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25 in 25: Best recruit of NRL era - Thurston, Inglis, Tedesco, Fitzgibbon, Cook, JWH, Fifita, Kimmorley?

14th November, 2022
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14th November, 2022
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The 25th season of the NRL is done and dusted so to commemorate the first quarter-century of this instalment of the premiership, The Roar is looking back at the 25 best players and moments in 25 categories.

We have already gone through the best fullbacks, locks, players to never make Origin, coachescaptainshalfbacks, front-rowers, goal-kickers and Grand Final moments of the era.

This one is a little bit different – the best recruits of the NRL era.

If you want to be pedantic, every player is recruited to an NRL club at some stage whether it’s from the local junior ranks or elsewhere.

This is about the players who have made their NRL debut at one club and for whatever reason, been tempted to switch teams to further their career. 

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Each player has been judged on their collective efforts from 1998 onwards, not including their efforts prior to that season, or if they’re an active player, up until 2022, without speculating on how their career might play out over next season and beyond.

For this one, they had to have switched clubs in the off-season prior to ‘98 at the earliest to qualify so someone like Gorden Tallis, who was a standout for the Broncos doesn’t qualify as a recruit in this era as he switched from St George a few years earlier.

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And guys who rejoined a team after a stint elsewhere aren’t counted either – like when Benji Marshall came back to the Tigers for a second stint after stops at the Dragons and Broncos.

CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA - JULY 03: Johnathan Thurston of the Cowboys is tackled by Luke Keary and Greg Inglis of the Rabbitohs during the round 17 NRL match between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the North Queensland Cowboys at Barlow Park on July 3, 2016 in Cairns, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Johnathan Thurston tries to evade Greg Inglis in 2016. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

The best of the best – the top 10

1 Johnathan Thurston to the Cowboys in 2005
2 Greg Inglis to the Rabbitohs in 2011
3 Craig Fitzgibbon to the Roosters in 2000
4 Andrew Fifita to the Sharks in 2012
5 James Tedesco to Roosters in 2018
6 Damien Cook to Rabbitohs in 2016
7 Jamie Lyon to Sea Eagles in 2007
8 Luke Lewis to the Sharks in 2013
9 Jared Waerea-Hagreaves to the Roosters in 2010
10 Brett Kimmorley to Storm in 1998

Canterbury had Braith Anasta and Brent Sherwin as their established halves duo and won the competition in 2004 but still, the decision to let Thurston walk to North Queensland is a bitter pill for Bulldogs fans to swallow. JT took the Cowboys to their first Grand Final the following year and went on to establish a surefire case for Immortal status over the next 14 seasons at club, Origin and Test level, highlighted by his Clive Churchill Medal-winning performance in the historic 2015 title decider. 

Inglis was considered the most expendable of Melbourne’s Big Four alongside Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater and after initially agreeing to join Brisbane, he found his way to South Sydney to become the face of the foundation club’s 21st premiership in 2014. In his prime at fullback for the Rabbitohs he was both a top-class performer and a magnetic force who carried his teammates all the way to the top.

The Roosters pulled off a coup when they lured Fitzgibbon from St George Illawarra after the 1999 Grand Final because they had preferred Lance Thompson and Darren Treacy as their starting second-rowers. Fitzgibbon went on to score 1454 points in his 228 matches at the club over a decade, which included winning the Clive Churchill Medal in the 2002 Grand Final success, while also representing NSW in 11 Origins and Australia in 18 Tests.

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(Nick Laham/Allsport)

Fifita had shown plenty of potential but not the right attitude in two seasons at the Wests Tigers before joining several former teammates at Cronulla where he would eventually establish himself as the most damaging prop in the NRL, scoring the match-winning try in the Sharks’ breakthrough premiership of 2016.

Tedesco was reaching the prime years of his career when he left the Tigers to join the Roosters at the end of 2017 and not only became the game’s best fullback but won two premierships and is now the NSW and Australian captain.

It’s hard to believe Cook bounced around his junior club St George Illawarra and Canterbury for a combined nine games across three seasons before Souths signed him. He withstood the arrival of Robbie Farah to become not only the Rabbitohs’ first-choice rake but a star for NSW and Australia. 

Lyon established himself as one of league’s best young centres in four years at Parramatta before controversially walking out on them for a couple of gap years in the Super League. When Manly signed him in 2007 he gave them an additional attacking weapon out wide to work in tandem with Brett Stewart and was integral to their two premierships in a four-year span during his 224-game decade-long stint as a Sea Eagle.

