Sandon Smith secured a perfect 20 votes as the Newcastle Knights overcame the Penrith Panthers on Sunday afternoon, but it's teammate Kalyn Ponga who is in the driver's seat to take out Zero Tackle's NRL Finals MVP.

Ponga holds the lead after two excellent performances in the opening two weeks of the finals were backed up by another seven votes against the Roosters.

Mark Nawaqanitawase, who is also headed to the grand final, picked up another 19 votes on Friday night against the Dolphins to now sit just one vote off the lead held by Ponga.

Sandon Smith, on the back of his perfect 20, sits in third spot, while a number of eliminated players in Dylan Edwards, Herbie Farnworth and Siosifa Talakai are next.

Daly Cherry-Evans is in seventh spot but didn't register a vote over the weekend, while Jermaine McEwen, Bradman Best, and Sam Walker, who was voted best on ground by one judge on Friday, are the next eligible players, with Leka Halasima also in the top ten but out.

Any players with more than six votes are still in the mix to win the finals MVP as the grand final will be scored with double points, meaning Dane Gagai, Robert Toia, Fletcher Sharpe, Reece Robson, Dominic Young and Victor Radley could all still technically win it.

For each game in the finals, our panel consisting of Zero Tackle founder Matt Clements, writers Leo Twemlow and Dan Nichols, and myself as editor, will vote on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis to crown the eventual champion with double points in the grand final.

Here are the votes from Week 3 of the finals.

 2026-09-25T09:50:00Z 
Roosters WON BY 16 POINTS
Suncorp Stadium
DOL   
20
FT
36
   SYD
   Crowd: 52,286
MATCH CENTRE ▶︎   
Matt Clements Scott Pryde Dan Nichols Leo Twemlow
5 Mark Nawaqanitawase Mark Nawaqanitawase Sam Walker Mark Nawaqanitawase
4 Sam Walker Victor Radley Mark Nawaqanitawase Sam Walker
3 Reece Robson Sam Walker Victor Radley Robert Toia
2 Victor Radley Reece Robson Reece Robson Victor Radley
1 Robert Toia Robert Toia Robert Toia Lindsay Collins
 2026-09-27T06:00:00Z 
Knights WON BY 8 POINTS
Accor Stadium
PEN   
14
FT
22
   NEW
   Crowd: 57,102
MATCH CENTRE ▶︎   
Matt Clements Scott Pryde Dan Nichols Leo Twemlow
5 Sandon Smith Sandon Smith Sandon Smith Sandon Smith
4 Bradman Best Bradman Best Bradman Best Bradman Best
3 Jermaine McEwen Dane Gagai Kalyn Ponga Dane Gagai
2 Dane Gagai Kalyn Ponga Dane Gagai Kalyn Ponga
1 Isaah Yeo Liam Martin Isaah Yeo Francis Manuleleua

Top Ten

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