{"id":887738,"date":"2026-09-11T04:52:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T04:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887738\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T04:52:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T04:52:19","slug":"every-nrl-teams-best-five-players-of-2026-and-mvp-vote-totals-for-every-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/887738\/","title":{"rendered":"Every NRL team’s best five players of 2026, and MVP vote totals for every club"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NRL<\/a> season has arrived at the finals, and it’s time to reveal the top five players from every team this season according to our MVP votes, as well as the ladder of clubs.<\/p>\n

The New Zealand Warriors<\/a> may not have had any players in the top ten, but their incredible team performance throughout the year gives them first spot on the vote table, with the Penrith Panthers<\/a> closely following despite having Dylan Edwards<\/a> and Nathan Cleary<\/a> in the top two spots at the end of the campaign.<\/p>\n

The other big change is the Manly Sea Eagles<\/a> being included in the top eight sides when it comes to overall votes.<\/p>\n

That has ultimately shuffled the North Queensland Cowboys<\/a> out of the top half of clubs.<\/p>\n

Related Coverage<\/p>\n

At the other end of the table, it’s maybe no surprise to see the St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a> claim the least amount of votes tabled during the year.<\/p>\n

Our MVP worked on a 5-4-3-2-1 system for every single game, with four judges (Zero Tackle founder Matt Clements, writers Dan Nichols and Leo Twemlow, and myself) asigning votes.<\/p>\n

For the full MVP leaderboard, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New Zealand Warriors<\/p>\n

1. Jackson Ford<\/a> – 121 votes, 18th place
2. Erin Clark<\/a> – 100 votes, 25th place
3. Te Maire Martin<\/a> – 93 votes, 31st place
4. Taine Tuaupiki<\/a> – 89 votes, 34th place
5. Mitch Barnett<\/a> – 75 votes, 53rd place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 1019 votes<\/p>\n

Penrith Panthers<\/p>\n

1. Dylan Edwards<\/a> – 215 votes, 1st place
2. Nathan Cleary<\/a> – 212 votes, 2nd place
3. Thomas Jenkins<\/a> – 133 votes, 13th place
4. Brian To’o<\/a> – 127 votes, 16th place
5. Casey McLean<\/a> – 71 votes, 61st place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 996 votes<\/p>\n

The Dolphins<\/p>\n

1. Herbie Farnworth<\/a> – 176 votes, 6th place
2. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow<\/a> – 103 votes, 23rd place
3. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki<\/a> – 97 votes, 27th place
4. Kodi Nikorima<\/a> – 84 votes, 38th place
5. Selwyn Cobbo<\/a> – 82 votes, 41st place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 972 votes<\/p>\n

South Sydney Rabbitohs<\/p>\n

1. Keaon Koloamatangi<\/a> – 128 votes, 15th place
2. Latrell Mitchell<\/a> – 109 votes, 21st place
3. Tallis Duncan<\/a> – 91 votes, 32nd place
4. Cody Walker<\/a> – 91 votes, 32nd place
5. Cameron Murray<\/a> – 82 votes, 41st place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 869 votes<\/p>\n

Cronulla Sharks<\/p>\n

1. Braydon Trindall<\/a> – 175 votes, 7th place
2. Nicho Hynes<\/a> – 147 votes, 11th place
3. William Kennedy<\/a> – 131 votes, 14th place
4. KL Iro<\/a> – 70 votes, 63rd place
5. Addin Fonua Blake – 64 votes, 70th place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 858 votes<\/p>\n

Sydney Roosters<\/p>\n

1. Naufahu Whyte<\/a> – 202 votes, 4th place
2. James Tedesco<\/a> – 162 votes, 9th place
3. Mark Nawaqanitawase<\/a> – 98 votes, 26th place
4. Sam Walker<\/a> – 85 votes, 35th place
5. Daly Cherry-Evans<\/a> – 75 votes, 53rd place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 851 votes<\/p>\n

Manly Sea Eagles<\/p>\n

1. Haumole Olakau’atu<\/a> – 210 votes, 3rd place
2. Tolutau Koula<\/a> – 112 votes, 20th place
3. Tom Trbojevic<\/a> – 79 votes, 44th place
4. Clayton Faulalo<\/a> – 77 votes, 49th place
5. Jamal Fogarty<\/a> – 57 votes, 79th place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 800 votes<\/p>\n

