Stocks Up

Jordan Rapana: A week off did absolutely nothing to Rapana's fantastic run of form to start the season as the Raiders' winger scored a try and ran for over 200m. In 21 carries, Rapana ran for 222m with 2 offloads and 2 line breaks, while only Joey Leilua had more tackle busts than Rapana's 11. Leilula had 12, giving the Raiders' right edge 23 tackle busts between them.

Jason Nightingale: Putting Rapana's effort in some context was Nightingale, who had the same number of carries as Rapana but only ran for 149m. Nightingale was still immense with a try assist, 2 tackle busts and 5 offloads for the Dragons,

Manu Ma'u: Only one Eels forward really stood up to the challenge laid down by the Rabbitohs and it should be no surprise who that man was. Ma'u was the only Eels forward to run for over 100m, taking 19 carries for 143m in 80 minutes along with a tackle bust and 3 offloads.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak: Ahead of the Anzac Test, I highlighted the depth that the Kiwis have on the wing with Watene-Zelezniak getting the nod over Rapana. DWZ was at his best against the Warriors, scoring a try and running for 166m off 14 carries with a tackle bust and 2 line breaks giving DWZ the most metres of any player in this game from either team.

James Fisher-Harris: I reckon that Fisher-Harris will be loving his time under coach Anthony Griffin as the Panthers' coach has quickly promoted Fisher-Harris since making his debut earlier in the season. Fisher-Harris started in the back-row and played 66 minutes, forming a very formidable back-row trio of himself, Bryce Cartwright and Trent Merrin as Fisher-Harris filled out the stat sheet with 85m, a try assist, a tackle bust, 41 tackles, an offload and a line break assist.

Ben Matulino: After the off-field dramas, Matulino has slotted back nicely into the NRL as he came off the bench for the Warriors and showed why he's an above-average NRL prop. Matulino played 50 minutes and had the most carries of any player on the field, running for 161m off 17 carries with an offload thrown in for good measure. As the Warriors look to build with each game, Matulino's work through the middle in combination with Jacob Lillyman is crucial and as long as Matulino is taking more than 10 carries and making more than 100m, the Warriors will have some sort of foundation laid down.

Storm Kiwis: Melbourne's kiwi lads once again played a strong hand, this time in a mighty fine win over the Cowboys. Kevin Proctor and Tohu Harris both scored tries, with Harris spending much of the game out in the centres where he had 16 carries for 137m with 6 tackle busts. Harris, Proctor and Jesse Bromwich all ran for over 100m while Kenny Bromwich ran for 71m off only 7 carries (10m-per-carry), Nelson Asofa-Solomona was the headline act though as he ran for 109m off 11 carries, with a tackle bust and 2 offloads in only 34 minutes of footy.

Jason Taumalolo: It was a rather epic battle of the Kiwis in the middle of the park with Taumalolo going up against the Storm's Kiwis, Taumalolo was his beastly self though with 142m off 15 carries, 4 tackle busts and an offload. That's business as usual for Taumalolo, what caught the eye was his work without the footy where Taumalolo made 25 tackles, often putting in an extra effort to make a crucial tackle through the middle; Taumalolo had 4 one-on-one tackles.

Sosaia Feki: 3 tries, 131m, 4 tackle busts, 3 line breaks ... Feki made as many line breaks as he made tackles.

Elijah Taylor: I wasn't sure if we'd see Taylor get a run this quickly with the Tigers, but after making a mid-season switch from the Panthers, Taylor started at lock for the Tigers and played 70 minutes. Taylor didn't do too much with the footy, he tends not to as his value is without the footy, where he made 48 tackles ... which couldn't really help the Tigers slow the Doggies down.

Ava Seumanufagai: One of the low key most impressive young kiwi forwards in the NRL right now, Seumanufagai has flourished with greater minutes. In 55 minutes, Seumanufagai ran for 131m off 15 carries and made 31 tackles which wasn't too far behind Aaron Woods' production.

Curtis Rona: No kiwi started the season slower than Rona, so it's great to see the lanky winger back on the wagon, scoring tries for fun. Rona grabbed a double against the Tigers and while he wasn't overly busy in attack (only taking 10 carries) he had 4 tackle busts and 2 line breaks.

Raymond Faitala-Mariner: There are a few good forwards playing in the Bulldogs' reserve grade side and Tony Williams is currently M.I.A. thanks to the rise of Faitala-Mariner who has joined the Doggies and quickly risen through the ranks. RFM got 21 minutes off the bench, running for 41m off 5 carries with a tackle bust and 2 offloads, giving the Bulldogs a dynamic presence to go with the likes of Klemmer and Kasiano. I would suggest that Faitala-Mariner is keeping T-Rex out of this side, ponder that.

Agnatius Paasi: In a Gold Coast team that had many fine perfomers, Paasi was dominant and he showcased what makes him one of the most dangerous forwards in the NRL when he's on. Paasi ran for 142m off 16 carries, with the most tackle busts (5) and line breaks (2) of any Titans player, all of that came in only 45 minutes of footy as Paasi led the Titans ambush.

Sio Siua Taukeiaho: Fabulous to have Taukeiaho back on the park with the Chooks, even if his return couldn't help them grab a win. Taukeiaho got 34 minutes off the bench and ran for 88m off 10 carries which was a solid effort, but his return was the main thing and Roosters fans can look forward to him and the likes of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, back getting consistent minutes.

Stocks Down

Shaun Johnson: Nothing overly dramatic here, it's just that we saw just how far Johnson still has to go before he becomes one of the better halves in the NRL. Maybe we expect far too much of Johnson as he's yet to really show that he can dominate/control a game of footy by himself, which he is learning and he got a textbook performance from his opposite Jamie Soward to take some notes from. There was the lack of skill with his boot, a few errors and the signature of any mediocre performance from Johnson - 3 runs for 14m.

Charlie Gubb: Only 18 minutes of footy for Gubb and he's been cut for this week which is very strange as the impact he has on a game is blatantly clear. We'll put this down to confusing coach Cappy, just as Gubb was stacking consistent NRL performances on top of each other, he's cut.

Martin Taupau: Another silly shot from Taupau and he's out for a few weeks. Taupau hasn't been overly impressive for the Sea Eagles thus far, so it could be a blessing in disguise for them but for Taupau himself, this is just another silly slip up.