After each round of the NRL season, nswrl.com.au selects the round’s best 13 of New South Wales eligible players. These selections are based on the writers' opinions and do not reflect the views of the NSWRL or the selection process for the Westpac NSW Blues. Captaincy is awarded based on that week's on-field performance and is not based on club captaincy or leadership qualities.
1. Dylan Edwards (c). Club: Penrith Panthers. SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 2.
Edwards was all over the park in the Penrith Panthers’ return to the winner’s circle against the Warriors in NRL Magic Round, earning him NSW Player of the Week as a result.
The fullback didn’t just run for a game-high 257 metres with 100 from kick returns, but scored the opening try for his side, produced a try assist and two line-breaks, had eight tackle busts and forced a goal-line drop-out.
2. David Nofoaluma. Club: Wests Tigers. SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 1.
Nofoaluma showed some of his best form in the Wests Tigers’ two-point win over St George Illawarra on Sunday.
In Round 10 the 186-gamer came up with a try, try assist, two line-breaks, seven tackle-breaks, three offloads and 151 run metres.
3. Brian Kelly. Club: Gold Coast Titans. SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 1.
He may have scored his first try since Round Three on Sunday night, but it was a very important one at that to ultimately secure the win for the Gold Coast Titans.
Kelly also had a line-break and line-break assist, six tackle busts, 188 run metres, and made 15 tackles – missing just one.
4. Siosifa Talakai. Club: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. SOO appearances: 2. TOTW selections: 4.
Talakai was one of the standouts for the Sharks in an otherwise disappointing team performance against the Dolphins.
The No.4 surpassed 200 metres (242) for the fourth time this season, had two try assists and line-break assists, made a line-break and four tackle busts, and threw two offloads.
5. Brian To’o. Club: Penrith Panthers. SOO appearances: 6. TOTW selections: 4.
The Penrith back five was at its damaging best in Saturday’s 18-6 victory and To’o led the way alongside Edwards from the backfield.
He also scored one of the Panthers’ three tries, made two line-breaks, had seven tackles busts and ran for 241 metres from 25 carries – including 63 post-contact.
6. Cody Walker. Club: South Sydney Rabbitohs. SOO appearances: 4. TOTW selections: 5.
The irresistible form of the South Sydney pivot has continued for another week, playing a starring role against Melbourne in the fifth-straight win for Jason Demetriou’s men.
He recorded a try, two try assists and line-break assists, two tackle busts, 12 tackles and a forced drop-out on Saturday night.
7. Nathan Cleary. Club: Penrith Panthers. SOO appearances: 13. TOTW selections: 3.
After nursing injury over the past two weeks, Cleary looked back to 100 percent in Round 10 having resumed goal-kicking duties (three goals from four attempts) and ran for 156 metres.
On top of that was a line-break assist, three tackle busts, three offloads, 690 kick metres, two forced drop-outs and 31 tackles in well-rounded performance by the halfback.
8. Payne Haas. Club: Brisbane Broncos. SOO appearances: 9. TOTW selections: 8.
Haas returned from a one-week suspension to resume where he left off, with another crucial input for the Broncos in overwhelming the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles on Friday night.
Haas played 58 minutes to amass 217 metres with 76 post-contact off 21 runs. He also busted out of four tackles, made 21 of his own with no misses, and had the quickest average play-the-ball of his team at 3.02 seconds.
9. Damien Cook. Club: South Sydney Rabbitohs. SOO appearances: 15. TOTW selections: 3.
Cook dragged Melbourne Storm tacklers for over 20 metres in Saturday night’s win but was just as scheming behind the ruck with seven dummy-half runs for 78 metres.
He had two tackle busts and an offload to keep the attack flowing, but also reeled off 35 tackles.
10. David Klemmer. Club: Wests Tigers. SOO appearances: 14. TOTW selections: 4.
Klemmer has been steadfast for the Wests Tigers every week but for the past fortnight he’s produced the work needed to be done to earn the back-to-back victories for his club.
Against St George Illawarra, Klemmer played 50 minutes but made 19 runs for 173 metres with 54 post-contact, the most among his team. He also had two offloads, made 26 tackles and missed none.
11. Hudson Young. Club: Canberra Raiders. SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 2.
He is earning the reputation of being the NRL’s best ‘thief in the night’ with yet another one-on-one steal – this time against Canterbury-Bankstown.
He scored his fourth try from nine games, had a line-break assist, two tackle-breaks, a dummy-half run and three offloads in his 16 runs for 107 metres. Young also made 27 tackles.
12. Teig Wilton. Club: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 2.
Wilton also scooped up his fourth try of the year – one of the highlights in the Sharks’ loss to the Dolphins on Saturday. Off a standing start, he managed to evade three defenders to get to the line.
That evasiveness was a pattern as he broke out of seven other tackles for the match, along with a line-break, 14 hit-ups for 114 metres, an offload and 42 tackles.
13. Ryan Matterson. Club: Parramatta Eels. SOO appearances: 1. TOTW selections: 2.
Normally in the back row, Matterson came off the bench and into the middle for his 52 minutes against Gold Coast on Sunday.
Although on the losing side, Matterson was everywhere with 251 run metres including 88 post-contact, two offloads and four tackle busts, along with making 32 tackles.
