Cameron Smith led from the front once again as thousands of head-to-head league grand finals were decided in the penultimate round of the NRL Fantasy season.
Winners
For the second straight week the best player in NRL Fantasy hit the top score of the round, with a late try and a strong all-round performance helping Cameron Smith to 85 points in Melbourne's loss to Brisbane. It's something to keep in mind when picking your Fantasy squad in 2017 – pick Smith as your captain every week and it's hard to go wrong.
Ranking just behind the Queensland skipper this week are two of his long-time NSW Blues rivals, with veterans Greg Bird (81) and Paul Gallen (75) turning back the clock with tireless performances for their respective teams. Both grabbed a try, six tackle breaks and a lot of metres in superb individual efforts.
Next best in Round 25 were Daly Cherry-Evans (74), two-try Cowboy Ethan Lowe (73), Matt Moylan (71), Jayson Bukuya (71) and Tohu Harris (70).
Several Fantasy stars of 2016 produced more big scores, with Jack de Belin cementing his place as an elite gun with 69 while Andrew Fifita made 68, Jordan Rapana scored a long-range try on the way to 67, Simon Mannering scored 65 and Rabbitohs duo Sam Burgess and Greg Inglis piled on 65 each in their team's thumping of Newcastle.
Meanwhile Manly duo Tom Trbojevic and Martin Taupau both made 64, as did new Dragons half Drew Hutchison.
Speaking of winners, The Scouts managed to take out a third straight title in the NRL.com office league, edging out fellow Fantasy gurus Chris Kennedy, Adrian McMurray and grand finalist Martin Gabor.
Losers
While Rapana went big this week, Round 25 was another reminder that wingers are always risky buys in NRL Fantasy with prolific try-scorers Brett Morris (13) and Suliasi Vunivalu (5) both having very quiet games after failing to find the tryline.
Meanwhile goal-kicking Roosters forward Sio Siua Taukeiaho finished with just 3 after being injured two minutes into the Roosters' loss to Cronulla, but even he fared better than Jack Bird, who scored zero in 80 minutes thanks to five missed tackles, two errors and a penalty conceded.
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