St George Illawarra's Ryan and Toby Couchman are the first set of twins to be selected in the RLWC2026 Team of the Week.
The Couchman brothers are joined by Dragons team-mate Valentine Holmes, who is set to play for Cook Islands at the World Cup, after the club's first win of the season against the Broncos.
Until now, the only Dragons player nominated for the RLWC2026 Team of the Week was Toby Couchman, who made his 50th NRL appearance in last Sunday’s 30-26 upset defeat of the reigning premiers at Suncorp Stadium.
The 22-year-old prop has emerged as a potential bolter for Kangaroos selection after fans voted him into the RLWC2026 Team of the Week for his performance in the Round 11 loss to Penrith at Magic Round. He was also nominated after the Round 1 Golden Point loss to the Bulldogs in Vegas.
Ryan Couchman polled ahead of Kiwis star Erin Clark (Warriors), Lebanon's Alex Twal (Wests Tigers) and Kangaroos forward Lindsay Smith (Panthers) for the lock position, while Holmes was voted as one of the centres alongside Kiwis sensation Casey McLean (Panthers).
Holmes, who has played 21 Tests for Australia, plans to honour his Cook Islands-born mother Lucy at Rugby League World Cup 2026 after pledging his allegiance to the Karmichael Hunt-coached Aitu.
After 22 State of Origin performances for Queensland, including 17 in a row since his return from an NFL stint with New York Jets, Holmes was dropped for last Wednesday night’s series opener.
Vintage Val
He responded in the best possible manner, scoring two tries and kicking five goals to spearhead the Dragons to their first win in 295 days against the Broncos.
The Red V have the largest representation in the RLWC2026 Team of the Week.
The Panthers (McLean and Paul Alamoti), Warriors (Alofiana Khan-Pereira and Te Maire Martin), Storm (Sua Fa'alogo and Harry Grant) and Raiders (Ethan Strange and Hudson Young) each have two players.
Broncos prop Payne Haas and Knights secondrower Dylan Lucas are the other players voted by fans for RLWC2026.
Haas, Fa'alogo and Khan-Pereira are eligible for Samoa at the World Cup, while McLean and Martin were members of New Zealand's 2025 Pacific Cup winning team and Alamoti is a Tonga international.
Alamoti the acrobat
Grant and Young were members of last year's Ashes winning Australian team, while Strange - who is also eligible for England and New Zealand - went on the Kangaroo tour but did not play.
The Couchman twins and Lucas, who was 20th man for NSW in Origin I, are yet to play at international level.
Each week, fans vote for their RLWC2026 Team of the Week from players nominated after the previous weekend's NRL and Super League matches, who are eligible for the 10 nations contesting Rugby League World Cup 2026.
The RLWC2026 Team of the Week is announced each Wednesday.
The latest World Cup Team of the Week nominations featured 14 players who are eligible for New Zealand, nine for Samoa, seven for England, four for Tonga, three for Fiji, two for Lebanon and one for Cook Islands.
Among the players in contention for this week's World Cup Team of the Week were:
- Kiwis centres Casey McLean (Panthers), Seb Kris and Matt Timoko (Raiders), playmaker Dylan Brown (Knights), fullback Taine Tuaupiki, halfback Te Maire Martin, lock Erin Clark, props James Fisher-Harris (all Warriors), Joseph Tapine (Raiders) and Moses Leota, secondrower Isaiah Papali’i (both Panthers) and winger Moses Leo (Storm). Raiders fullback Keao Weekes and five-eighth Ethan Strange are also eligible for New Zealand
- Toa Samoa fullback Sua Fa’alogo (Storm), centres Enari Tuala (Bulldogs) and Izack Tago (Panthers), wingers Alofiana Khan-Pereira (Warriors), Greg Marzhew (Knights) and Jeral Skelton, playmaker Jarome Luai and props Terrel May (all Wests Tigers) and Payne Haas (Broncos)
- Tonga wingers Paul Alamotti (Panthers) and Savelio Tamale (Raiders), secondrower Sitili Tupouniua (Bulldogs) and prop Stefano Utoikamanu (Storm)
- England secondrowers Kai Pearce-Paul (Wests Tigers) and Junior Nsemba, halves Harry Smith and Jack Farrimond (all Wigan), and winger Dom Young (Knights). Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey and Raiders five-eighth Ethan Strange are also eligible for England
- Fiji fullback Jahream Bula, centre Sunia Turuva (both Wests Tigers) and prop Jacob Saiftii (Knights), who was a member of the NSW Blues squad for Origin I
- Cook Island centre Val Holmes (Dragons)
- Lebanon fullback Jacob Kiraz (Bulldogs) and lock Alex Twal (Wests Tigers)
A Sua special
View the voting for the RLWC2026 Team of the Week
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