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The Roar's NRL MVP: Round 7

Cam Smith has been playing halfback and hooker. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Expert
18th April, 2016
34

There has been a change at the top of the leaderboard in The Roar‘s NRL MVP, with a very in-form Brisbane Broncos player taking over the top spot.

After another exciting round of Rugby League, which saw one game go to golden point, another in a 50 point smashing, a 164-minute scoring drought broken plus two others that were decided by only four points our bloggers have again cast their votes with the leaderboard continuing to take shape.

So, who was selected this week?

Manly Sea Eagles 10 defeated by Parramatta Eels 22
Blogged by: Scott Pryde

3: Corey Norman – Was the absolute general on the park for Parramatta. Strong from start to finish, with a near perfect kicking and running game. Assisted a try and ran the ball seven times.

2: Semi Radradra – Running machine. Radradra ran the ball 16 times for a monstrous game high of 170 metres. Made nine tackle breaks, three line breaks, an offload and scored the final try.

1: Tom Symonds – Easily the best of a badly beaten team. Put in some nice kicks, easing pressure on the halves and was strong in defence making 34 tackles.

North Queensland Cowboys 44 defeat South Sydney Rabbitohs 18
Blogged by: Riley Pettigrew

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3: Johnathan Thurston – Scored his 1000th point on home soil in a mighty performance. Scored a try of his own, assisting another and adding a line break while maintaining a strong creative game throughout.

2: Michael Morgan – Also scored a try of his own, and benefited from Thurston’s control setting up four tries, adding a line break to the stats sheet.

1: Gavin Cooper – Cooper was the best of the Cowboys forwards, running for a total of 132 metres and making 29 tackles. Broke the Rabbitohs line once, looked dangerous a whole heap of times and scored a try.

Gold Coast Titans 14 defeated by St George Illawarra Dragons 19
Blogged by: John Coomer

3: Josh Dugan – Safe as houses at the back, but he will be remembered for the attack as he made another 220 metres, two line breaks, seven tackle breaks an an offload.

2: Ryan James – Massive effort with 170 metres in attack including three tackle breaks and an offload, along with 60 tackles.

1: Gareth Widdop – Finally showed some creativity to spark the Dragons attack to life. Took on the line and managed to score a try for himself while he assisted another and was a constant threat.

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Canterbury Bulldogs 20 defeated by New Zealand Warriors 24
Blogged by: Alan Nicolea

3: Shaun Johnson – Did his role well on a winning team and didn’t try to overplay his hand. Played a hand in four of the Warriors five tries though.

2: Jacob Lillyman – Ran over 170 metres for the Warriors in just 15 runs, always looking threatening. Had 27 tackles to go with it.

1: Sam Perrett. – Scored a pair of tries in the first half and set up both of Holland’s, running for 153 metres with five line breaks.

Brisbane Broncos 53 defeat Newcastle Knights 0
Blogged by:Sean Teuma

3: Anthony Milford – Maybe his best performance of the season so far. Scored three tries and had an assist, running for 158 metres with three line breaks and two offloads.

2: Ben Hunt – Kicking game was absolutely superb, keeing the hapless Knights pinned in their own end. Had three try assists and three line breaks in a strong performance.

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1: Josh McGuire – He was part of the reason the Broncos halves were able to dominate as much as they did. Monster with the ball, running for almost 200 metres and chimming in with an offload.

Canberra Raiders 16 defeated by Cronulla Sharks 40
Blogged by: Scott Pryde

3: Ben Barba – The form of the Sharks fullback is electric right now. Looked dangerous every time he got his hands on the Steeden, ending the match with two tries, an assist, 100 metres, a line break and two offloads.

2: Michael Ennis – Looked to run the ball from dummy half at every chance he got and excelled at it. Made life easy for the Sharks halves, adding a try assist and great servive to the forward pack.

1: Jordan Rapana – Added a wow factor for the Raiders, along with Joey Leilua. Rapana though, had a massive 169 metres from 10 runs, a try and an assist, along with two line breaks, eight tackle breaks and an offload.

Wests Tigers 18 defeated by Melbourne Storm 19
Blogged by: Riley Pettigrew

3: Cameron Smith – Really was the key to the Storms win, guiding them through the second half with absolute class. Ran for 35 metres and made a massive 54 tackles. Also added a try assist.

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2: Tohu Harris – Played every minute of the golden-point game, running 175 metres from just 17 hit-ups and making 49 tackles.

1: Robbie Farah – Was easily the best on ground for the joint venture. His running game out of dummy half was fantastic, making 130 metres and he also made 44 tackles, the most of any Tigers player.

Sydney Roosters 16 defeated by Penrith Panthers 20
Blogged by: Jack Aubrey

3: Jamie Soward – Basically won the game for Penrith with his kicking game. Forced a stack of drop outs, including three during the last 10 minutes as the Roosters tried to mount a last ditch effort.

2: Latrell Mitchell – Scored a pair of tries, and added to the effort with two line breaks and 130 running metres as well as two offloads.

1: Leilani Latu – Latu made nearly 150 metres throughout the first half, finishing with 222, easily being the hardest runner for the Panthers. Made some very strong tackles in defence as well.

The Roar’s NRL MVP Leaderboard:

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1. Anthony Milford (Brisbane Broncos) – 12 votes
2. James Tedesco (Wests Tigers) – 11 votes
=3. Josh Hodgson (Canberra Raiders) – 9 votes
=3. Johnathan Thurson (North Queensland Cowboys) – 9 votes
=3. Corey Norman (Parramatta Eels) – 9 votes
=6. Andrew Fifita (Cronulla Sharks) – 8 votes
=6. Shaun Johnson (New Zealand Warriors) – 8 votes
=6. Josh Dugan (St George Illawarra Dragons) – 8 votes
=6. Ben Barba (Cronulla Sharks) – 8 votes
=10. Chad Townsend (Cronulla Sharks) – 7 votes
=10. James Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs) – 7 votes
=10. Ryan James (Gold Coast Titans) – 7 votes

So, Anthony Milford takes the lead from James Tedesco, with a reverse of fortunes for the pair this week. Milford recorded three votes in the Broncos absolute smashing of the Knights, while Tedesco failed to get a vote as the Tigers lost in Golden-Point to the Storm.

The chasing pack behind are still close, with Johnathan Thurston a big mover up to equal third. Josh Dugan has also recorded five votes in the last two rounds to fly into equal sixth with six votes. Ben Barba joins him on eight, and is in some strong form right at the moment.

That just about does it for this week! See you after Round 8, and what a cracker of a round that is set to be.

Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde

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