Viliame Kikau will emerge as the big winner from Zero Tackle's NRL MVP for Round 9, surging into outright second spot.
An 18-vote performance from Kikau in the Bulldogs' win over the Wests Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Homebush saw the second-rower jump Zac Lomax, who failed to register a vote and now sits in third place.
Kikau however is still 20 points off the overall lead, with the pace still being set by star Manly Sea Eagles' fullback Tom Trbojevic.
He managed only five votes during the Sea Eagles' dramatic fadeout against the Canberra Raiders on Friday evening.
The other big improvers in the top ten were Scott Drinkwater (13 votes), and Dylan Edwards (18 votes), with the duo now sitting fifth and equal sixth respectively.
Five players managed to be voted unanimously as the best player on the park during Round 9, with Elliott Whitehead, Angus Crichton, AJ Brimson, Kodi Nikorima and Jackson Hastings all scoring a perfect 20 out of 20.
Brimson is the highest on the overall leaderboard of those players, now sitting in 26th place overall.
To remind you how this works, each week, our panel - made up of Matt Clements (Zero Tackle founder), Dan Nichols and Ethan Lee Chalk (Zero Tackle writers) and myself as editor will cast votes on each game in a 5-4-3-2-1 scoring system.
The best player on-field receives five votes, the next four, and so on. That means a player could realistically gain 20 votes in a single game, although no one was on that level in the first half of Round 1.
Here are all the votes from Round 9.
RELATED: Votes and leaderboard after Round 8
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Isaah Yeo | Dylan Edwards | Dylan Edwards | Isaah Yeo |
| 4 | Dylan Edwards | Isaah Yeo | Isaah Yeo | Dylan Edwards |
| 3 | Brad Schneider | Brad Schneider | Luke Garner | Brad Schneider |
| 2 | Luke Garner | Luke Garner | Brad Schneider | Sunia Turuva |
| 1 | Taylan May | Sunia Turuva | Sunia Turuva | Luke Garner |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Elliott Whitehead | Elliott Whitehead | Elliott Whitehead | Elliott Whitehead |
| 4 | Kaeo Weekes | Kaeo Weekes | Reuben Garrick | Kaeo Weekes |
| 3 | Sebastian Kris | Reuben Garrick | Sebastian Kris | Reuben Garrick |
| 2 | Tom Trbojevic | Sebastian Kris | Tom Trbojevic | Joseph Tapine |
| 1 | Joseph Tapine | Tom Trbojevic | Joseph Tapine | Daly Cherry-Evans |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Angus Crichton | Angus Crichton | Angus Crichton | Angus Crichton |
| 4 | James Tedesco | James Tedesco | James Tedesco | James Tedesco |
| 3 | Connor Watson | Terrell May | Connor Watson | Connor Watson |
| 2 | Terrell May | Connor Watson | Terrell May | Terrell May |
| 1 | Joseph Suaalii | Joseph Suaalii | Joseph Suaalii | Joseph Suaalii |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Viliame Kikau | Matt Burton | Matt Burton | Viliame Kikau |
| 4 | Matt Burton | Viliame Kikau | Viliame Kikau | Matt Burton |
| 3 | Jahream Bula | Jacob Kiraz | Jacob Kiraz | Jacob Kiraz |
| 2 | Jacob Kiraz | Jahream Bula | Jahream Bula | Bailey Hayward |
| 1 | Josh Curran | Josh Curran | Lachlan Galvin | Jahream Bula |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | AJ Brimson | AJ Brimson | AJ Brimson | AJ Brimson |
| 4 | Ryan Papenhuyzen | Ryan Papenhuyzen | Ryan Papenhuyzen | Ryan Papenhuyzen |
| 3 | Phillip Sami | David Fifita | David Fifita | Phillip Sami |
| 2 | Shawn Blore | Phillip Sami | Shawn Blore | Josh King |
| 1 | David Fifita | Josh King | Phillip Sami | David Fifita |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Kodi Nikorima | Kodi Nikorima | Kodi Nikorima | Kodi Nikorima |
| 4 | Scott Drinkwater | Jake Averillo | Tom Dearden | Scott Drinkwater |
| 3 | Jake Averillo | Scott Drinkwater | Jake Averillo | Max Plath |
| 2 | Tom Dearden | Jamayne Isaako | Scott Drinkwater | Jamayne Isaako |
| 1 | Jamayne Isaako | Jeremy Marshall-King | Jamayne Isaako | Tom Dearden |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Jackson Hastings | Jackson Hastings | Jackson Hastings | Jackson Hastings |
| 4 | Dane Gagai | Dane Gagai | Tohu Harris | Dane Gagai |
| 3 | Addin Fonua-Blake | Addin Fonua-Blake | Dane Gagai | Addin Fonua-Blake |
| 2 | Dylan Walker | Daniel Saifiti | Daniel Saifiti | Tohu Harris |
| 1 | Daniel Saifiti | Tohu Harris | Addin Fonua-Blake | Jayden Brailey |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Thomas Hazelton | Teig Wilton | Thomas Hazelton | Cameron McInnes |
| 4 | Mikaele Ravalawa | Thomas Hazelton | Teig Wilton | Nicho Hynes |
| 3 | Nicho Hynes | Mikaele Ravalawa | Mikaele Ravalawa | Thomas Hazelton |
| 2 | Cameron McInnes | Cameron McInnes | Daniel Atkinson | Ben Hunt |
| 1 | Tom Eisenhuth | Jaydn Su'A | Jaydn Su'A | Tom Eisenhuth |
Top Ten
| PLAYER | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Trbojevic |
5 | 104 |
| 2 | Viliame Kikau |
18 | 84 |
| 3 | Zac Lomax |
0 | 81 |
| 4 | Patrick Carrigan |
0 | 80 |
| 5 | Scott Drinkwater |
13 | 79 |
| 6 | Jahrome Hughes |
0 | 77 |
| 6 | Dylan Edwards |
18 | 77 |
| 8 | Daly Cherry-Evans |
1 | 75 |
| 9 | James Tedesco |
16 | 71 |
| 10 | Addin Fonua-Blake |
10 | 66 |
| 10 | Ryan Papenhuyzen |
16 | 66 |
Click here to view the full leaderboard.
Correct as at May 7.
