Haumole Olakau’atu and Tolutau Koula have again been rewarded for their terrific form for Manly with selection in the NSW State of Origin team.
Both players have been named on the Blues' bench for Origin III, with the decider to be played at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday 8th July.
While Manly fans don’t need to look at the stats to know how effective their Origin representatives have been this season, the numbers are pretty amazing.
As recently as Saturday night in front of a full house at 4 Pines Park, they continued their good form in Manly's 30-4 victory over Melbourne.
Olakau’atu scored two tries in the opening 10 minutes with Koula crossing just after the half-hour mark.
On average Olakau’atu has been breaking more than six tackles per game, which is the third most in the NRL. To put that in perspective, of the top 20 players on this list, Haumole is the only forward.
Tolu’s form has also been terrific in 2026, as it was last year when he was crowned Roy Bull Best & Fairest.
Like Olakau’atu he has scored six tries from 13 appearances, while setting up another eight.
On the end of most of those try-assists has been Lehi Hopoate who has scored 12 tries from 14 games this season.
