Sydney Roosters champion fullback James Tedesco has claimed a perfect 20 votes to fly to the top of Zero Tackle's NRL Finals MVP race after Week 2.
That, in the grand scheme of things, could mean very little for the overall race though if the Roosters can't claim a win this weekend when they head to Melbourne to play the Storm in a sudden death preliminary final.
Tedesco's lead comes after he claimed a single vote in the opening week of the finals, and puts him ahead of Daly Cherry-Evans, who was perfect in Week 1 but didn't claim a vote in Week 2 and is now eliminated, and Braydon Trindall, who was also voted to have had a perfect game in Week 2 as the Cronulla Sharks overcame the North Queensland Cowboys.
Nathan Cleary and Harry Grant, who claimed significant votes in Week 1 before their week off, are also still well in the race, while Kalyn Ponga is next but is eliminated.
As a reminder how this works, four judges from Zero Tackle's team (founder Matt Clements, writers Ethan Lee Chalk and Dan Nichols, and myself as editor), will assign votes on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis for every game during the finals, as we did during the regular season.
Given the finals are a much shorter campaign, it's likely only players who make the grand final will be able to take out the final prize.
Here are all the votes from semi-final weekend.
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Braydon Trindall | Braydon Trindall | Braydon Trindall | Braydon Trindall |
| 4 | Ronaldo Mulitalo | Valentine Holmes | Valentine Holmes | Valentine Holmes |
| 3 | Cameron McInnes | Kayal Iro | Kayal Iro | Reece Robson |
| 2 | Valentine Holmes | Reece Robson | Reece Robson | Briton Nikora |
| 1 | Sione Katoa | Ronaldo Mulitalo | Toby Rudolf | Cameron McInnes |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | James Tedesco | James Tedesco | James Tedesco | James Tedesco |
| 4 | Connor Watson | Connor Watson | Connor Watson | Joseph Manu |
| 3 | Joseph Manu | Joseph Manu | Joseph Manu | Joseph Suaalii |
| 2 | Angus Crichton | Joseph Suaalii | Luke Keary | Luke Keary |
| 1 | Terrell May | Angus Crichton | Terrell May | Angus Crichton |
Top ten
1. James Tedesco (Sydney Roosters) - 21 votes
2. Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Sea Eagles) - 20 votes
2. Braydon Trindall (Cronulla Sharks) - 20 votes
4. Nathan Cleary (Penrith Panthers) - 19 votes
5. Harry Grant (Melbourne Storm) - 18 votes
5. Kalyn Ponga (Newcastle Knights) - 18 votes
7. Dylan Edwards (Penrith Panthers) - 16 votes
7. Jahrome Hughes (Melbourne Storm) - 16 votes
9. Viliame Kikau (Canterbury Bulldogs) - 15 votes
9. Kyle Feldt (North Queensland Cowboys) - 15 votes
Leaderboard correct as at September 18.
Head toย Zero Tackle'sย NRL finals hubย for the full leaderboard.
