The 2014 Willie M Medal: Round 6
Blake Ayshford, Manu Vatuvei, Ben Barba and Bill Tupou each maintained their current run of ineptitude as the Willie M pecking order for 2014 starts to take shape. The prescient comments of Laurie Daley in the past week about the form of James Maloney also bear noting in light of another poor performance in the Roosters’ 14-12 loss to Parramatta. The form of the incumbent Blues’ five-eighth has left the door open for the likes of Josh Reynolds, Todd Carney and Jamie Soward to push for selection. However, all bar Reynolds put in stinkers of their own this weekend, leaving New South Wales the choices of bad or worse for representative selection.
Penrith v South Sydney
3 – Jamie Soward (Pen)
2 – James Segeyaro (Pen)
1–Dallin Watene Zelezniak (Pen)
Judge: Craig Finlayson
Gold Coast v Brisbane
3- Ben Barba (Bri)
2- Justin Hodges (Bri)
1- Josh Hoffman (Bri)
Judge: Steven McLauchlan
Canberra v Newcastle
3 – Bill Tupou (Can)
2 – Reece Robinson (Can)
1 – Josh McCrone (Can)
Judge: Cliff Bingham
Parramatta v Sydney Roosters
3 – James Maloney (Roo)
2 – Kenny Edwards (Par)
1 – Boyd Cordner (Roo)
Judge: Brett Oaten
Wests Tigers v North Queensland
3 – Tariq Sims (Cow)
2 – Johnathan Thurston (Cow)
1 – Robert Lui (Cow)
Judge: Matt Fisk
New Zealand v Canterbury
3 – Corey Thompson (Bul)
2 – Manu Vatuvei (War)
1 – Mitch Brown (Bul)
Judge: Rohan Kendall
Manly v Cronulla
3 – Todd Carney (Cro)
2 – Blake Ayshord (Cro)
1 – Nathan Stapleton (Cro)
Judge: Matt Tedeschi
Melbourne v St George-Illawarra
3 – Josh Dugan (Dra)
2 – Ryan Hoffman (Mel)
1 – Ben Creagh (Dra)
Judge: Cliff Bingham
Leaderboard
9: Joey Leilua (New), Blake Ayshford (Cro)
7: James Maloney (Roo), Manu Vatuvei (War)
6: Daniel Holdsworth (Cro), Jonathan Wright (Cro), Ben Barba (Bri)
5: Bill Tupou (Can), Sam Burgess (Sou), Kyle Feldt (Cow), Ben Hampton (Mel), Simon Mannering (War), Lote Tuqiri (Sou), Jack Wighton (Can), Akuila Uate (New), Tariq Sims (Cow)
4: Will Chambers (Mel), Mahe Fonua (Mel), Dane Gagai (New), Anthony Minichiello (Roo), Sonny Bill Williams (Roo), Daniel Vidot (Bri), Kenny Edwards (Par), Josh Dugan (Dra)
I would have liked to have given Anthony Griffin the last vote for not using his full bench.
Hodges could have tied Barba with 3 points as well, his handling was diabolical (and therefore hilarious).
8 players earned Wille M points this week that are in the running for NSW Origin positions, while only 3 QLDers did the same.