Penrith paid the price for salary cap mismanagement by having to jettison some big contracts and when Lewis was on the market, the Sharks snapped him up. The second-rower added professionalism and a relentless work ethic to the club and he was rewarded with the Clive Churchill Medal for his 2016 Grand Final performance in controversial circumstances ahead of fellow recruitment success story, Andrew Fifita.

Luke Lewis

Luke Lewis. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

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JWH cut his teeth at NRL level with six games at Manly before joining the Roosters where he has gone on to win three premierships among his 274 matches for the club over 13 seasons. The spearhead of the pack, his aggression has been a key element in the club’s success under Trent Robinson.

Kimmorley was seen as the centrepiece for the Storm to build their new franchise around long term in 1998 and although he only stayed for three seasons, he delivered a remarkable premiership in their second year, winning the Clive Churchill Medal in the process. 

Best of the rest – elite performers

11 Ben Kennedy to the Knights in 2000
12 Cooper Cronk to the Roosters in 2018
13 Scott Prince to the Tigers in 2004
14 Josh Addo-Carr to the Storm in 2017
15 Luke Keary to the Roosters in 2016
16 Glenn Lazarus to the Storm in 1998
17 Sonny Bill Williams to Roosters in 2008
18 James Maloney for Warriors, Roosters, Sharks and Panthers
19 Darius Boyd to the Dragons in 2009
20 Wade Graham to the Sharks in 2011

Newcastle had the skill of Andrew Johns, the all-round class of Danny Buderus but the arrival of Kennedy gave them the imposing presence in the pack which helped get them over the hump in the 2001 Grand Final when he tore through Parramatta in one of the greatest upsets of all time.

Cronk only spent two seasons in the twilight of his career at the Roosters but covered himself in glory by guiding the side to back-to-back premierships (after lifting the trophy in his last game for the Storm), including the awe-inspiring 2018 grand final effort when he fought through the pain of a severe shoulder injury.

After three-year stints at North Queensland and Brisbane, Prince came of age when he took over as the Wests Tigers’ chief playmaker, leading to the astounding 2005 run all the way to the Grand Final. While other players get more recognition for highlight plays, Prince was not only the captain but the heartbeat of the team and thoroughly deserved the Clive Churchill Medal. 

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Josh Addo-Carr of the Storm

(Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Addo-Carr’s switch to the Storm in 2017 barely raised an eyebrow at the time but oh how Wests Tigers fans and everyone at the club would like a mulligan on that one. With trademark speed, the Foxx established himself straight away with 23 tries in his first season at Melbourne when they won the title and was again running amok down the left flank three years later when they celebrated on Grand Final night.

Despite giving Souths solid service over four seasons, including a premiership win, he joined their bitter rivals in controversial circumstances on the back of a pre-season incident in which the diminutive five-eighth stood up to Russell Crowe after what he perceived as a disrespectful comment from the club owner. The Roosters have cashed in on Keary, particularly in the 2018 Grand Final when he assumed control of the team while Cronk nursed his busted wing in one of the finest performances in a premiership decider in the modern era. 

Lazarus was another short and sweet stay at the Storm but his impact in uniting the various recruits from all over the place to not only make the finals in their foundation year but win the competition in their second season is the stuff of legend.

As with most aspects of SBW’s career, it’s complicated. His return to the NRL in 2013 after his dramatic, mid-season exit from Canterbury five years earlier again garnered plenty of headlines. But the Kiwi dual international brought immediate success to the Roosters as they went all the way in Trent Robinson’s first year as coach. A year later, Williams returned to the All Blacks to continue his unique career before a five-game Roosters swansong at the end of 2020.

James Maloney of the Panthers

James Maloney. (AAP Image/Michael Chambers)

Maloney the enigma helped revitalise the Warriors, taking them to the 2011 Grand Final as part of a three-year sting, he was vital in the Roosters claiming the 2013 title, likewise with the Sharks three years later and added valuable experience to Penrith in his final two seasons there before finishing his career in the Super League. Much better than a journeyman but never an out-and-out star, he’s his own category.

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Forget about the following Uncle Wayne jokes, Boyd’s three-year stint at St George Illawarra was critical to their breakthrough premiership in 2010. Best on ground in the Grand Final, his ability to sweep into the midst of an attacking raid on either side of the field was the spark that stoked their red-hot backline. 

As they did with Luke Lewis, the Sharks latched onto Graham when the Panthers needed to offload some big-money contracts and the ball-playing forward has been worth every penny to Cronulla over 235 games and counting in a dozen seasons. 

