Sports Editor-at-large Phil Rothfield reveals his top 50 NRL players: 25-1
HOW did it come to this? Not a single NSW Blues player has made our top dozen NRL players this season.
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NOT one NSW Blues star has made the top dozen players in the game this season.
In naming my top 50 players in the NRL for 2016, I have Paul Gallen as the highest-placed Blue — at 14th on the list.
The next best NSW player is Wests Tigers fullback James Tedesco, who hasn’t even played for the Blues. In a worrying sign for NSW coach Laurie Daley, the top dozen players in the game are all Queenslanders and Kiwis — along with Englishman Sam Burgess.
Maroons dominate the head of the list. Cowboys superstar Johnathan Thurston is clearly ahead of the rest at No.1 after his grand final heroics and fourth Dally M award last year.
He is now rated alongside — or even better — than Team of the Century halfback Andrew Johns.
Thurston’s Queensland teammate Cameron Smith comes in second, while fellow Maroons Greg Inglis (third), Cooper Cronk (sixth), Billy Slater (eighth) and Daly Cherry-Evans (11th) also make the top 12.
Little wonder the Maroons will start as red-hot favourites for this year’s State of Origin shield as they chase their 10th series win in 11 years, even allowing for the fact we have two home games at ANZ Stadium.
Despite an injury-plagued season in 2015, when knee issues slowed him down, I can see Inglis having a big year and I rate him the best among a hot crop of fullbacks.
His Rabbitohs teammate Sam Burgess is in at fourth, even though he has been out of the game for more than a year.
The 18-month “holiday” in rugby union will only make Burgess a better player and he will come back keen and hungry to make an impression — starting with the big local derby against the Roosters on Sunday afternoon at Allianz.
Shaun Johnson is returning from a badly broken leg last season but showed enough in the recent Auckland Nines to suggest he is right back to his devastating attacking best. He just shades fellow halfback Cronk, who at 32 is now in the latter stages of his glittering career, for fifth spot.
Ball-running dynamo Jason Taumalolo came of age in the Cowboys’ charge to the premiership last year and that performance will give him the confidence to realise his amazing potential. I’ve put him at No.7.
Several big names have missed out, headed by Broncos playmaker Ben Hunt. On his day, Hunt is a match-winner, but I think last year’s grand final “shocker” will leave deep mental scars on him and he’ll struggle to play consistent football.
Plus there are too many halfbacks ahead of him — Thurston, Cronk, Johnson and Cherry-Evans.
Souths halfback Adam Reynolds has also missed the cut.
He’s a good general but there are just too many class halfbacks ahead of him at this stage.
The hardest part of naming the top 50 was leaving out some outstanding players.
Ryan Hoffman, Greg Bird, James Maloney and Trent Merrin didn’t get a start because there are so many outstanding youngsters coming through of the calibre of Jack Bird, Valentine Holmes and Bryce Cartwright.
25 Gareth Widdop
Age: 26
Games: 118
2015 Best Stat: 20 try assists, 21 forced drop outs.
24 Josh Dugan
Age: 25
Games: 120
2015 Bests Stat: Averaged 166m per game and had 107 tackle busts.
23 Anthony Milford
Age: 21
Games: 69
2015 Best Stat: 23 linebreak assists, 19 linebreaks, 100 tackle busts.
22 Aidan Guerra
Age: 27
Games: 109
2015 Best Stat: Averaged 31 tackles, 10.3 runs per game.
21 Aaron Woods
Age: 24
Games: 105
2015 Best Stat: Averaged 149m, 25 tackles per game.
20 Blake Ferguson
Age: 25
Games: 121
2015 Best Stat: 15 linebreaks, 59 tackle busts.
19 Corey Parker
Age: 33
Games: 323
2015 Best Stat: Averaged 130m, 30 tackles per game.
18 Matt Scott
Age: 30
Games: 208
2015 Best Stat: Averaged 125m, 24 tackles per game.
17 James Graham
Age: 30
Games: 90
2015 Best Stat: Averaged 115m, 29 tackles per game.
16 Matt Moylan
Age: 24
Games: 50
2015 Best Stat: 11 linebreak assists, 10 try assists in his 11 games last year.
15 James Tedesco
Age: 23
Games: 52
2015 Best Stat: Busted 157 tackles last year, the most in the NRL.
14 Paul Gallen
Age: 34
Games: 259
2015 Best Stat: Averaged 196m per game, made 36 offloads.
13 Jesse Bromwich
Age: 26
Games: 132
2015 Best Stat: Averaged 16 runs for 144m per game.
12 Jarred Waerea Hargreaves
Age: 27
Games: 135
2015 Best Stat: Averaged 108m and 24 tackles per game.
11 Daly Cherry Evans
Age: 27
Games: 127
2015 Best Stat: 20 try assists.
10 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
Age: 22
Games: 84
2015 Best Stat: 5795 total run metres, first player on record to run over 5000m in a season.
9 Kieran Foran
Age: 25
Games: 147
2015 Best Stat: 16 try assists.
8 Billy Slater
Age: 32
Games: 277
2015 Best Stat: 8 linebreak assists, 4 linebreaks in his 7 matches.
7 Jason Taumalolo
Age: 22
Games: 86
2015 Best Stat: 70 tackle busts, averaged 144m per game.
6 Cooper Cronk
Age: 32
Games: 275
2015 Best Stat: 21 try assists, four 40/20 kicks.
5 Shaun Johnson
Age: 25
Games: 101
2015 Best Stat: made 15 linebreaks (most for any halfback).
4 Sam Burgess
Age: 27
Games: 96
2014 Best Stat: Made more runs (514) and more metres (4258) than any player in 2014.
3 Greg Inglis
Age: 29
Games: 221
2015 Best Stat: 16 linebreak assists, 77 tackle busts.
2 Cameron Smith
Age: 32
Games: 309
2015 Best Stat: 11 try assists, 13 forced drop outs.
1 Johnathan Thurston
Age: 32
Games: 268
2015 Best Stat: League high 37 try assists, Dally M medallist, Clive Churchill medallist.
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