Panther leads but favourites for overall crown emerge: Zero Tackle NRL finals MVP, Week 3

Cameron Munster and Reece Walsh have placed themselves as the most likely players to take out Zero Tackle’s NRL Finals MVP after putting together strong performances during the preliminary finals.

The star Melbourne five-eighth and Brisbane fullback have both polled in the two sides’ games to date, and while Penrith winger Paul Alamoti has the lead of the competition, he won’t play in the grand final, so he should get mowed down this weekend.

Munster, who scored 17 in a qualifying final win over the Bulldogs, managed another 18 votes on the weekend to sit just one off the lead, while Reece Walsh was perfect in the opening weeks against the Raiders and, with 11 against the Panthers, is now four votes behind Munster.

The grand final qualifiers had one unanimous man of the match, with Payne Haas claiming all 20 votes for the Broncos, while Munster and the returning Jahrome Hughes split top spot for the Storm.

For each game in the finals, our panel consisting of Zero Tackle founder Matt Clements, writers Ethan Lee Chalk and Dan Nichols, and me as editor, will vote on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis to crown the eventual champion.

Here are the votes from Week 2 of the finals.

	Matt Clements	Scott Pryde	Dan Nichols	Ethan Lee Chalk
5	Cameron Munster	Cameron Munster	Cameron Munster	Jahrome Hughes
4	Jahrome Hughes	Stefano Utoikamanu	Stefano Utoikamanu	Stefano Utoikamanu
3	Stefano Utoikamanu	Eliesa Katoa	Jahrome Hughes	Cameron Munster
2	KL Iro	Jahrome Hughes	Sione Katoa	Sione Katoa
1	Ryan Papenhuyzen	Sione Katoa	Ryan Papenhuyzen	Ryan Papenhuyzen

	Matt Clements	Scott Pryde	Dan Nichols	Ethan Lee Chalk
5	Payne Haas	Payne Haas	Payne Haas	Payne Haas
4	Paul Alamoti	Paul Alamoti	Paul Alamoti	Paul Alamoti
3	Reece Walsh	Reece Walsh	Reece Walsh	Xavier Willison
2	Xavier Willison	Kotoni Staggs	Brian To’o	Reece Walsh
1	Izack Tago	Mitch Kenny	Xavier Willison	Brian To’o

Top Ten

RANK		PLAYER	LAST ROUND	TOTAL
1	Paul Alamoti	16	36
2	Cameron Munster	18	35
3	Reece Walsh	11	31
4	Braydon Trindall	0	30
4	Nathan Cleary	0	30
6	Brian To’o	3	26
6	Stefano Utoikamanu	15	26
8	Payne Haas	20	24
9	Jonah Pezet	0	18
9	Nicho Hynes	0	18