The calendar turning means it's time to check in with Stats Insider's Team of the Month for August 2020. 

How is the Stats Insider Team of the Month Selected?

Based on Stats Insider’s NRL Player Ratings, a player’s game by game ratings (when named to start in each position) are added together for the relevant month. The players with the highest overall rating in each position are then selected in the Team of the Month.

Outside of players named to start on the interchange bench, players are only eligible to score in the position they were named to start the match. That is why you might see someone like Brett Morris, who had a great month of footy in June but played across three different positions, miss out on selection. Halves are also grouped into a single position for selection purposes.

So, who cracks it this month?

Stats Insider's Team of the Month (August, 2020)

1. James Tedesco

• 1 try
• 5 try assists
• 12 tackle breaks
• 1 line break
• 4 line break assists

James Tedesco did all of that while running for 217 metres against the Broncos in Round 16 alone. That performance itself broke his own record for the highest ranking points in a single game and was enough to put Teddy at 4th in fullbacks for the month. Add the two line breaks, 14 tackle breaks, line break assist and 207 running metres per game throughout the other three games and Tedesco still tops the list in what you could call a quiet month for the fullback.

2. Josh Addo-Carr

Is somebody playing for his next contract?

It certainly looks that way with Josh Addo-Carr playing his best club footy for a long time. He's getting after the ball and fighting hard for every metre at the moment. Putting his name out there as a future fullback, Addo-Carr averaged 192.5 running metres per gamein August while also scoring four tries and handing out a try assist. He averaged just 112.9 running metres per game before Round 13.

If Addo-Carr gets his wish and signs on as a fullback for 2021, it will be on the back of his impressive August form.

3. Campbell Graham

Campbell Graham has quietly gone about his work after a shaky start to the season. He's found a home in the centres while injuries keep Dane Gagai and James Roberts out of the side with the 21-year-old going a long way to making the position his own. 

Graham has been one of the big beneficiaries of the improved Rabbitohs attack to have scored five tries in August. However, it's what he offers in yardage that is most promising. He cracked 150 metres in three of his last four games and shouldered a lot of the load in hard sets. It's not getting a lot of attention, but Graham is in some of the most promising form of his 63-game career.

4. Justin Olam

Come on up, Justin Olam.

As so many of the Melbourne Storm backline players fall to injury, Olam has stepped up to the plate. Capping off an excellent month with three tries in Round 16, Olam has proved a picture of consistency and a figure opposing players don't look forward to standing opposite given the Papua New Guineans brutal defence. 

Olam finished August with six tries while running for 127.5 metres and breaking 3.2 tackles per game.

5. Josh Mansour

Josh Mansour is enjoying a brilliant comeback year to average a career-high 181 running metres per game, but he's only recently started to see the fruits of his efforts. With Stephen Crichton and Vilame Kikau inside him poaching all of the tries, Mansour managed just three throughout his first 13 games of the season. However, he's picked up three in the last fortnight while maintaining his high-quality yardage to earn a well-earned place in Stat Insider's Team of the Month.

6. Nathan Cleary

You'd struggle to unseat the best player in a team that has won 11 games in a row if it was purely based on the eye-test, but Nathan Cleary has the numbers to back up his selection here too.

He's touching the ball more than any other player in the NRL (excluding hookers) with 72.4 receipts per game this season. In the only game the Panthers were tested all month (against the Warriors in Round 14), Cleary touched the ball 91 times. He's taking control of the side when he needs to and has recorded a try assist in each of his last five games to have ten for the season.

With 480 kicking metres, 19 goals, ten forced drop outs, four try assists, four line break assists and 86 running metres per game, Cleary is recognised here as one of the best halves in the competition throughout August and will no doubt be here again next month.

Nathan Cleary take a bow 👏#NRLManlyPanthers 6-30. #TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/QqXdzgDe7F

— NRL (@NRL) August 1, 2020

RELATED: Can Nathan Cleary take Penrith to the promised land?

7. Adam Reynolds

Few halfbacks can play out a game plan as well as Adam Reynolds. Lucky for him, Wayne Bennett has put one in place that has seen the South Sydney Rabbitohs go unbeaten through August with five wins on the bounce. 

