Latrell Mitchell might have taken over the second half with the ball in hand, but it was the work of South Sydney teammate Tevita Tatola that stood out in the numbers from Round 18, with the Tongan international topping the VB Hard Earned Index for the week.
In addition to scoring a decisive try late on, Tatola produced arguably his finest performance of the season for the Rabbitohs to help them come from behind against the Bulldogs — chalking up 30 tackles, 20 total carries and five tackle busts.
He was the only player to top the century mark in Round 18, with next best Joey Manu coming in 10 points behind after his remarkable game against the Dragons in which he had an eye-catching 18 tackle busts from 17 total carries.
Manu is the man
Moving from halfback to lock, Jackson Hastings saw his numbers boosted by a staggering 22 line engagements to go with 35 tackles and 13 runs; his 91-point effort was his finest score of the year and good for third in this week's numbers.
Despite their loss to Canberra, Melbourne had three players feature inside the top ten with Kenny Bromwich (85 points), Nelson Asofa-Solomona (83 points) and Cameron Munster (80 points) all scoring well. Only Wests Tigers centre Asu Kepaoa had the same number of offloads as Munster (5) in Round 18.
Overall, Raiders forward Joseph Tapine continued his lead on top of the VB Hard Earned Index leaderboard with the ninth-highest score of the round (81) taking him ever-so-slightly further ahead of Eels forward Isaiah Papali'i.
With seven rounds of the regular season to go, the gap between Tapine and Papali'i is just seven points, with Panthers duo James Fisher-Harris and Isaah Yeo joining Wests Tigers forward Joe Ofahengaue in the next best of the chasing pack.
Arguably the Tigers' best this year, Ofahengaue has climbed into fourth on the overall standings after Yeo was rested in Round 17 with Jason Taumalolo, Dylan Edwards, Cameron McInnes, Paul Vaughan and Keaon Koloamatangi rounding out the top ten contenders for this year's title.
VB Hard Earned Index: Round 18
- Tevita Tatola (Rabbitohs) — 102 points
- Joseph Manu (Roosters) — 92 points
- Jackson Hastings (Wests Tigers) — 91 points
- Kenny Bromwich (Storm) — 85 points
- Matthew Eisenhuth (Panthers) — 84 points
- Zac Hosking (Broncos) — 84 points
- Nelson Asofa-Solomona (Storm) — 83 points
- Tohu Harris (Warriors) — 82 points
- Joseph Tapine (Raiders) — 81 points
- Cameron Munster (Storm) — 80 points
VB Hard Earned Index: Leaderboard
- Joseph Tapine (Raiders) — 1252 points
- Isaiah Papali'i (Eels) — 1245 points
- James Fisher-Harris (Panthers) — 1155 points
- Joe Ofahengaue (Wests Tigers) — 1123 points
- Isaah Yeo (Panthers) — 1122 points
- Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys) — 1092 points
- Dylan Edwards (Panthers) — 1089 points
- Cameron McInnes (Sharks) — 1070 points
- Paul Vaughan (Bulldogs) — 1067 points
- Keaon Koloamatangi (Rabbitohs) — 1063 points
