Queensland's captain bounced back in emphatic fashion and an unheralded winger joined the 100 club while a host of late omissions caused havoc for Fantasy coaches in a tricky round 14.
Winners
Maroons and Sea Eagles captain Daly Cherry-Evans was a man on a mission after Queensland's humbling Origin loss on Wednesday night, posting 122 – the highest-ever individual score not to include a try.
DCE's three try assists and 13 busts underpinned the monster effort, with anyone captaining the Manly No.7 in the absence of Cleary enjoying a whopping 244 in a tough week.
Matt Ikuvalu registered an even 100 on Saturday with two tries and nine busts in a thrilling high-scoring win over the Titans in a game where Jamal Fogarty (92) bounced back from a couple of scores in the 30s to notch the fourth-best score of the weekend.
Every try from Round 14
Early-season cheapie Jake Averillo is turning into a serious keeper, particularly in the vexed CTR position, with a stunning two-try 96 in the Dogs' upset win over the Dragons on Monday in a game where Adam Elliott (75) returned to his heavy early-round scoring.
Reuben Garrick (86) may not be Tom Trbojevic but he did a fine job standing in for the rested Blues star with over 300 metres at fullback for Manly while Alex Johnston (78) nabbed yet another hat-trick.
Isaiah Papali'i (77) bounced back from a run of middling scores but it could have been better – he was on 84 when he was sin-binned inside the final 10 minutes.
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In a weekend for halfbacks, Matt Burton (77), Jahrome Hughes (76), Mitch Moses (74) and Shaun Johnson (71) scored well while Brandon Smith (72), Tohu Harris (71) and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (70) round out the 70-or-more scores.
Many of us lost patience with Bailey Simonsson a while ago but anyone still holding on to the Raiders winger enjoyed his switch to fullback and the 66 points that came with it.
Tyson Gamble owners got a double dose of good news when he was a late call-up for an injured Albert Kelly then went on to score 61.
A couple of other potential cash cows in Greg Marzhew (46) and Brodie Jones (43) also earned some price rises while Eels hooker Joey Lussick (61 with a try) could make some fast cash depending on how long Reed Mahoney ends up being out for.
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Losers
There were a host of withdrawals, many of them Fantasy-relevant, that hurt coaches in round 14. It wasn't unexpected but Tom Trbojevic and James Tedesco were pulled from their respective sides with Cam Murray and Damien Cook also withdrawn from the Souths side and Nathan Cleary joining every other Panthers Origin rep bar Liam Martin in being rested in round 14.
Get Caught Up: Round 14 must-see moments
Moses Mbye failed to pull up from a knee injury last week and Albert Kelly strained a hamstring at training.
From those that made it on to the field, Daine Laurie (21) had a rough night against the Eels and owners of his Tigers teammate Adam Doueihi (-4) had an even tougher time of it.
Ben Marschke (2) had made $120k but is an urgent sell after losing the starting gig and getting binned against the Titans. Likewise Tom Starling (12), whose brief time as preferred starting hooker over Josh Hodgson looks well and truly over.
Connor Watson (24) failed to bust a single tackle for the first time this year, Jason Saab (9) continues to score poorly without tries and Morgan Harper (11) had been an excellent point-of-difference option until this week.
NRL Round Up - Round 14
The couple of thousand coaches who snapped up Karmichael Hunt (14) this week may have gone off a little early, Joseph Suaalii (18) played quite well without it translating to anything on the stats sheet and his fellow Roosters young gun Sam Walker (27) scored a try but missed seven tackles and spent time off with a shoulder injury.
Ben Hunt's (31) recent run of hot form came crashing down in the Dragons' dire loss to the Dogs and Ryan Matterson (31) is not scoring like a keeper despite a couple of big scores this year.
Round 14 Team of the Week
- Reuben Garrick (86)
- Matt Ikuvalu (100)
- Jake Averillo (96)
- Matt Burton (77)
- Alex Johnston (78)
- Jamal Fogarty (92)
- Daly Cherry-Evans (122)
- Josh Papalii (70)
- Api Koroisau (70)
- Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (70)
- Adam Elliott (75)
- Tohu Harris (71)
- Isaiah Papali'i (77)
- Jahrome Hughes (76)
- Mitch Moses (74)
- Shaun Johnson (71)
- Clint Gutherson (69)