Stocks Up

Kiwi Dragons: Usually I'm here writing about the collective effort of the Melbourne Storm's gang of kiwis as the Storm have been flying high. On Saturday night though, it was the kiwi Dragons who showed up for St George and a combination of the number of kiwis playing well and the quality of their work was undeniable. If the Dragons are going to make something of this 2016 NRL season, they will need to be led by this group of kiwis and obviously Benji Marshall is crucial in that but as I've always said this season - it starts with Leeson Ah Mau and Russell Packer. The two big boppers grafted up the middle and countered Jesse Bromwich's work and led the way for a solid contribution from their whole forward pack.

Jason Nightingale: 25 touches, 18 carries, 151m, 4 tackle busts.

Kalifa Faifai Loa: 16 touches, 13 carries 111m, 1 offload.

Benji Marshall: 52 touches, 7 carries, 58m, 4 tackle busts, 1 offload, 9 kicks for 276m.

Leeson Ah Mau: 12 touches, 12 carries, 121m, 2 tackles busts.

Russell Packer: 12 touches, 11 carries, 101m, 1 tackle bust.

Issac Luke: It's been brewing all season long with Luke stringing dynamic performances together at dummy half with the Warriors for a number of weeks now, however against the Roosters, Luke filled me with confidence. Their were some sloppy touches and mediocre passes, I'll accept those when Luke is causing absolute mayhem around the ruck area with his unique running game that comes via speed and power. Luke played all 80 minutes and had 13 runs for 94m, with 2 tackle busts and 3 offloads. There wasn't much attacking prowess from the Warriors, but much of their go-forward and intent to throw the footy around game from Luke.

Nathaniel Roache: Far from a dominant force in this game, Roache saw his stocks rise thanks to a solid effort out on the wing. Roache is picked on the bench as a dummy half and with Thomas Leuluai off injured, a backline shuffle was required and thanks to Roache's ability to just do a job on the wing, the Warriors absorbed that shuffle. Some teams are rolling with a back on their bench and having Roache on the bench is an asset with the high frequency of injuries in the NRL.

Shaun Kenny-Dowall: SKD is back and it's borderline amazing how much impact SKD has, which is visible in games like this where he is returning to the Roosters line up. There were penalties and a few errors from SKD, we'll cop that as SKD had the most metres and most tackle busts of anyone in this game; 12 carries, 172m, 9 tackle busts, 3 offloads, 1 line break.

Joseph Manu: Debut! This was our first glimpse at Manu in the NRL and he didn't disappoint, displaying a natural confidence that is now a staple of young players. With 13 carries, 109m, 2 tackle busts and 2 offloads, Manu was highly active and while he's a tall/lean sort of winger, his left-foot step helps him get between defenders, resulting in a few extra metres and a quick play-the-ball.

Martin Taupau: What a joy it is to see Taupau back in the middle of field after starting on Manly's left edge. Taupau showed that he can play a substantial role, with 71 minutes of action that produced 135m from 15 carries with a tackle bust and 2 offloads.

Stocks Down

Jesse Bromwich: Such are the lofty standards of Bromwich, that a game in which he leads his team's forward pack in metres and carries, his stocks drop. This is because Bromwich put in a mammoth shift of 72 minutes and that only yielded 15 carries for 118m, compared that to Ah Mau and Packer's work which came in half the minutes and Bromwich was overshadowed. Melbourne needed Bromwich at his freakish best in this game without their Origin players and Bromwich couldn't offer it. Again, no dramas as this is a product of Bromwich's lofty standards.

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves: The offloads were there, so was the effort but this wasn't the dominant display from Waerea-Hargreaves that we've seen in recent weeks. He was overshadowed by Ben Matulino and couldn't quite deliver the barnstorming aggression that we know he can; 11 touches, 8 carries, 67m, 3 offloads.

Sio Siua Taukeiaho: Same story here with Taukeiaho, who was back playing at Mt Smart and that could have been reason for an epic performance. Instead, Taukeiaho joined SKD in conceding a couple penalties and the usually brutal Taukeiaho had no tackle busts and only 62m from 9 carries in 80 minutes.