Expert
There has been a lot of negative talk about all things NRL recently. Rotten referees, garbage coaches, terrible administrators, dreadful rep sides, players with a lack of dedication, unfair free-to-air scheduling, and falling crowds.
Lots of that stuff is true, too.
However, this week I’ve decided to take a break from joining in with the bad mouthing of the game we love to look at what I like about it. And there is a lot to like at each club.
Jason Taumololo
Even when this half-human-half-bull-running-on-its-hind-legs is smashing his way through my side it is still breathtaking to watch. He isn’t just raw power, he’s got speed and a step too. When I interviewed Michael Morgan a few weeks ago, I asked him if he wished Taumololo was a Queenslander. His reply? “I’m just glad he’s not from NSW.”
Michael Morgan
With Johnathan Thurston gone for the season, lots of us thought the Cowboys’ chances were gone too. Morgan has stepped up to run the side brilliantly. While no-one can fully replace the great JT, Morgan is proving to be a great chief playmaker in his own right and, as a result, the Cowboys are still contenders in 2017.
Honourable mentions
Andrew McCullogh
I love me a good hooker and McCullogh is a very good hooker. Averaging 52 tackles a game, McCullogh is the heart and soul of the Broncos defence. One of the contenders to the Maroon No.9 jersey if Cam Smith ever retires.
Anthony Milford
He has only just turned 23. He’s already bloody good and we haven’t seen the best of him yet. Fast and tough, a few more years with Allan Langer instructing him and who knows how good he will become?
Honourable mentions
Ryan James, Nathan Peats, Jarrod Wallace
What a superb front row. You can build a premiership behind that. Ryan James should be firmly in Laurie Daley’s sights for next year’s Origin series.
Ash Taylor
Excess to requirements up the road at the Broncos, the 22-year-old Toowoomba product is already starting to assert himself as an effective general. His running, kicking and organisational games have really stepped up again in 2017. A few more years and he’ll be a representative player.
Honourable mentions
The Trbojevic brothers
Tom and Jake are simply superb. Jake was great for NSW this year in his debut series and Tom was unlucky not to feature. I thought Manly would be bottom four in 2017, not with these two stars in their ranks! More like top four. Apparently there’s a third one as well.
Daly Cherry-Evans
A superb player who has seemingly been spurned by Queensland. As a halfback he can do it all. Further, his defence is top notch. A lovely young man as well, regardless of what the haters say.
Honourable mentions
Clint Gutherson
The tragedy of this season is ‘King Gutho’ doing his ACL. Talked about as a possible Dally M winner, he was a try-scoring machine who had the Eels in danger of being actual contenders. Get well soon Gutho.
Brad Arthur
In 2016, when all around him was chaos, coach Arthur managed to keep the club together – and winning matches – when he had every excuse to deliver poor results. This season he sees virtually the same squad in strong contention to play finals. He is a great coach.
Honourable mentions
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Nathan Cleary
Gus Gould said that he didn’t want Nathan Cleary playing for NSW yet. That makes one of him. I loved his dad as a player and now as a coach. Nathan seems to have the footballing brain of his dad but far better skills. This kid – and I’m wary of comparisons – could be the next great halfback.
Josh Mansour
A great player and a great bloke, ‘Mansauce’ makes the Panthers better. It’s no coincidence that their 2016 form has reappeared with his return from a knee reconstruction. Plays the game the way it should be played.
Honourable mentions
Ivan Cleary
Who in their right mind would want to coach the Wests Tigers? The fans should be eternally grateful that Ivan Cleary came. Like Aragorn at Helms Deep, Cleary will mount a great defence with the tools he has at his disposal – and he’ll improve everything while he’s at it. I still don’t understand why he was let go from the Panthers. My favourite coach outside of my own.
David Nofoaluma
Loyal to the Wests Tigers when lots of others were deserting, the flying winger is a great finisher and will be at the club for a number of years to come.
Honourable mentions
Josh Jackson
The boy from Gulgong is a remarkable player. In the tradition of Bulldog second rowers, Jackson is hard as nails, highly mobile and not yet at his peak. The Bulldogs have issues at the moment but Jackson ain’t one of them.
David Klemmer
When he was sin-binned by Gerry Sutton on Good Friday in 2015 I thought that Klemmer, while a powerful forward, was a hot-headed fool. The head has cooled but the power certainly hasn’t. What chance NSW had in Origin 3 rested with Klemmer and his superb forward play. He bends the line every time he runs the ball. A superb player.
