NRL teams: Most important player at every club revealed
They say you can’t win a premiership without a top-shelf halfback, but a revolution under the new rules has shifted the NRL’s playmaking power. SEE THE PLAYER YOUR CLUB CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT.
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Rugby league has undergone a roster revolution with hookers and fullbacks becoming the key man for the majority of teams in the NRL.
While halves are still crucial to a side’s success, changes in the way the game is played have made hookers and fullbacks more valuable than ever before.
The impact of Api Koroisau at the Panthers and Harry Grant at the Tigers, Clint Gutherson emerging as Parramatta’s key man and Canberra and Manly’s premiership hopes seemingly hitting the skids without Josh Hodgson and Tom Trbojevic respectively is proof the balance of playmaking power has shifted forever.
Scroll down to see your club’s most indispensable player
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According to Fox League’s Matthew Johns the enhanced speed of the game, and teams willingness to embrace new attacking styles, has helped change the way teams are constructed.
“The weakness of some sides in the last five, ten years is there’s been a cookie-cutter style of football,” Johns said.
“They all tried to play that block to the block formation, and there’s some playmakers it doesn’t suit. Some do it well, others it just doesn’t suit.
“I like the fact at the moment the game is evolving that there are different ways that a lot of sides are playing.”
Johns still believes halves control a teams destiny more than any other position but it’s no longer horses for courses – every team would kill for a top line halfback, but a class fullback is now just as crucial.
Look no further than Parramatta, where the Eels have kept winning without Mitchell Moses in part because Clint Gutherson has risen up, or up at Manly, where the Sea Eagles have hit a slump without Trbojevic despite having Queensland and Australian halfback Daly Cherry-Evans on their roster.
It’s the culmination of an evolution in fullback play which culminated in the rise of Billy Slater and the position’s transformation from a running role to one that required a more well-rounded skill set.
“Fullbacks, back in the day, it was the ability to diffuse a high kick and return the football strongly. Now the fullback has become one of the primary playmakers,” Johns said.
“That’s evolved bit by bit, Gary Belcher doesn’t get enough credit for how creative he was as far as vision is concerned, and linking between the halves and his outside men.
“But of course the big change was Billy Slater. A lot of times people, often unfairly, think that’s what a fullback has to be.
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“But that’s not necessarily the truth — let’s be honest, there’s not a mile of fullbacks out there who can do what Slater did.
“It doesn’t matter what type of fullback you are, you have to be great at what you’re good at.
“You’ve got to play to your strengths, and what the players strengths are then the team adjusts on the back of that.”
What has helped hooker become so valuable is what they unlock for their halves, even if it doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.
Gone are the days when shovelling the ball to the halfback was all a team required from their hooker – now if they don’t commit the markers at least a little, the teams playmakers will be swamped.
That little bit of extra space can help a halfback go from good to great, and the impact of Koroisau at the Panthers and Grant at the Tigers proof of the enormous influence hookers now wield.
“The most important thing for a seven or a six, whoever is playing first receiver, is driving past the depth of the markers,” Johns said.
“If a hooker can jump out, draw a marker and really tick the playmaker past that depth the middles become a lot more vulnerable, they sit on their heels a little bit more.”
One thing remains certain — without at least a couple of class spine players, a team is just about dead in the water.
According to the Fox Sports Lab, just two teams have a non-spine player as their most valuable, and both — Gold Coast and Cronulla — are stuck outside the top eight.
“If you look at the Cowboys at the moment they have this devastating yardage man, arguably the best yardage man of all time in Taumalolo — but they’re struggling,” said Johns.
“That’s because they’re struggling in those creative positions.
“In my opinion, the playmaker who’s got the kicking duties, the organising duties, I think is still the most important bloke.”
INDISPENSABLE STARS
So, who is the player your team can’t live without? Fox Sports Lab NRL expert Aaron “Wally” Wallace reveals the key player at all 16 NRL clubs and why teams are so reliant on them.
PARRAMATTA EELS
Player: Clint Gutherson
Position: Fullback
Wally says: On top of the Dally M scoreboard for a reason. “King Gutho” is on track for career-high numbers in pretty much everything this year. Averaging 175m and more than tackle busts per game, and has 12 try involvements (two tries, seven try assists and three secondary assists) in just nine games. Hasn’t missed a game for the Eels since early in 2018.
Back-up: Will Smith
PENRITH PANTHERS
Player: Apisai Koroisau
Position: Hooker
Wally says: In his second stint with the club, he is revelling in Penrith’s new attack, leading the NRL in dummy-half runs and dummy-half metres (483). He also has three try assists in the past two weeks. Has been strong in defence as well, leading the NRL with 434 tackles.
Back-up: Mitch Kenny
MELBOURNE STORM
Player: Cameron Smith
Position: Hooker
Wally says: It’s hard to imagine how Melbourne would cope with an extended Smith absence, because they have never had to. Since 2003 he has played a minimum of 20 matches every season. In the past five seasons he has missed just six of Melbourne’s 117 games. He won his 300th NRL game last week and doesn’t look like slowing down with seven try assists and six forced dropouts on top of his almost 37 tackles a game this year.