The final five

21 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to the Warriors in 2016
22 Brent Kite to the Sea Eagles in 2005
23 Preston Campbell to the Sharks in 1999
24 Luke Priddis to the Panthers in 2002
25 Nigel Vagana to Bulldogs in 1999

The Warriors outlaid plenty of money for Tuivasa-Sheck to get him from the Roosters and while the club didn’t enjoy any finals success during his six seasons, he won the Dally M Medal and held them together during the first two years of the pandemic relocation. 

Jacob Saifiti, left, and Tyler Randell of the Newcastle Knights tackle Roger Tuivasa-Sheck of the Warriors

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck of the Warriors. (AAP Image/David Rowland)

Kite had shown promise in three seasons at St George Illawarra but when he joined Manly in 2005 he became one of the most damaging and consistent props in the NRL and his Clive Churchill Medal-winning go-forward paved the way for the 2008 Grand Final annihilation of Melbourne. He won another title in 2011 as part of his 221-game nine-year stint before finishing his career with a couple of years re-establishing a winning culture at Penrith.

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Campbell played 14 matches for the Gold Coast Chargers before their lights were turned off and didn’t make much of an impact in his first two years at Cronulla before his golden 2001 season when he lit up the league at halfback to win the Dally M Medal. Incoming coach Chris Anderson brought Brett Kimmorley to the club because he thought they couldn’t win the comp with Campbell in the halves so Presto left for Penrith where he partnered Craig Gower as the playmakers who guided the team to premiership glory in their first season together.

Priddis played a near-perfect game in that 2003 Panthers win after joining the club a year earlier following stints at Canberra and Brisbane. If not for Danny Buderus, he would have played a lot more at rep level.

Vagana at the Bulldogs is a little left field but he transformed his career and helped revitalise that side over a three-year stint in which he scored 61 tries in 76 matches. Unfortunately for Sharks and Rabbitohs fans, the Kiwi centre was unable to revive that magic later in his career.

Just missed the cut

There were several players considered who were a game-changer at their club but were only there for a relatively short time like Tawera Nikau’s two years at the Storm, Blake Ferguson scoring 51 tries in four seasons at the Roosters and Petero Civoniceva putting some steel in the Penrith pack late in his career.

Some players became club stalwarts at a team after starting out elsewhere, like Matt Geyer in Melbourne after a brief foray with the Western Reds, Luke Patten at the Bulldogs following his Steelers/St George Illawarra early days, ex-Sharks forward Tyson Frizell at the Dragons and Siosiua Taukeiaho who is synonymous with the Roosters but kicked off his career at the Warriors.

Todd Carney’s impact at the Roosters and Sharks could have been worth a mention in the top 25 but both stints ended with contracts being torn up just when it looked like he was not going to waste his prodigious talent. 

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Ben Barba’s two seasons at the Sharks follow a similar script. 

Michael Ennis also gave good service at Cronulla over the same timeframe, culminating in the 2016 premiership, and was also a very handy recruit for Canterbury during his five seasons in blue and white.

Several current players are building their case as elite recruits for the NRL era like Latrell Mitchell’s influence at the Rabbitohs, Eels duo Clint Gutherson and Mitchell Moses, and Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes, who strangely was given one NRL game at the Cowboys and Titans before becoming a star in Melbourne.

PENRITH, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 09: Clinton Gutherson of the Eels makes a break during the NRL Qualifying Final match between the Penrith Panthers and the Parramatta Eels at BlueBet Stadium on September 09, 2022 in Penrith, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Several recruits have brought added value in their leadership to their new teams over the past 25 years like Steve Price at the Warriors, Kiwi prop Paul Rauhihi at the Cowboys, Matt Orford when he joined the Sea Eagles and Josh Morris at the Bulldogs.

Canterbury would regret letting Dale Finucane slip through their fingers to Melbourne but they made the most of snaring Mark O’Meley from the ruins of the Northern Eagles failed venture. 

North Queensland had another couple of savvy purchases in the form of prolific tryscorer Matt Sing, who touched down 73 times in five seasons after leaving the Roosters, and second-rower Luke O’Donnell, who turned his career around at the Cowboys to become an NSW and Australian representative.

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Craig Wing brought panache to the Roosters when he made his contentious switch from Souths early in his career while Jamie Soward’s decision to leave the Tricolours mid-season to join St George Illawarra was ultimately a massive coup for the Dragons as he was their chief playmaker in the 2010 Grand Final win.

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