BEST OF THE BEST
Changing of the guard, but Smith still number one
RUGBY LEAGUE: There is a changing of the guard in rugby league in 2019.
Johnathan Thurston and Billy Slater have retired and Val Holmes has left to chase his NFL dream.
Old warhorses and Jesse Bromwich are not as dominant as they once were.
They’ve been overtaken by others and a new breed of potential superstars and the next household names.
The ranking of the top 50 players in the NRL has required a dramatic overhaul.
There are five new players in the top 10. Welcome aboard Kalyn Ponga (Knights, fifth), Latrell Mitchell (Roosters, seventh), Luke Keary (Roosters, eighth), Tom Trbojevic (Manly, ninth) and Cameron Munster (Storm, 10th)
Veterans Gallen and Bromwich are still ranked in the top 50 but much lower down the list.
There are bigger and more dynamic heavyweights – Jason Taumalolo, Sam Burgess and Andrew Fifita.
Cameron Smith might be another year older but he’s still No.1. Still the most influential player on a football field, despite retiring from State of Origin and Test match football.
The 2019 top 50 shows why the bookies have defending premiers the Sydney Roosters as favourites to become the first team since 1993 to win back-toback titles.
They have nine players in the list, four of them – James Tedesco, Cooper Cronk, Mitchell and Clive Churchill Medal winner Keary – in the top 10.
They have another five in the top 50 – skipper Boyd Cordner, centre Joseph Manu, prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, local favourite Victor Radley and Angus Crichton.
This is easily the biggest representation from all the clubs.
And hooker Jake Friend was unlucky to miss out.
You compare this to a side like the Canterbury Bulldogs and wonder how both sides are spending the same amount on the salary cap. The Bulldogs have no players in the top 50.
Skipper Josh Jackson could be considered an unlucky omission and premiership-winning playmaker Kieran Foran hasn’t done enough in recent years.
Parramatta, Gold Coast, New Zealand Warriors and Wests Tigers have only one player chosen.
Obviously this could all change.
New signing Blake Ferguson is the Eels’ only inclusion. However, who is to say their boom rookie Dylan Brown won’t be there by the end of the season. Or that Mitchell Moses can’t recover the slashing form from his old Wests Tigers days.
The Warriors have only Dally M champion Roger TuivasaSheck. There was a strong case for five-eighth Blake Green. Like about 40 other players on my original list of 90 that had to be trimmed down.
That’s the difficulty with compiling these lists.
You speak to coaches for tips. I spoke to two Immortals and the boys at Fox Sports Lab, who can now measure the strengths and weakness of every one of the 500 players in the NRL. But it’s all subjective. Some great players have missed out.