Stocks Up

Greg Eastwood: Every time the Bulldogs hit their left edge, giving Eastwood the footy with some wiggle room, something good usually happens and against the Cowboys it was Eastwood who looked the most threatening ... and he had a long-range try. Eastwood had 4 tackle busts in just 48 minutes and ran for 104m off 8 carries. Most importantly, Eastwood offers the Bulldogs a bit of flair and at times the Bulldogs can look stagnant in attack so it's crucial that he's finding some good form at this stage of the season.

Jason Taumalolo: Once again I sit here in awe of what Taumalolo has served up and even though the Cowboys have two of the best props in the NRL, it's Taumalolo who carries the Cowboys forward up the guts. Up against a big Bulldogs pack who would have undoubtedly wanted to limit Taumalolo's influence, Taumalolo had 22 carries and 209m with 2 tackle busts and a line break in 60 minutes. Only James Graham had more minutes of the big boppers playing through the middle (66mins) and he was the only bloke who came close to matching Taumalolo's work with 21 carries vs Taumalolo's 22 carries, yet Graham only ran for 156m.

Storm Kiwi Gang: Still without Kevin Proctor, the Storm Kiwi Gang continue to stack up fantastic performance and although they lost to Brisbane, the Storm Kiwi Gang were still among this game's best. Jesse Bromwich led the way as he tends to do with 16 carries/137m in 51 minutes, plus a tackle bust, offload and line break while young brother Kenny was also solid with 66m off 9 carries thanks to 3 tackle busts.

Kenny has taken the spot of Proctor on the right edge, leaving Tohu Harris to hold things down on the left and the big lad from Hastings continues to put up big numbers. This week Harris had 14 carries/120m in 80 minutes along with 3 tackle busts and 2 line breaks with the icing on the cake being Nelson Asofa-Solomona's 117m off 12 carries in just 26 minutes and his 5 offloads. 

Alex Glenn: I'm liking where this is going with Glenn coming off the bench and playing the most minutes of any player in the Broncos bench. Glenn played 29 minutes while Jarrod Wallace could probably demand more than 25 minutes, he is leaving at the end of the season though so I reckon Wayne Bennett is handing out more minutes to others. Glenn suits exactly what the Broncos are doing at the moment as he's skillful and has great feet, with the Broncos throwing the footy around from sideline to sideline and shifting the Storm's defence around; Glenn had 8 carries/60m and 2 tackle busts.

Martin Taupau: Up against an impressive Raiders forward pack, Taupau showed that he's well and truly over his early-season hump and he has finished the season in exceptionally strong fashion. Taupau almost rolled through 80 minutes (75) and took the most carries of any forward in this game, making the most metres of any forward in this game, with the most tackle busts in this game; 19/196m/10 tackle busts. Oh, and Taupau had the most offloads in this game as well with 5 which means that Taupau is not only a beast carrying the footy, he's sparking Manly's attack as well and that's a great sign for the Sea Eagles moving forward.

Jordan Rapana: More tries for J-Rapz and a whole lot more tackle busts as well, with Rapana putting up 8 tackle busts which gave him 229m off 16 carries. Another standard performance for Rapana and while other teams know all to well, what Rapana can do in conjunction with Joey Leilua, they are both showing that trying to stop them is extremely difficult; everyone knows that you've gotta take care of Rapana, yet no one has done so yet.

Leivaha Pulu: Coming off the bench, Pulu gave the Titans a huge splash of power and got them back into this contest. Pulu played 34 minutes and had 71m off 12 carries, more impressive though is what else he did with those 12 carries, with 3 tackle busts and 4 offloads getting Penrith's defence scrambling. This is Pulu's biggest game for the back-end of the season and it's come at the perfect time for the Titans.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak: I've thoroughly enjoyed watching Josh Mansour take his game to new heights mid-season with a freakish workload and then seeing Watene-Zelezniak respond, giving the Panthers genuine threats on either flank as well as taking a huge load off their forwards. DWZ had 16 carries for 129m with 4 tackle busts, an offload and a line break which was on-par with Mansour's 19 carries, 134m and 2 tackle busts. 

Zane Musgrove: With the Burgess brothers back at their best, the Rabbitohs benefit greatly from having Musgrove come off the bench and add his own size/power/footwork combo to their forward pack. Musgrove had 11 carries/105m in just 31 minutes and with the likes of Nathan Brown and Jason Clark giving the Bunnies more mobility off their bench, Musgrove gives them size and oomph.

Manu Ma'u/Kenny Edwards/Peni Terepo: Parramatta have enjoyed strong performances all season long from their kiwi lads and one of the only constants of their 2016 season - besides a constant wave of drama - has been their kiwi forwards offering plenty of impetus. Terepo started this game and prop and played 40 minutes, with 14 carries/117m, Ma'u played 80 minutes on the edge and rolled through 17 carries/158m with a tackle bust and 2 offloads while Edwards came off the bench to play 55 minutes with 11 carries/131m, 3 tackle busts, 1 offload and 2 line breaks. 

Stocks Down

Lewis Brown: Not the best outing for Brown in the centres, granted he was lining up against some of the best backs in the competition. Brown put up 4 ineffective tackles, missing 2  and only running for 63m off 8 carries. That Brown has spent much of the season though shows what an asset he is to Trent Barrett as the likes of Steve Matai and Jamie Lyon have both battled injury and Brown has been able to slot straight in there and do a job.

Joseph Tapine: While he almost averaged 10m in his 3 carres (27m), Tapine only had 3 carries in 35 minutes and it's not a big deal, just a notable drop in Tapine's work. When the Raiders are in the Finals, they will need Tapine taking 8 carries in 35 minutes, keeping them steaming down field.

James Fisher-Harris: Despite bursting on to the NRL scene and enjoying a strong season, Fisher-Harris has struggled to find a groove in attack. Against Gold Coast, JFH had 8 carries and 47m in 80 minutes which means that he's simply not getting enough footy and although he made 48 tackles, I wanna see him given the ball in more set-plays. Isaah Yeo also only had 8 carries in 80 minutes on the other edge, which when compared to Zeb Taia's 13 carries and Chris McQueen's 10 carries (in 72 minutes) is strange. Perhaps Anthony Griffin is keeping these two under the radar a wee bit, using the likes of Waqa Blake and Tyrone Peachey to punch down their edges and then unleashing Fisher-Harris in the Finals. 

Sio Siua Taukeiaho: Such a bummer for Taukeiaho, suffering a knee injury that could rule him out of the Kiwis Four Nations campaign. Taukeiaho wasn't too far behind Jason Taumalolo in terms of what he offered his team in the No.13 jersey and he would have been rewarded for his great work this season, I'm sure of that. Taukeiaho has also apparently agreed to stay with the Roosters until the end of the 2020 season which is fantastic for both Taukeiaho and the Roosters.

Ben Matulino: Another game in which Matulino was missing through the middle for the Warriors and this forward pack hasn't quite done the trick all year, meaning that Matulino has had to carry them and when he's not at his best, the Warriors suffer heavily. Matulino only played 37 minutes and had 10 carries/88m, which simply isn't anywhere close to the level of guys like Taupau, Bromwich and Taumalolo.