Reynolds has scored a try in three of his last four games while applying more pressure to the opposition through six forced dropouts in the same period. He knocked over the game-winning field goal to beat the North Queensland Cowboys 31-30 in Round 14, but you expect that from him. Reynolds' true highlight in August is this perfectly executed sideways run and pass to Cody Walker:

8. Siosiua Taukeiaho

With Jared Waerea-Hargreaves out for the Roosters clash against the Dragons in Round 13, Sioiua Taukeiaho needed to pick up the slack. He did just that by playing the full 80 minutes and running for 288 metres. To highlight just how dominant Taukeiaho was throughout August, he's landed in the Team of the Month despite only being asked to play 27 minutes in Round 16.

Averaging a career-high 170 metres per game in 2020 while playing fewer than 60 minutes in just one other match since Round 6, Taukeiaho is in impressive form and only looks to be getting better.

9. Damien Cook

It's no surprise to see Damien Cook thriving behind the improvements of his middle forwards. The form Cook has shown over the last month is what we expected from the dummy half upon the NRL's announcement of the six-again rule. It's taken a little while, but Cook is back to his best.

The improvement in Cook's form hasn't come through a sudden increase in yardage. In fact, he only managed 75 running metres per game in August compared to 95 metres per game throughout the 12 prior rounds. It's the quality of runs behind a quick play-the-ball that have translated into two try assists and two line break assists over the last three weeks. He's rolled two in to earn his side a repeat set over the last fortnight. 

Frustratingly, the promising combination Cook developed with Latrell Mitchell over the last few weeks has been put on ice. Cook will need to take another leap this season if he's to keep the Rabbitohs in touch with the top four teams. 

10. David Klemmer

With the Newcastle Knights producing some unconvincing form throughout August and the focus of fans and media elsewhere in the side, David Klemmer's strong month of footy has flown under the radar.

He added over 20 metres to his yardage game to average 194 metres per game in August. While he only managed 142 metres against the Warriors in Round 16, he made the second-most tackles in his 150-game career with 51. Klemmer puts his hands up for the strong carries, and this season, has added an offload to his game (2.25 offloads per game in August). While there is plenty to be concerned about with the Knights right now, Klemmer's production isn't one of them. 

11. Tohu Harris

In the middle or on the edge, Tohu Harris has been brilliant for the Warriors this season. He's so often forgotten in the discussion around the best back rowers in the game. But here, he's at least recognised as one of the best in August. 

Similar to Nathan Cleary above, not all of Harris' work comes through in the numbers. The 172 running metres and 40 tackles per game impress, but it's the subtle plays with the ball in hand that make Harris dangerous. The threat of him as a ball-player has the defence on their heels and opens up time and space for players around him. He's without a try assist, but Harris is a key part to the Warriors attack in 2020. He's a significant reason behind their four wins over the last five rounds.

12. John Bateman

The English back rower got straight into his work in return from injury to dominate the Cowboys in Round 12 before playing out an excellent month of August. He's given life to the Raiders attack that threatened to plateau in the wake of Josh Hodgson's injury. However, with Bateman breaking tackles every week, handing out a try assist and even earning a forced drop out over the last four rounds, the Raiders right side is once again a regular point of attack for the Green Machine.

While everybody seems to be having a field day against the Broncos right now, Bateman's try, try assist, line break and 143 running metres on just 16 touches of the ball is his best so far in 2020. 

13. Jazz Tevaga

While the numbers don't always tell the full story, few players pile them up better than Jazz Tevaga. He's unfamiliar with the term "take it easy" with his full-throttle style of play making him a favourite of the NRL Fantasy community. While Jason Taumalolo typically has a mortgage on the 13 jersey in Stats Insider's Team of the Month, he's missed two games while Tevaga has posted some positive numbers.

Starting at lock but only playing 50 minutes per game, Tevaga averaged 151 running metres, 31 tackles, 2.3 tackle breaks and two offloads per game. He's playing some of the best football of his career at the moment.

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