During the 2024 season, nswrl.com.au selects the round’s best 13 of New South Wales eligible players. These selections are based on the writers’ opinions and do not reflect the views of the NSWRL or the selection process for the Westpac NSW Blues. Players who are sin-binned, sent off, or charged by the NRL match review committee are ineligible for Team of the Week nominations.
1. Tom Trbojevic. Club: Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. SOO appearances: 10. TOTW selections: 1
The Sea Eagles may have shared the spoils with the Warriors, but Trbojevic did everything in his power to secure a victory in Round Six.
In the 22-all draw the Sea Eagles’ No.1 produced two try assists and a line-break assist, made three tackle busts and ran for 241 metres with 77 post-contact.
2. Daniel Tupou. Club: Sydney Roosters. SOO appearances: 10. TOTW selections: 1
Tupou scored a double on Thursday night to bring his tally against the Knights to 13 tries from 15 games, on the way to the Roosters’ narrow 22-20 win.
On top of that he made three line-breaks and three tackle busts, running for 237 metres with 101 post-contact from 22 carries.
3. Bradman Best. Club: Newcastle Knights. SOO appearances: 1. TOTW selections: 1
Despite defeat in Round Six the Newcastle centre’s work-rate was through the roof at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Best kept the Knights in the contest with a line-break and a try on the stroke of halftime, finishing the match with 274 run metres including 107 post-contact, two tackle busts, 12 tackles without a miss and no errors.
4. Bronson Xerri. Club: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 0
The left-edge combination between Xerri and Josh Addo-Carr showed plenty of promise as the Canterbury-Bankstown fought their way into the lead against Melbourne Storm.
In only his second game back in the NRL, Xerri recorded two try assists, two line- breaks, three line-break assists, three tackle busts and 209 run metres with 53 post-contact.
5. Josh Addo-Carr (c). Club: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. SOO appearances: 15. TOTW selections: 1
Earning the title of NSW Player of the Week for Round Six, Addo-Carr turned the match upside down against his old club by scoring a hat-trick in the space of just 15 minutes midway through the second half.
He also had five line-breaks, six tackle busts, ran for 243 metres and forced a drop-out in the 16-14 defeat.
6. Ethan Strange. Club: Canberra Raiders. SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 1
Strange has certainly shown he can handle the week-to-week grind of the NRL, and Sunday night was no different in the Canberra Raiders’ Golden Point win.
In Round Six the five-eighth came up with a try assist, line-break, line-break assist, five tackle busts and ran for 128 metres.
7. Luke Keary. Club: Sydney Roosters. SOO appearances: 1. TOTW selections: 1
Back in the No.7 jersey, Keary successfully steered the Tricolours to a tightly fought win on Thursday.
In the two-point victory he managed a try assist, line-break, line-break assist, 106 run metres, 551 kick metres and 21 tackles.
8. Taniela Paseka. Club: Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 1
This All Saints Liverpool junior kept the Manly go-forward firing with his 22 runs for 198 metres in a tough 90-minute draw against the Warriors over in Auckland.
He busted out of four tackles on the way to his 82 post-contact metres and made 37 tackles.
9. Blayke Brailey. Club: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks: SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 2
He scored the last of the Sharks six tries to seal the victory over South Sydney, along with a line-break and two tackle breaks among his 135 touches of the ball.
Brailey also made five runs from dummy-half for 73 metres, and 45 tackles missing just two.
10. Terrell May. Club: Sydney Roosters. SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 1.
May was busy in his 51 minutes off the bench against Newcastle making 182 metres off 17 runs – 73 of those post-contact metres.
He also had two line-break assists and a try assist, two off-loads, made 35 tackles missing only one.
11. Teig Wilton. Club: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. SOO appearances: 0. TOTW selections: 1
Wilton has come close to making TOTW with his powerful edge-running and support play. But his two tries against the Rabbitohs on Saturday night couldn’t be overlooked.
He busted out of four tackles in his 104 metres, made 13 hit-ups and 38 tackles missing none.
12. Hudson Young. Club: Canberra Raiders. SOO appearances: 2. TOTW selections: 2.
This Greta Branxton Colts junior enjoys playing at home at GIO Stadium scoring his second try in as many weeks with his strong, punishing runs close to the line.
In total he made 21 runs for 158 metres in the golden-point win over Gold Coast, had a line-break, four tackle busts, an off-load, 33 tackles, defused a kick, and made no errors.
13. Jake Trbojevic. Club: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. SOO appearances: 16. TOTW selections: 2
It was a real Trbojevic afternoon at Go Media Stadium with Ben scoring a try, Tom running for the most metres (241) for his team, and Jake topping the Sea Eagles tackle count with 49.
The fact he played 85 minutes, made 158 metres off 17 runs (49 post-contact) and only missed one of his tackles has earned him his second TOTW nomination.
