Austin, Jackson and Lolo are a bit bewildering.
Austin had some good moments, exceeded expectations, and was a pretty good buy that lifted a fairly sub par team.
Michael Morgan trounced in him in every key area except tackle busts. Maloney also out performed Hagar the Horrible. I suppose both of them are the victims of higher expectations, while the inverse is true of Austin.
Second row is a bit murkier, as I don't recall too many dominant performances this year. Usual mainstays like Cordner, Gillett, Papa, Bird, etc were all pretty quiet. I remember one from Jackson where he scored a double around origin time but other than that he was dependable and not much more. Wade Graham had several performances where he really stood up for the Sharks. Cooper and Pritchard would also get my vote before Josh.
Taumalolo really struggled to live up to his hype this year. Not to say he was bad but the figures that were being tossed around during his contract negotiations were absurdly high. As if he was the best forward in the game. On his day he's an absolute destroyer, but those days aren't often enough for mine. Parker or Gallen have him covered easily, until he can prove a consistent performer week by week.