Back-up: Brandon Smith
SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Player: Luke Keary
Position: Five-eighth
Wally says: James Tedesco may be the best player on the planet right now but Luke Keary is numero uno in the Roosters’ quest for the historically improbable third straight title. Directly responsible for more tries than any other player this season (four tries, 11 assists and eight secondary assists) and since 2018 has 60 try assists — the only player with more than 50.
Back-up: Drew Hutchison
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Player: Kalyn Ponga
Position: Fullback
Wally says: An elusive ball runner with a crisp passing game. It’s little wonder the Knights forked out a reported $4.5 million to keep him in the Hunter. Has been strong in his eight matches at fullback this year, notching six linebreaks, five try assists and 48 tackle busts (third most in the NRL).
Back-up: Tex Hoy
SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
Player: Cody Walker
Position: Five-eighth
Wally says: One of the most dangerous ball-running halves in the competition, Walker has 22 linebreaks in the past two years, easily the most of any starting half. He is crucial to the Rabbitohs’ attack, with more tries (19) and assists (28) than any other Rabbitoh in 2019-20. Add his eight secondary assists and his 55 total try involvements is almost 20 more than the Rabbitohs’ next most productive player (Damien Cook 38).
Back-up: Troy Dargan
CANBERRA RAIDERS
Player: Josh Hodgson
Position: Hooker
Wally says: Hodgson’s superb form at the back end of last season helped take the Raiders to within a whisker of a premiership, but now they face the nightmare scenario of the remainder of the season without him. In the past five seasons, he has 54 try assists (Cameron Smith has 60 — the only starting hooker with more, but he has played 21 more games) and the Raiders are an almost four-point better side with him on the field.
Back-up: Siliva Havili
WESTS TIGERS
Player: Harry Grant
Position: Hooker
Wally says: The heir apparent to Cameron Smith at the Storm. In his seven NRL matches he has made the fourth most dummy-half runs (28) and dummy-half run metres (325), as well as engaging the line 51 times. He also leads the Tigers in tackles (308) and has four linebreak assists, equal to Benji Marshall and more than Luke Brooks.
Back-up: Josh Reynolds
CRONULLA SHARKS
Player: Wade Graham
Position: Edge back row
Wally says: In the past two seasons, Cronulla has won just seven of 15 matches without Graham. Despite playing with an injury, he has made the second most one-on-one tackles in the NRL (40), scored two tries, made three try assists and kicked for almost 350m down the left channel of the field, relieving the halves when needed.
Back-up: Scott Sorenson, Billy Magoulias
MANLY SEA EAGLES
Player: Tom Trbojevic
Position: Fullback
Wally says: The numbers for “Tommy Turbo” are there for everyone to see. In 2019-20, Manly have won just five of 18 games when Trbojevic failed to get through at least a half a match. They have an impressive 14 from 17 record when he completes at least 40 minutes. In those matches, Manly are a six-point better attacking side, and a 10-point better defensive side with Trbojevic on the field.
Back-up: Brendan Elliot, Reuben Garrick
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
Player: Cameron McInnes
Position: Hooker/middle forward
Wally says: In his fourth season at the Dragons, their captain is churning out career-high numbers for runs (10 per game), metres (91) and tackle busts (two), all while averaging a competition-high 51 tackles per game. Shifted to the 13 last week to allow Ben Hunt to slot in at starting hooker but didn’t miss a beat — and the Dragons had their biggest win in more than a year.
Back-up: Ben Hunt
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Player: Michael Morgan
Position: Five-eighth
Wally says: Morgan took the Cowboys to the 2017 grand final while in a rich vein of form, but a string of injuries have hampered him since. Had 28 try involvements in his 20 games last season (two tries, 21 assists and five secondary assists)
Back-up: Scott Drinkwater, Jake Clifford
NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Player: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
Position: Fullback
Wally says: In his ninth season in the NRL, RTS is still eating up the metres. He is third for most average metres with nearly 200 a game. Only Jason Taumalolo and James Tedesco are ahead of him. In the past five seasons, he has run for 175m in more half his games. Only Taumalolo has a better record.
Back-up: Peta Hiku
BRISBANE BRONCOS
Player: David Fifita
Position: Edge back row
Wally says: The 20-year-old is one of the hottest commodities on the player market. The Titans are willing to pay $1.25 million a season to secure his talents. He ran for more than 250m and busted nine tackles in the first two rounds of the season before having knee surgery during the shutdown. His latest injury setback will hurt the Broncos’ hopes of a resurgence, but wherever he ends up next year he will be terrorising edge defenders for years to come.
Back-up: Alex Glen, Ethan Bullemor, Corey Oates
GOLD COAST TITANS
Player: Moeaki Fotuaika
Position: Middle forward
Wally says: Topped the Titans’ run metres last season and is on track to top his more fancied teammates Jai Arrow and Jarrod Wallace again this year. Has cracked the 200m barrier twice this season and is averaging 141m, two tackle busts and 33 tackles a game.
Back-up: Jarrod Wallace, Jai Whitbread
CANTERBURY BULLDOGS
Player: Kieran Foran
Position: Five-eighth
Wally Says: A crucial member of the Bulldogs squad but has had a well-documented horror run with injuries. Has played just 32 of the Bulldogs’ 57 games since 2018, yet still leads their try-assist tally over that period with 22.
Back up: Brandon Wakeham, Lachlan Lewis
Originally published as NRL teams: Most important player at every club revealed