Honourable mentions
James Maloney
I know I bag him out a lot about his masses of penalties conceded (24 and counting) but he’s an irrepressible character and I can’t help but like him. No doubt the scourge of his teachers, his deft playmaking skills get better every year. Watching him run after his daughter on the Canberra Stadium turf after defeating the Raiders in the finals game last year made me like him even more.
Andrew Fifita
A walking conundrum, but when he is on he is as good as any prop I’ve ever seen. That includes Lazarus, Webcke and Roach. If he can get his head right I’m not sure he can be stopped. He certainly isn’t boring.
Honourable mentions
Boyd Cordner
I liked him before Origin 2017. I love him after it. He’s a guy you want in your corner as he doesn’t give up. He’s also superbly skilled and strong to boot. Don’t be surprised if he lifts the trophy this season. And he’s only 25. It seems like he’s been around much longer.
Mitch Aubusson
Meat and potatoes personified. Could fit in well at the Storm as you can always count on him to do his job. Whether it is in the back row or the backs, Aubusson will not let you down.
Honourable mentions
Angus Crichton
In a season the Bunnies would prefer to forget, Crichton has been a shining ray of light. I wish like hell I’d had him in my Supercoach side as his seven tries and average of 31 tackles, 115 metres and four line breaks are awesome.
Sam Burgess
I’m not sure the big lad from Dewsbury, Yorkshire is mentally balanced, but maybe it’s because he is a little crazy that I like him so. I love the way he plays, wearing his heart on his sleeve, tough as nails and uncompromising. I look forward to watching him.
Honourable mentions
Gareth Widdop
Just magnificent this year. He is able to do it all, and sometimes does. Great at goalkicking and how good was it seeing his boy give him a hug while being ball boy? Widdop could lead the Dragons back to glory.
Paul Vaughan
I didn’t want him to leave the Raiders. However, his form at the Dragons is better than anything he did in Canberra. Joining a superb forward pack, Vaughan has quickly become its most essential member. Unlucky not to play Origin this year.
Cameron McInnes
Two tries, two line break assists and four try assists is the ribbon that wraps the great package that is the Dragons’ hooker. What’s in the box? 49 tackles a game with just 0.8 misses on average, meaning he misses just 1.6 per cent of the tackles he attempts. That is an unbelievable stat.
Honourable mention
Craig Bellamy
Talking to Alan Tongue the other day, it dawned on us that Bellamy created Cam Smith and Cooper Cronk in his desired image: tough, smart, excellent trainers, totally committed, brilliant game managers. If he could do it twice then he can do it again… All New South Welshmen should be praying he moulds eligible Blues players next time. A master coach of undoubted ability and dedication.
The big three
One can only watch in awe at the majesty of Cronk, Smith and Slater. For over ten years, they’ve strode the NRL like behemoths. Cronk is a brilliant structured player, Smith is perhaps the best game manager ever – and let’s not forget his amazing efforts like 70 tackles in the 2016 grand final. Slater is just a freak. A total freak. We’ll bore our grandkids with tales of Billy the Kid.
Honourable mentions
A Kiwi side that wins nothing
As we have to tolerate the Kiwis constantly lauding their precious All Blacks and their monotonous superiority in the game with lots of scrum resets, isn’t it nice the Warriors do no such thing?
While stacked with masses of talent, they usually manage to turn it into a bottom-eight finish. I’ve been so disappointed with this side’s wasted potential that I really can’t think of anything I like about them.
Ricky Stuart
I know heaps of you loathe this man, but he’s great. For the first time since Tim Sheens left, I feel real confidence in the coaching team that is leading my side. Ricky wears his heart on his sleeve, he bleeds for his team and loves his boys. The dickhead quotient at the club has all but disappeared since he returned. Even with the unfortunate season his side has had, the supporters and team are still united firmly behind their prodigal son.
Haters gonna hate.
Nic Cotric
I’m not sure a teenager and first-season rookie has ever won his club’s best and fairest prize, but Cotric may well do just that. No one seems to have told him he’s a rookie and should be nervous. Every time he’s been tested he’s dealt brilliantly and often returned serve. A superstar in the making.
Honourable mentions
The Matautii
The brothers three: Sione, Peter and Chanel are only young but they are going to be great. I especially love the headgeared Sione. He’d be in any 17 I had.
The Ross Dog
Deciding that you are going to give rugby league a proper go is one thing, pulling it off is another. This bloke loves his footy and it shows. It is great watching him and his boundless enthusiasm for the game.
The Novocastrian Crowd
An average crowd of 15,000 when the results are this bad? That’s remarkable and a testament to the loyalty of the Newcastle people. They won’t desert you when times are tough.
Honourable mentions