Those Aussies are funny, trying to bait ol' Curtis into some State Of Origin eligbility

Stocks Up

Shaun Kenny-Dowall: Another game for SKD in which he has spiders on him, stacking up 5 tackle busts in 18 carries for 176m. SKD also had 3 offloads and was part of a Roosters outside back group that picked up the slack from a forward pack that struggled to make much of an impact through the middle. What I love about SKD is that it really doesn't matter whether he's playing at centre or on the wing, his involvement and efficiency is the same with a regular dose of over 150m and a bunch of tackle busts.

Joseph Manu: With Blake Ferguson on Origin duty, Manu is getting consistent game time and he's doing such a good job that Trent Robinson would be silly not to find a way to keep him in there. Against Parramatta, Manu was like a baby SKD in that the same sort of effectiveness was there, just not quite at SKD's level; 16 carries, 137m, 1 tackle busts, 1 offload.

Isaac Liu: The Roosters had two forwards who ran for 100m or more, one was Boyd Cordner and that's understandable, the other was Liu who had 100m off 10 carries. It's a mark of how mediocre the Roosters forward pack was, Liu is a grafter through the middle and deserves some lovin'.

Curtis Rona: As an NRL centre, Rona's stock continues to rise and while there are a few other factors in this resurgent Bulldogs team, Rona's presence at centre is a low key factor. Rona is carving out a niche for himself there and he (and Brett Morris) had the most tackle busts for the Bulldogs with 5 while also doing a fine job in limiting the effectiveness of Tim Simona who had no tackle busts and Rona didn't miss a tackle.

Sam Kasiano: The wildcard for the Bulldogs right now is Kasiano's presence on their bench and we're starting to see Kasiano play with a splash on consistency. We've seen Kasiano's skill on display before in spits and spurts, which when you combine that with his sheer size makes him a nightmare to play against. He only played 35 minutes, however that's enough for Kasiano to stamp his mark on the game and when I bemoan a lack of involvement from other forwards in our Kiwi Stocks, you only need to compare their involvement to that of Kasiano; 14 carries, 116m, 1 tackle busts, 2 offloads ... in 35 minutes.

Elijah Taylor: Impressive note about Taylor's effort against the Doggies as Taylor had 51m off 5 carries and 57 tackles. This means that Taylor averaged 10m per-carry and made over 50 tackles, pretty damn impressive if you ask me, plus an offload and a try assist.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak: Usually outside backs are all up around that 100m mark, yet for the Panthers against Cronulla, only Dallin Watene-Zelezniak crossed that 100m mark. DWZ had the most carries of any Penrith player with 132m, 2 tackle busts and an offload, plus DWZ has been one of the few constants in this Panthers team and does this on a weekly basis.

Fa'amanu Brown: Don't get it twisted as Fa'amanu Brown can definitely hang at NRL level. Brown showcased his all-round game in the halves for Cronulla alongside Chad Townsend with a try assist, 40m off 4 carries, 4 tackle busts, 21 tackles and a nice split with Townsend as he had 28 touches to Townsend's 41, along with 3 kicks for 65m to Townsend's 8 kicks for 296m. Cronulla don't really have room for Brown in their best team, however you've got to think that Brown will be demanding selection soon enough.

Jordan Rapana: Bow down to the King Of Tackle Busts - Jordan Rapana, who had 10 tackle busts for Canberra against the Cowboys. This ensured that Rapana had the most metres for Canberra with 143 and consider that Rapana had 10 tackle busts in 16 carries; Rapana averaged a tackle bust in over half of his carries.

Stocks Down

Sio Siua Taukeiaho: If Taukeiaho isn't running over 100m, then we've got a problem, especially when he's taking 11 carries. Taukeiaho only had 89m in 63 minutes with just a single tackle bust and the Roosters desperately need Taukeiaho to punch holes in the defensive line.

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves: Gotta tip my hat to Waerea-Hargreaves as he averaged just over 10m per-carry with 82m off 8 carries, this is however a dip in Waerea-Hargreaves' production since returning from injury. Just like the Chooks need Taukeiaho's power, they need Waerea-Hargreaves to be their leader through the middle and that comes in the form of more work - Dylan Napa had 13 carries in 50 mins, 5 more carries in just 3 more minutes.