NRL 2020: Top 10 rugby league stars under 22
Generation now: From a powerhouse prop who could finish his career as the greatest forward in history to a back-rower who will become one of rugby league’s highest-paid players before he turns 21. NICK CAMPTON’s Top 10 NRL players under 22.
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Meet Generation Now — the impatient rising NRL stars jumping the queue for their time to shine.
From a powerhouse prop who could finish his career as the greatest forward in history to a back-rower who will become one of rugby league’s highest-paid players before he turns 21. NICK CAMPTON ranks his Top 10 NRL players under 21.
TOP 10 UNDER-21 PLAYERS RIGHT NOW:
1) Payne Haas
Broncos
Age: 20 years, 294 days
Contract status: Signed until the end of 2024.
Already one of the best forwards in the competition, but that could be just the beginning.
“I think he’ll be the best front-rower we’ve ever seen,” said former Queensland Origin forward Scott Sattler, who has been watching Haas since his schoolboy days at Keebra Park on the Gold Coast.
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“I think he’ll overtake Arthur (Beetson) and Glenn Lazarus, guys like that.”
Haas made his Origin debut for NSW last year after just 10 first-grade games. He finished the year as an automatic selection for Australia.
While Brisbane have struggled in 2020, Haas’s form hasn’t wavered. He runs for an average 168m per game, the second-best mark of any forward behind North Queensland colossus Jason Taumalolo.
“The skills he has matches what Arthur had, and that’ll only improve,” Sattler said.
“The mobility he’s got is like what Arthur had early in his career, and the stamina he’s got equals anything Lazarus ever had.
“If everything goes well off the field for Payne, he stays focused and continues to improve, I think he could be one of the greatest forwards we’ve ever seen in the game.
“He’s the full package. I think he’s the best front-rower in the comp, He has every attribute you want in every player no matter what build they are.”
2) David Fifita
Broncos
Age: 20 years, 208 days
Contract status: Signed with the Titans on a three-year deal from next season until the end of 2023.
His talent has already put him in a Queensland jersey and delivered him a $1.25 million-a-season contract with the Titans, making him one of the NRL’s richest stars before he even turns 21.
What’s scary is he still has so much room to grow and improve. Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga believes his talent is still untapped, despite Fifita already making three Origin appearances. Injury has ruined much of his 2020 season, but he still averages four tackle busts per game, the best mark of any forward.
“He is the best young forward in our game,” Titans coach Justin Holbrook said.
“With the bigger dollars you want them to be game changers, not necessarily what position they play.
“Dave is one of those players. Go back to round one where he made that break against the Cowboys and runs around the fullback.
“I am excited to be coaching him. He is so young and raw. There is a lot of upside to that.”
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3) Nick Cotric
Raiders
Age: 21 years, 308 days
Contract status: Signed with the Bulldogs on a three-year deal from next season until the end of 2023.
It’s easy to forget Cotric has already played four seasons in first grade. The Raiders flyer has played 87 NRL games since his 2017 debut, crossing for 42 tries. After injury and suspension slowed him down, Cotric has experienced a fine season in 2020, scoring 10 tries and breaking 96 tackles, the fourth-most in the competition.
Throw in his appearances for NSW and Australia last year, it’s been enough for Canterbury to bet there’s even greater days to come, signing Cotric to a $650,000-a-season contract.
Better known as a winger, Cotric is expected to shift to centre for Canterbury and will be under pressure to give the struggling Bulldogs some strike power.
Wingers and centres aren’t usually seen as saviours and Bulldogs skipper Josh Jackson believes the club has a better foundation than many may believe.
“I think there’s some really exciting signs. Trent (Barrett) is a great coach and you can see what he’s done with the attack at Penrith, that’s probably something we’ve struggled with over the last couple of years,” Jackson said.
“It’s exciting times ahead for Bulldogs supporters I think.”
4) Bradman Best
Knights
Age: 19 years, 43 days
Contract status: Signed until the end of 2022.
Among a rich crop of up-and-coming centres, Best might well have the brightest future of them all. The rampaging Knight is the best junior to emerge from the Central Coast in years.
Under NRL rules, players must be 18 to play NRL. Best was 18 years and 15 days old, such was Newcastle’s eagerness to roll him out,
And Best has rapidly become one of their most dynamic attackers, averaging 141m per game, equal with Euan Aitken for the best mark among all centres.
According to former Origin star Luke Lewis, who worked with Best as part of the NSW under-18s side, that workrate gives him the edge on his fellow young guns.
“He was built like a man at a young age,” Lewis said. “You give him the ball and he can beat anyone one-on-one, he’s a real all-round football player. I think he can really set the world alight.
“He gets in there and gets a lot of strong dummy-half carries that get Newcastle on the front foot. His carries out of the backfield, that’s why I think he’s a little ahead of everyone else.”
5) Dylan Brown
Eels
Age: 20 years, 92 days
Contract: Signed until the end of 2023
Since his 2019 debut, Brown has played with a poise and maturity that belied his age. He’s already become a crucial cog in Parramatta’s attack — he’s got halves partner Mitchell Moses covered in terms of tries (four to three), linebreaks (nine to three) and tackle busts (54 to 15), while they’re even on try assists (five each).
It’s easy to see Brown following a similar path to Penrith’s Nathan Cleary, another early starter as a half who has since blossomed into one of the competition’s best players.
There’s a reason why the Eels signed him to a three-year $2 million deal, and even warned off a rival team about an alleged illegal attempt to poach the player who can become Parramatta’s best five-eighth since the great Brett Kenny.
