to become more of a force, so will the Titans. Paasi played 50 minutes and ran for 139m off 18 carries along with 3 tackle busts and a line break ... that's above-average for an NRL forward and it's what Paasi is capable of.

Russell Packer + Leeson Ah Mau: Guess what? Packer and Ah Mau stepped up and the Dragons won, funny that. Ah Mau was alright, better than he has been with 94m and an offload but it was Packer who broke the shackles and showed why the Dragons kept all that faith in him with 154m off 17 carries and a line break assist. The only other two players with a line break assist were Mitch Rein and William Zillman, so big up to Packer, keep it up.

Siliva Havili: Minutes, the minutes rise, as do his stocks. Havili started slow but he's working into his niche off the bench with the Dragons, playing 30 minutes and some of those minutes came alongside Mitch Rein as Havili continues to be used as a hooker/middle forward. 

Sam Perrett: A huge night for Perrett, despite his Doggies going down to the Warriors. Perrett scored a double and ran for 153m from 16 carries, with 2 try assists, 6 tackles busts and 5 line breaks as well. Only Tui Lolohea had more tackle busts and no one else had more than 2 line breaks in this game.

Shaun Johnson: A dominant game from Johnson helped steer the Warriors to victory over the Bulldogs. That's the most impressive aspect of Johnson's performance as it was dominant with Johnson taking 59 touches which was the most of anyone not named Michael Lichaa or Issac Luke (hookers). Those 59 touches produced 3 try assists, 4 tackle busts, a line break and a line break assist while Johnson's true barometer is his running metres and as long as he's running for more than 50m-a-game (58m off 3 carries), he's trucking along nicely.

Tui Lolohea: Starting in the halves and moving to fullback, Lolohea showed what a gun footy player he is by slotting in at fullback smoothly. 149 running metres, a try assist, 8 tackle busts, 2 line breaks and a line break assist for Lolohea and he'll get to stay at fullback for the rest of the season, his stocks are soaring.

Bodene Thompson + Simon Mannering: After a few weeks out injured, Thompson returned to the right edge for the Warriors which saw Mannering slot back into the middle. Both Thompson and Mannering got through a mountain of work, as they have done all season as they consistently make close to 50 tackles a game but the key here is that they both also ran for over 100m. Mannering had his best game with 52 tackles and 117m while Thompson had 48 tackles with 111m, there's not many players who make 50 tackles and average 10m-per-carry.

David Fusitua: A very slick return to the NRL for Fusitua as he showed what a physical presence he is with 130m off 13 carries, which is Manu-like while also putting his finishing ability on display.

Jordan Kahu: 2 tries on the wing for Brisbane in their massive win over the Knights for Kahu. He didn't need to do much else and only had to make a single tackle, that's a pretty chill night's work.

David Bhana: Minutes, a lots of them for Bhana who was on the receiving end of that thrashing via the Broncos. Bhana started at lock and played 62 minutes, making 46 tackles which wasn't that great as the Broncos steamrolled through the Knights' middle, however Bhana looks to be making a decent impression on Knights' coach Nathan Brown which is lovely.

Jordan Rapana: The Raiders aren't quite hitting their straps at the moment for a bunch of reasons, but as long as Rapana is stacking up these epic performances it's happy days for us kiwis. Rapana ran for 169m off only 10 carries (!!!) that's 16.9m-per-carry which came thanks to 8 tackle busts, however Rapana also had a try assist, an offload and 2 line breaks. Rapana had the most metres of any Raiders player along with the most tackle busts/line breaks of anyone on the park, all from a loosing team.

Joseph Tapine: I continue to love Tapine's move to the middle as he came off the bench for 37 minutes of action and ran for 92m, with 3 tackle busts and an offload.

Ava Seumanufagai: Rapana is the in-form back while Seumanufagai is the in-form forward in our Kiwi Stocks as he's been a beast through the middle for the Tigers in recent weeks. With Aaron Woods out injured, Seumanufagai has stepped up and was immense against the Storm with 158m from 16 carries in only 47 minutes.

Josh Aloiai: Woods is out injured and the Tigers were also missing Sauaso Sue, which gifted Aloiai with a few more minutes and greater responsibility. Aloiai played 27 minutes and ran for 93m with a tackle bust as well, he continues to look more comfortable in the NRL with each week.

I love our Melbourm Storm Kiwis and I won't add any fluff to their efforts against the Tigers, just read the stats and enjoy...

Jesse Bromwich: 66 minutes, 19 carries for 216m, 36 tackles, 3 offloads.

Kevin Proctor: 78 minutes, 13 carries for 128m, 2 tackle busts, 34 tackles, 4 offloads.

Tohu Harris: 85 minutes (whole game), 16 carries for 166m, 4 tackle busts, 50 tackles, 1 offload.

Kenny Bromwich: 23 minutes, 4 carries for 31m.

Nelson Asofa-Solomona: 22 minutes, 8 carries for 108m, 4 tackle busts, 17 tackles, 2 offloads, 1 line break.

Ooh, another gang of kiwis doing their thing? 

Peta Hiku: 80 minutes, 12 carries, 103m, 5 tackle busts.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak: 80 minutes, 15 carries, 148m, 2 tackle busts, 1 line break and a try.

Te Maire Martin: 80 minutes, 8 carries, 77m, 2 tackle busts and a try.

Suaia Matagi: 11 carries, 81m and a try assist with a delicious short-ball for Marin to score.

Stocks Down

Jason Taumalolo: This is hilarious ... and extremely scary; Taumalolo slipped from more than 200m last week to only 79m off 10 carries with 3 tackle busts this week (which is alright for an average NRL forward). Taumalolo basically halved his work against the Rabbitohs and the Cowboys still smoked the Rabbits 44-18, that's a great sign for the Cowboys as they tend to rampage through the middle and they did so against a crappy Rabbitohs pack, without the best running middle forward at his best.

Curtis Rona: The slide continues with Rona once again going try-less and not running for 100m despite taking 11 carries.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: Worst-case scenario for Tuivasa-Sheck as he did his ACL and is out for the season, bummer.

Sosaia Feki: It was a bit of a dip in production for Feki against the Raiders as he could only manage 75m and made 2 errors as well, just a dip.

Shaun Kenny-Dowall: Another cheeky dip in production as Kenny-Dowall slipped below 100m against Penrith with 72m off 10 carries along with 3 errors.