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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
I think he did pick up the three. The story was before the Knights game. But I was shocked he picked up nothing against Parra, Penrith, and the Warriors.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Cheers guys! Crap it is!
Scott Pryde
Expert
You are probably right Barry. Even I was guilty of that once. It's not intentional, but I guess you look at the star player and go yep, he's the one I want. I really try to avoid it but I guess it happens sometimes. Either way, i'm really enjoying the perspective, and this is going to be fantastic once the Dally M goes behind closed doors.
daniel p
Guest
Are you really saying that you will stop supporting the storm if they continue the grinding style?
nerval
Guest
I don't care that you don't care, Toputz. The MVP "crap" is on an article about MVP "crap." Even Cameron Smith is not sacrosanct.
Toputz
Guest
I dont care about your mvp crap. Storms are nothing without Smith. Whether he gets a point or not, he will be Kangaroo and Maroons Captain. Dont compare Smith with Napa, Napa doesn't play for storm
The Barry
Roar Guru
Cheers Scott - I'm not suggesting it's done intentionally. I think we all do it a bit by default. Thurston, Morgan, Coote, Taumalolo all outstanding? Thurston immediately springs to mind as the 3. I think because of their reputation they are at the forefront of our thinking. Anyway I don't know if I've explained it that well but I reckon it happens a lot.
nerval
Guest
It's quite clear, isn't it CT Red? My point is that Cameron Smith's MVP award for this particular game is wholly unwarranted - because he's playing the worst football of his career. We're allowed to say things like that aren't we?
Scott Pryde
Expert
Fair enough, He was fantastic against Newcastle so it is a shock that he didn't pick up 3 points.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
I cannot for the life of me understand how Cameron Smith (and, indeed, Robbie Farah) claimed any points at all. Also I think Smith got 2 in the live blog and 3 here. Lets go over the things a goal kicking hooker and captain can ordinarily offer their side one by one 1. Excellent service from dummy half, in this Smith falls at the first hurdle with several passes wide, forward, or even behind their intended target. 2. Attacking play from dummy half, Smith did very little of this. 3. Smart kicking, Smith put in a good kick for territory late in the first half, he also kicked the ball dead in golden point with one of the worst brain fades of the day. 4. Goal kicking, Smith missed 4 out of 5 kicks, abysmal. 5. Leadership - a good captain can keep his side on task and playing to the plan, the Storm switched off quite severely for significant periods of time during both halves and generally played with poor discipline. 6. Tackling, Smith did a reasonable job of this, though not as good as lock forward Dale Finucane who made more tackles with more impact and missed fewer.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
The Broncos members page ran a story about it. I assumed he would've got 3 for the Knights game but the story came out before it and said he only had three points from the Cowboys match. I was flabbergasted (always wanted to use that word) to say the least.
Scott Pryde
Expert
That's harsh. He has played very well a few times this year.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Milford has been fantastic so not sure he only have six and seven respectively. But you're right, it is completely subjective.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Tigerboy, Regardless they are all counted as tackles on the stats sheet.
Zedman
Roar Rookie
Chad Townsend has seven points, i have watched most of Cronulla's games and he hasn't deserved a point in any of those.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Afternoon fellas, Can't speak for others, but personally I generally (if it is hard to pick) whittle the field down to about 5 or 6 contenders. That comes from who I personally thought was best out on field, plus the scoreline can come into play there. I then look at the stats and do a re-evaluation of who I reckon was the best and come to a decision. I guess at the end of the day, it is a pretty tough thing doing a 3-2-1. You have to remember we have, yes, watched the game but also done minute by minute updates right throughout. In saying that, I don't think any of us are complacent in just handing out votes to superstars. It's such a subjective opinion, and you are entitled to your view as you are entitled to yours.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Is it just me or is Coote making several try saving tackles a match every week? Against the Panthers I think he manhandled Mansour into touch twice within metres of the try line. Somehow stopped a rampaging James Roberts literally a metre or two short against Brisbane. Put a hit on Fifita to knock the ball loose and seal his team's win against Nulla. Bloke would have to be close to being the in form defensive fullback so far this year and he's hardly been a slouch in attack basically playing as the Cowboys left hand side five-eighth.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Joe Agree, glad someone watched the game.
Albo
Guest
I'm a massive fan of Gavin Cooper. His combination with Thurston on that left hand side in both attack & defence is the greatest two man partnership in the game today. I can't believe he is not in the QLD origin side for that very reason. He protects Thurston in the defence line and is both target runner, bomb jumper or foil in attack on their deadly left hand side offensive pattern.
Parrafan
Guest
The old Hindmarsh 3rd man to the tackle flop.