We’ve now entered the second half of the 2025 season with Round 6 in the books, which means it’s that time of the week where we bring you the top 5 players from across all the weekend’s games. After another exciting round of action featuring upsets, blowout wins, and the Log o’ Wood finding its fourth home this season, we’ve got an exciting list of players to dive into.
5. Jonah Lowe (1 Point)
Off the top, we have one of the best players from a full-team beatdown of the Wellington Lions this weekend by the Hawke’s Bay Magpies. It was a performance where they dominated all over the park, whether that was aerially, at set-piece time, or in the contact zone. However, combing through the team’s performance, there was one name that stuck out to me the most, and that was winger Jonah Lowe. He was often the spark on attack that ensured his team was able to pile on the points.
In what was his best individual performance of the season, he also racked up the stats with the most metres carried at 70+, while also making tacklers miss as he left 7 defenders in the dust during his 80 minutes. He topped off his performance with his own 5-pointer, which was only his second of the season.
No doubt Lowe enjoyed a good weekend, but as we get to the business end of the season, the Magpies will be looking for him to provide these kinds of performances on a consistent basis.
4. Che Clark (2 Points)
Auckland secured their first win of the 2025 NPC as they travelled south to take on a somewhat depleted Tasman side, who now sit mid-table at 4-2. For Auckland, they turned up and played like they had nothing to lose, giving the ball some air but, more importantly, winning up front and allowing their exciting backline to go to work. From that group, Xavi Taele, Caleb Clarke, and Caleb Tangitau were all dominant across the park, regularly unlocking the Mako defence.
However, the most dominant player on the field was former New Zealand 7s graduate Che Clark. The blindside flanker was a handful all day for the Mako, who struggled to bring him down on first contact, with Clark consistently getting over the advantage line. His game-high 17 carries were paired with 65 metres gained and two defenders beaten on the day.
To be honest, just to tie up this section on the young blindside, he simply looked like a superior athlete to everyone else on the paddock and will be looking to close out his NPC campaign in style.
3. Dallas McLeod (3 Points)
Onto the Ranfurly Shield challenge where the men in red and black once again flexed their muscles on the competition. In a game setting that usually promotes hard-fought battles, they essentially stole the Stags’ lunch money and their shield.
There were so many names you could shout out in this one for the country’s powerhouse, like their captain Tom Christie. However, the name I have making third on the list is Dallas McLeod. The former All Black bolter has quickly become somewhat of a forgotten man in New Zealand rugby circles and has failed to impose himself more often than not since that call-up to the national side. However, in the Shield challenge on Sunday afternoon, he had a complete performance in all facets of the game.
He led the game in metres made, and his gains were sparked by his knack to evade and run over multiple tacklers. His attacking prowess led him to not only find the chalk once in the Shield challenge, but twice, as he accounted for 10 points as an individual against the Stags.
2. Fehi Fineanganofo (4 Points)
We move onto another Sunday afternoon game as Bay of Plenty handed Taranaki an emphatic loss while continuing to jockey for table position. With that being said, it’s the first time we’ve had a Bay of Plenty player make this list not named Veveni Lasaqa. Instead, it’s Hurricanes winger Fehi Fineanganofo, who showed his blazing speed on multiple occasions.
Through the early portions of the season, Fineanganofo had been used in the midfield alongside the likes of Emoni Narawa and Leroy Carter. However, his shift out to the wing showed exactly why Super Rugby sides were lining up to sign him last offseason. In this game, he showed a real winger’s instinct as he scored off two grubber chase-downs and added a classic dive into the corner.
Along with his tries, where he was the finisher of the attack, he got stuck into some strong carrying work, gaining 53 metres for his side. He also led the game in line breaks and defenders beaten, showing just how potent he is with the ball in hand.
The hat-trick performance was good enough in my books to land him second on this list for Round 6, and Bay of Plenty will be looking for plenty more from Fineanganofo as they head into the business end of the season.
1. Christian Lio-Willie (5 Points)
The MVP of the weekend is a man with a point to prove to the All Blacks selectors. After a few successful starts at the base of the scrum for the national side, he found himself left out of the Rugby Championship squad. That man, of course, is Otago No. 8 Christian Lio-Willie, who put on an absolute clinic against Northland on Friday evening.
In the attacking phase, he imposed his will with an absurd volume of carries, racking up a game-high 21 bruising hit-ups into Northland defenders. On those carries, where he no doubt showed off his power running game, he also put on tape just how nimble he can be around the contact area. He managed to shed a few arm tackles thanks to his excellent footwork and balance.
Now, I’ll preface this by saying no, he didn’t score any tries this weekend, but he simply didn’t need to in order to have a massive impact on the game. Looking at the numbers, yes, his attacking efficiency and dominance stood out, but what made this a five-star performance from Lio-Willie was his defensive work rate. He wasn’t spelling himself by hiding on D. With a team-high 13 tackles and a few turnovers generated, he showed his dedication to both sides of the ball.
While I give him enormous praise for the show he put on this past weekend, this is the kind of barnstorming I want to see from Lio-Willie week in and week out. He has all the talent and now the motivation to be the best player in the competition, so why not put it on tape from here on out?
Leaderboard After Round 5 (Top 20)
1 Veveni Lasaqa | Bay of Plenty (8 Points)
2 Josh Jacomb | Taranaki (7 Points)
3 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens | Taranaki (5 Points)
3 Leicester Faingaʻanuku | Tasman (5 Points)
3 Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa | Southland (5 Points)
3 Dylan Pledger | Otago (5 Points)
3 Christian Lio-Willie | Otago (5 Points)
8 Ethan Blackadder | Tasman (4 Points)
8 Macca Springer | Tasman (4 Points)
8 Corey Kellow | Canterbury (4 Points)
8 Fehi Fineanganofo | Bay of Plenty (4 Points)
12 Xavier Tito-Harris | Auckland (3 Points)
12 Zarn Sullivan | Hawke’s Bay (3 Points)
12 Bradley Slater | Taranaki (3 Points)
12 Corey Evans | Northland (3 Points)
12 Dallas McLeod | Canterbury (3 Points)
17 Tom Christie | Canterbury (2 Points)
17 Tom Maiava | Wellington (2 Points)
17 Cooper Flanders | Hawke’s Bay (2 Points)
17 Sean Withy | Southland (2 Points)
17 Che Clark | Auckland (2 Points)