“He’s a very good defender for a half and the kid is tough and he competes very hard and he’s just really calm and composed in a number of ways,” Eels coach Brad Arthur said.
“You know he can handle the pressure.”
6) Zac Lomax
Dragons
Age: 20 years, 363 days
Contract status: Signed until the end of 2024
There’s a reason NSW coach Brad Fittler rates Lomax so highly. “Zac is capable of doing anything; he’s the gifted one.”
Fittler brought Lomax through the NSW under-16 and under-18 teams, and this week mentioned him as a contender for the Blues’ Origin side.
Lomax has settled in at right centre for the Dragons this year and the points have flowed like a river — despite St George Illawarra’s struggles. Lomax has scored 10 tries and kicked 50 goals for 140 points. Given the Dragons have scored 322 points in total it’s a mighty effort from Lomax, who has fast become their most dangerous attacking player.
Lomax began the year at fullback, and may still have a future as a custodian, but getting consistent matches at centre has allowed him to showcase exactly why he’s so highly regarded.
“I am just worried about being the best player I can be for the Dragons,” Lomax said.
“I like to see myself just as a footy player. I don’t mind where it is that I am playing. “Wherever it is, I just want to build some consistency. I have had to play some different positions coming into NRL and it has allowed me to understand my game from different aspects and it has helped me.
“To be able to be in the centre positions for most of this year … my game has been able to pick up and I feel comfortable. I am loving right centre but I am happy to play where I am needed.”
7) Moeaki Fotuaika
Titans
Age: 20 years, 310 days
Contract status: Signed until the end of 2022.
Interim Broncos coach Peter Gentle sounded a warning for the Titans last week regarding David Fifita.
“We know what plays Dave likes but … the Titans, when he gets there, can’t rely on Dave to be a one-man team,” Gentle said.
Rest assured, Fifita won’t be on his own on the Gold Coast — his former schoolboy teammate Moeaki Fotuaika has already become one of club’s best and most consistent players and he can form a devastating partnership with Fifita.
Fotuaika won the club’s 2019 player of the year award after churning through 127m per game while carrying a torn meniscus in his knee and a broken bone in his wrist. He has upped that to 135m per game this season.
“He’s a really hard player to hit, he’s got no hit zone because he’s so compact and mobile,” Scott Sattler said of Fotuaika’s 185cm, 107kg frame.
“He reminds me of Petero (Civoniceva), how Petero used to play early in his career. Petero (193cm) was taller than Moe, but it’s a same sort of game.
“A lot of front rowers go into a game knowing they’re going to come off, Moe never expects to come off. That’s what’s so good about him.
“His last run is as good as his first.”
8) Stephen Crichton
Panthers
Age: 19 years, 365 days
Contract status: Signed until the end of 2021 but will ink a three-year extension until the end of 2024.
One of the finds of the season, Crichton was no junior superstar but he has blossomed into an automatic selection for Ivan Cleary’s powerhouse Panthers. The willowy centre could yet snag top tryscorer honours after crossing for 14 triesin 18 games, easily the most of any centre in the competition — South Sydney’s Campbell Graham is next with 11. His mix of athleticism and skill already makes him a nightmare for defenders.
“He’s one of those naturally gifted athletes,” former Panther Lewis said. “He moves really well on the field, he’s got great balance, footwork, strength and skill out wide. I love everything about him.
“The more he works on his craft, the better he’s going to be. I see potential everywhere.”
9) Kotoni Staggs
Broncos
Age: 21 years, 327 days
Contract status: Signed until the end of 2021. Can begin negotiating with rival clubs from November 1.
Amid a horrendous season for Brisbane, Staggs has dazzled in attack. Despite playing just 12 games, only Stephen Crichton (14) has more linebreaks than Staggs (11) to go with 10 tries.
“He’s matured pretty quickly into the game, but from his debut with the Broncos you knew he was something special,” Broncos legend Steve Renouf said.
“Right from the start he’s found the tryline — you look at the tries he’s scored from 50 or 60 metres out.
“You give him that ball from 15 metres out and he’s very hard to stop.”
Staggs’ attacking game is phenomenal with his speed and power, but defensively he still has some way to go — Brisbane are a poor defensive side, but Staggs has recorded 15 try causes and conceded 15 linebreaks.
“He’s physical enough, it’s just about positioning,” Renouf said.
“But he doesn’t need too much, he’s already come along really well.”
10) Tino Fa’asuamaleaui
Storm
Age: 20 years, 235 days
Contract status: Signed with the Titans from next season on a $2.1 million deal until the end of 2023
Still a little out of sight and out of mind, Fa’asuamaleaui shapes as another excellent buy for the Titans next season. Mobile and powerful, the young Queenslander has thrived with the extra responsibility he’s been afforded in 2020, going from 45m per game last year to 125m this season. The Storm will be smarting they have lost him. Fa’asuamaleaui has churned through 2252m — more than big-name teammates Jesse Bromwich (1656m), Nelson Asofa-Solomona (1775m) and Dale Finucane (1388m) — in 2020.
Queensland Origin coach Kevin Walters is a fan.
“He is in a brilliant system in the Storm where they teach the little habits and they expose their players to methods that help us at Origin time,” Walter said.
“Tino is certainly on the radar. He is a massive fella but he is also athletic for a big forward, which suits the game the way it is being played today.”
Originally published as NRL 2020: Top 10 rugby league stars under 22