Newcastle Knights<\/p>\n

1. Kalyn Ponga<\/a> – 149 votes, 10th place
2. Dominic Young<\/a> – 101 votes, 24th place
3. Greg Marzhew<\/a> – 79 votes, 44th place
4. Fletcher Sharpe<\/a> – 79 votes, 44th place
5. Dylan Lucas<\/a> – 55 votes, 83rd place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 797 votes<\/p>\n

North Queensland Cowboys<\/p>\n

1. Scott Drinkwater<\/a> – 199 votes, 5th place
2. Jason Taumalolo<\/a> – 104 votes, 22nd place
3. Braidon Burns<\/a> – 76 votes, 51st place
4. Tom Dearden<\/a> – 71 votes, 61st place
5. Tom Chester<\/a> – 63 votes, 71st place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 731 votes<\/p>\n

Melbourne Storm<\/p>\n

1. Sua Fa’alogo<\/a> – 165 votes, 8th place
2. Harry Grant<\/a> – 127 votes, 16th place
3. Stefano Utoikamanu<\/a> – 97 votes, 27th place
4. Cameron Munster<\/a> – 83 votes, 39th place
5. Jahrome Hughes<\/a> – 66 votes, 69th place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 717 votes<\/p>\n

Canberra Raiders<\/p>\n

1. Simi Sasagi<\/a> – 142 votes, 12th place
2. Kaeo Weekes<\/a> – 75 votes, 53rd place
3. Ethan Strange<\/a> – 67 votes, 68th place
4. Ethan Sanders<\/a> – 58 votes, 77th place
5. Joseph Tapine<\/a> – 54 votes, 85th place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 675 votes<\/p>\n

Canterbury Bulldogs<\/p>\n

1. Lachlan Galvin<\/a> – 85 votes, 35th place
2. Connor Tracey<\/a> – 85 votes, 35th place
3. Jacob Preston<\/a> – 78 votes, 47th place
4. Jacob Kiraz<\/a> – 73 votes, 57th place
5. Stephen Crichton<\/a> – 72 votes, 58th place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 647 votes<\/p>\n

Wests Tigers<\/p>\n

1. Adam Doueihi<\/a> – 96 votes, 29th place
2. Terrell May<\/a> – 83 votes, 39th place
3. Jahream Bula<\/a> – 61 votes, 75th place
4. Jarome Luai<\/a> – 50 votes, 91st place
5. Alex Twal<\/a> – 47 votes, 98th place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 533 votes<\/p>\n

Brisbane Broncos<\/p>\n

1. Xavier Willison<\/a> – 72 votes, 58th place
2. Reece Walsh<\/a> – 68 votes, 66th place
3. Payne Haas<\/a> – 60 votes, 76th place
4. Kotoni Staggs<\/a> – 57 votes, 79th place
5. Ezra Mam<\/a> – 49 votes, 92nd place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 477 votes<\/p>\n

Parramatta Eels<\/p>\n

1. Isaiah Iongi<\/a> – 69 votes, 65th place
2. Ronald Volkman<\/a> – 57 votes, 79th place
3. Tallyn Da Silva<\/a> – 44 votes, 101st place
4. Brian Kelly<\/a> – 41 votes, 105th place
5. Junior Paulo<\/a> – 37 votes, 111th place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 470 votes<\/p>\n

Gold Coast Titans<\/p>\n

1. Keano Kini<\/a> – 114 votes, 19th place
2. Jayden Campbell<\/a> – 82 votes, 41st place
3. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui<\/a> – 77 votes, 49th place
4. Phillip Sami<\/a> – 74 votes, 56th place
5. Oliver Pascoe<\/a> – 27 votes, 152nd place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 459 votes<\/p>\n

St George Illawarra Dragons<\/p>\n

1. Toby Couchman<\/a> – 95 votes, 30th place
2. Hamish Stewart<\/a> – 49 votes, 92nd place
3. Valentine Holmes<\/a> – 43 votes, 103rd place
4. Ryan Couchman<\/a> – 34 votes, 123rd place
5. Clint Gutherson<\/a> – 31 votes, 135th place<\/p>\n

Total club votes: 386 votes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NRL season has arrived at the finals, and it’s time to reveal the top five players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-887738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}