NRL Immortals: Who will be the players to dominate the 2020s as rugby league’s best player
At no time since the turn of the century has there been a cleaner slate for someone to stamp himself as the NRL’s next true great, writes PAUL CRAWLEY.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Let’s throw this hypothetical at you.
You’re in charge of setting up a new NRL franchise and league boss Peter V’landys has decided to make every player a free agent to create extra excitement ahead of the new season.
Who do you sign first?
Would it be James Tedesco or Cameron Munster, Nathan Cleary or Harry Grant, Tommy Turbo or Latrell Mitchell?
Or would you gamble on a young gun like Joseph Suaalii or Sam Walker?
For mine, it’s one of the most exciting topics counting down to this year’s NRL kick-off — because at no time since the turn of the century has there been a cleaner slate for someone to stamp himself as the next true great of his generation.
Kayo is your ticket to the best sport streaming Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
With Cameron Smith’s likely retirement coming on the back of the recent exits of Johnathan Thurston, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Greg Inglis, there is no clear cut answer.
You could also ask if there will be even one player in the game right now who ends up making that Immortal conversation.
As it stands Tedesco deserves to be rated the game’s best while Munster showed with his magical Origin performances his time is now.
Then there’s the likes of Cleary and Grant, Cameron Murray, Tom Trbojevic and Latrell Mitchell — all with age on their side.
Throw in Jack Wighton, Kalyn Ponga and Ryan Papenhuyzen, while teenagers Suaalii and Walker have the rugby league world at their feet.
You could keep it going. Victor Radley, Jason Taumalolo, big Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, David Fifita, Payne Haas, Stephen Crichton, Dylan Brown and Kotoni Staggs would all have their supporters.
But who is going to own the 2020s from here and emerge the new king of this decade?
Here’s my top 10 contenders in order to kick off the debate:
1. Cameron Munster: I loved the way Munster came out before last year’s Origin series and challenged himself to “own” it as former champion Queensland five-eighths Wally Lewis and Darren Lockyer had done. He then produced one of the great Origin performances in the decider to lead what was labelled the worst Queensland team ever to a historic victory. At 26, Munster is now entering his eighth NRL season but is still at an age when champion playmakers traditionally go to the next level.
2. Nathan Cleary: This is going to be a massive year for the young Penrith halfback coming off what he accomplished in 2020. Like many, I thought Cleary was the player of the year even though he didn’t win the Dally M Medal. And his performance in Origin II was as dominant as we have seen from a NSW No.7 since Joey. No doubt Cleary didn’t have his best games in the grand final or the Origin decider, but the fact Mal Meninga named him in the Australian merit team ahead of Daly Cherry-Evans was significant leading into a World Cup year. At 23 has positioned himself to own the NSW and Australian No.7 jumpers for the next decade.
3. James Tedesco: The most consistently brilliant player over the past few years and a proven matchwinner in grand finals and Origin. But at 28, Tedesco has had a few concussion concerns now and the challenge is for how long he can continue to dominate to legitimately challenge Billy Slater for the mantle as the game’s greatest ever fullback. Slater, of course, played until he was 35 and never took his foot off the throttle, overcoming his share of injury adversity along the way.
4: Cameron Murray: The new-age prototype for mobile back-rowers. At 90kg the Rabbitohs lock is almost 30kg lighter than North Queensland wrecking ball Jason Taumalolo. But Murray has proven himself to be the real-life Energiser Bunny with an amazing work ethic to match his outstanding athleticism. Now 23, Murray went to school at the prestigious Newington College and maintains a squeaky clean image off the field, making him the perfect role model for any club.
5. Harry Grant: Produced one of the great rookie seasons for a dummy half at Wests Tigers and is now back in the Storm system, you can only imagine how far this 22-year-old will go from here. Grant’s performance off the bench for Queensland in the Origin decider has sure set Damien Cook a challenge of keeping hold of his Kangaroos No.9 jumper this year.
6. Tom Trbojevic: Only injury can stand in Turbo’s way but that is the hurdle he has to overcome after another luckless season. Still only 24, if he can stay on the field for long enough, he has the potential to one day take his place alongside the greats of any era.
7. Latrell Mitchell: One of the game’s most polarising players but what no one can dispute is his enormous talent, while he’s shown real leadership credentials in respect to standing up for what he believes in. It’s just a matter of how much he is prepared to work hard off the field to deliver what he is capable of on it.
8. Kalyn Ponga: At 22 is already a two-time Newcastle player of the year but still cops a lot of criticism for being inconsistent. I wonder what the conversation might be if Ponga was playing for a club that was up near the top of the ladder.
9. Jack Wighton: In his early years at Canberra confidence was the big thing standing in Wighton’s way. But since his move to five-eighth he has now won a Clive Churchill and Dally M Medal in consecutive years, and is still only 27. I would love to see NSW give him a shot at wearing the No.6 jumper this year if his club form continues, instead of persisting playing Wighton at centre.
10. Ryan Papenhuyzen: Last year’s Clive Churchill winner who has the added luxury of working one-on-one with Billy Slater to help mentor his development at fullback. It’s only early days for Papenhuyzen but his attitude appears just as impressive as his blistering speed. And as we learned attitude is what helped separate Slater from the other elite fullbacks throughout his illustrious career.
Face of the future - Joseph Suaalii: You just have to look who has been fighting for Joseph Suaalii’s services to understand why the massive hype about this 17-year-old is legitimate. Suaalii has been at the centre of a bidding war between South Sydney, Rugby Australia and the Sydney Roosters for what seems an eternity — yet he’s not even at the age (18) where he is eligible to play an NRL game. If his body holds up who knows what we will be saying about him in a decade from now.
‘Blowhard’: Cornes backlash turns prickly
Kane Cornes has been roasted by a high profile colleague over comments that have left NRL commentators in disbelief.
Parramatta legend: ‘24 Panthers don’t have a hope against ‘83 Eels
Penrith have claimed their place in the rugby league record books, but Parramatta great Ray Price has rejected suggestions they’ve gone past his Eels, claiming they had “every position and we every tactic covered”. WHO IS BETTER? VOTE NOW.