Melbourne Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes has capitalised on the Sydney Roosters having a bye over the weekend, with a 14-vote performance being enough to hand him back the lead of Zero Tackle's MVP race for 2024.
The star halfback has been a constant vote winner for the Storm over the course of the season, and after dropping the lead last weekend, he now takes a ten-vote lead into the final four weeks of the season over Sydney Roosters' fullback James Tedesco.
Scott Drinkwater, who failed to register a vote for the North Queensland Cowboys over the weekend in their loss to the Brisbane Broncos, also remains in the hunt for the top spot, now 17 votes off the pace.
Tom Trbojevic mamnaged 18 votes over the weekend to move back into fourth, but is 41 votes behind Drinkwater, and 58 behind Hughes. He would need a perfect finish to the season and for Hughes to not gain more than 22 of a maximum 80 possible to votes to have a chance of taking out the overall win.
Few other players in the top ten scored votes over the weekend, althoughDaly Cherry-Evans and Jacob Kiraz gave themselves a little bit more breathing room inside the top ten in a week where only Ryan Papenhuyzen, Toby Sexton, Herbie Farnworth and Fletcher Sharpe managed to record a perfect 20 votes.
Other players to be named best on ground by at least one judge where Jack Williams, Kayal Iro, Nathan Cleary, Daine Laurie, Trbojevic, Luke Brooks, Kotoni Staggs and Reece Walsh.
To remind you how this works, each week, our panel - made up of Matt Clements (Zero Tackle founder), Dan Nichols, 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.
Here are all the votes from Round 23.
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Ryan Papenhuyzen | Ryan Papenhuyzen | Ryan Papenhuyzen | Ryan Papenhuyzen |
| 4 | Trent Loiero | Jahrome Hughes | Trent Loiero | Jahrome Hughes |
| 3 | Jahrome Hughes | Trent Loiero | Jahrome Hughes | Trent Loiero |
| 2 | Nick Meaney | Nick Meaney | Nick Meaney | Will Warbrick |
| 1 | Will Warbrick | Will Warbrick | Will Warbrick | Fletcher Meyers |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Jack Williams | Kayal Iro | Jack Williams | Jack Williams |
| 4 | Kayal Iro | Jack Williams | Toby Rudolf | Kayal Iro |
| 3 | Sam Stonestreet | Sam Stonestreet | Kayal Iro | Blayke Brailey |
| 2 | Jesse Ramien | Briton Nikora | Blayke Brailey | Jesse Ramien |
| 1 | Briton Nikora | Blayke Brailey | Sam Stonestreet | Sam Stonestreet |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Daine Laurie | Nathan Cleary | Daine Laurie | Nathan Cleary |
| 4 | Nathan Cleary | Daine Laurie | Nathan Cleary | Daine Laurie |
| 3 | Clinton Gutherson | Shaun Lane | Clinton Gutherson | Shaun Lane |
| 2 | Shaun Lane | Brian To'o | Shaun Lane | Clinton Gutherson |
| 1 | Brian To'o | Clinton Gutherson | Brian To'o | Brian To'o |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Tom Trbojevic | Tom Trbojevic | Luke Brooks | Luke Brooks |
| 4 | Luke Brooks | Luke Brooks | Tom Trbojevic | Tom Trbojevic |
| 3 | Lehi Hopoate | Daly Cherry-Evans | Kaeo Weekes | Daly Cherry-Evans |
| 2 | Kaeo Weekes | Lehi Hopoate | Lehi Hopoate | Kaeo Weekes |
| 1 | Taniela Paseka | Kaeo Weekes | Daly Cherry-Evans | Lehi Hopoate |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Kotoni Staggs | Reece Walsh | Kotoni Staggs | Kotoni Staggs |
| 4 | Reece Walsh | Kotoni Staggs | Patrick Carrigan | Reece Walsh |
| 3 | Corey Jensen | Patrick Carrigan | Reece Walsh | Patrick Carrigan |
| 2 | Patrick Carrigan | Deine Mariner | Deine Mariner | Deine Mariner |
| 1 | Deine Mariner | Corey Jensen | Corey Jensen | Brendan Piakura |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Toby Sexton | Toby Sexton | Toby Sexton | Toby Sexton |
| 4 | Bronson Xerri | Viliame Kikau | Bronson Xerri | Viliame Kikau |
| 3 | Jacob Kiraz | Bronson Xerri | Viliame Kikau | Bronson Xerri |
| 2 | Zac Lomax | Kurt Mann | Zac Lomax | Tyrell Sloan |
| 1 | Kurt Mann | Zac Lomax | Tyrell Sloan | Kurt Mann |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Herbie Farnworth | Herbie Farnworth | Herbie Farnworth | Herbie Farnworth |
| 4 | Kodi Nikorima | Max Plath | Max Plath | Te Maire Martin |
| 3 | Te Maire Martin | Te Maire Martin | Te Maire Martin | Kodi Nikorima |
| 2 | Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad | Kodi Nikorima | Kodi Nikorima | Max Plath |
| 1 | Max Plath | Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad | Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad | Addin Fonua-Blake |
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Ethan Lee Chalk | |
| 5 | Fletcher Sharpe | Fletcher Sharpe | Fletcher Sharpe | Fletcher Sharpe |
| 4 | Kalyn Ponga | Kalyn Ponga | Kalyn Ponga | Kalyn Ponga |
| 3 | Greg Marzhew | Lachlan Galvin | Lachlan Galvin | Greg Marzhew |
| 2 | Tyson Frizell | Greg Marzhew | Tyson Frizell | Lachlan Galvin |
| 1 | Lachlan Galvin | Tyson Frizell | Greg Marzhew | Tyson Frizell |
| PLAYER | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jahrome Hughes | 14 | 218 |
| 2 | James Tedesco | 0 | 208 |
| 3 | Scott Drinkwater | 0 | 201 |
| 4 | Tom Trbojevic | 18 | 160 |
| 5 | Sam Walker | 0 | 148 |
| 6 | Dylan Edwards | 0 | 141 |
| 7 | Daly Cherry-Evans | 7 | 126 |
| 8 | Jacob Kiraz | 3 | 122 |
| 9 | Ben Hunt | 0 | 119 |
| 10 | Addin Fonua-Blake | 1 | 118 |
| 10 | Zac Lomax | 5 | 118 |
| 10 | Reece Walsh | 16 | 118 |
Click here to view the full leaderboard.
Leaderboard correct as at August 12.