In the absence of Origin players it was the young stars who came to the fore in Round 15 along with a crafty old hooker who engineered a Rabbitohs revival.
1. Clint Gutherson (Eels)
A late shift from the centres to fullback was no problem for 'Gutho' who put the Eels on track for a win with two opportunist's tries, adding six tackle busts and 214 run metres to a superb all-round display.
2. Bevan French (Eels)
Like Gutherson, French revelled in a late positional switch, scoring a brilliant try from a Mitch Moses kick early in the tackle count and coming up with a number of crucial defensive efforts to keep the Dragons at bay.
3. Curtis Scott (Storm)
It was a coming out party for the next generation of Storm players with Scott right in the thick of it, scoring two tries, making 94 metres from nine carries and making 18 tackles without missing one.
4. Kurt Capewell (Sharks)
As good for NRL Fantasy coaches as he was for the Sharks, scoring two tries, making four line breaks, eight tackle busts, a try assist and running for an extraordinary 251 metres from 22 carries.
5. Edrick Lee (Sharks)
A welcome return to the NRL for Edrick who was dangerous from the outset, scoring a try of his own, providing the final pass for another and running for 163 metres.
6. Brodie Croft (Storm)
In just his second game in the top grade showed Cronk-like character to close out the golden point win for the Storm. Rather than panic, Croft put in an inch-perfect kick into the Cowboys' in-goal to earn a repeat set for his team and slotted the field goal from the ensuing set to seal the win. Classy.
7. Chad Townsend (Sharks)
In at times scrappy affair Townsend took control when it was needed, sparking his side's strong finish with a try in the 52nd minute and taking responsibility for the vast majority of the kicking game in the absence of James Maloney.
8. Jesse Bromwich (Storm)
An absolute powerhouse up front who carried his young team on his shoulders in the absence of Smith, Cronk and Slater. Played all but eight minutes of the extra-time thriller, registering team highs in run metres (198) and offloads (three).
9. Robbie Farah (Rabbitohs)
When South Sydney finally got their hands on the ball it was Farah who provided the attacking thrust, providing the final pass for the team's first and last tries and continually probing around a tiring Titans defence.
10. Ava Seumanufagai (Wests Tigers)
Up against a premiership-winning pack, Seumanufagai threw everything into his work, taking the Tigers forward time and again with 18 carries that yielded 185 metres to go with 31 tackles.
11. Angus Crichton (Rabbitohs)
The performance of the weekend. The boom youngster rescued his team when the situation looked dire with a hat-trick that was testimony to running the right lines with plenty of power. Racked up 200 metres from 16 carries with 12 tackle busts and four line breaks.
12. Manu Ma'u (Eels)
Gutsy effort from the Eels back-rower who met the Dragons forwards with a power-packed performance of his own. His 20 carries were all full of rigour and yielded 177 metres along with two offloads and three tackle busts.
13. Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys)
Taumalolo ran for 300 metres against the Storm. Three hundred. It's a mythical number that Tom Trbojevic nudged past in Round 2 for Manly and surpasses Taumalolo's previous best of 295 metres in Round 1 this year. Had three offloads, three tackle busts and made 37 tackles.
14. Cameron Munster (Storm)
Produced a brilliant display reverting back to fullback, continually testing the Cowboys defence with his explosive runs and deft hands, providing three line-break assists, busting seven tackles and running for 189 metres.
15. Zane Musgrove (Rabbitohs)
In a team that had zero energy in the first 25 minutes of the clash with the Titans Musgrove gave the Rabbitohs some much-needed punch, coming on midway through the first half and racking up 90 metres from eight carries by half-time.
16. Tohu Harris (Storm)
Typically industrious effort from the Storm back-rower, running for 162 metres from 14 carries and making 49 tackles.
17. Nathan Brown (Eels)
Proving to be one of the buys of the season with another superb performance for the Eels, playing all 80 minutes and taking up 201 metres from 23 determined charges into the Dragons defence.
