25 sleeps to go

One more night down after we were drip fed a little bit of league action last night with the Indigenous side running rampant over the NRL All Stars. So many of our favourites were back in action, the magic aura surrounding Ben Barba doesn't seem to have gone anywhere, Inglis as monstrous as ever, Hayne looked ready for a big year, but most impressive of all to me was the play of Johnathan Thurston. He was the man pulling all the strings behind that great Indigenous side performance, the finishing from Barba and Ferguson was excellent, but it was Thurston who was the conductor, he was simply brilliant. So with that little tease aside, we move on to 25 sleeps left, and on to player number 25 in the countdown to NRL 2013

#25 Aaron Woods

Some may think I'm jumping the gun a little here by already ranking the 21 year old, 194 cm, 109 kg Tigers prop so highly. He hasn't played Origin yet, he hasn't played a test, he's only been in the competition two years, props mature later than backs do. But take a look at what this guy did in 2012

Tied for 5th most runs in the competition with 377

4th most metres in the competition with 3455

15th most tackles in the competition with 808

Woods is the only player in the competition to feature in the top 15 in all three of these categories, his work rate is simply unparalleled. Dream Team players will testify, the way Woods logged huge minutes every week saw him rack up the fantasy points. 

Photos with less than three guys tackling him proved difficult to find

We've seen plenty of young backs enter the competition and take to the water fairly quickly. But prop has remained very much a position of the elder statesmen. Tamou is young himself, but he's got three years on Woods, Matthew Scott is 6 years older, Ben Hannant is 7 years older. This may sound like I'm making excuses for Woods, but far from it, Woods is playing at the level of these guys, and yet he's still just a pup. How good will this guy be when he's 26, 27? he looks like he could play 80 minutes every week if you asked him to

Woods highlight videos proved difficult to locate also

At 21, he's already answered all the questions about his ability at the NRL level, all that is left is to prove himself at the next level. He's had a showing for the City Origin side where many felt he was the best prop on the field, he made the Prime Minister's XIII and he was on standby for NSW in Origin 2 and 3. It will be a tremendous shock if, injury permitting, Woods doesn't make the NSW side this season, and I suspect this will only make him even better. He was a finalist for Dally M Prop of the Year last year, and yes I'm aware I am ranking him higher than the guy who actually won the award, but to me the body of work he puts out every week deserves it.

 He carries the ball all game like a prop, he tackles all game like a second rower. Furthermore, his team in 2012 was one of the biggest disappointments in the NRL. Through no fault of his own, the Tigers were one of the favourites with the bookies to take our the title, instead, they were terribly inconsistent and failed to even make the top eight. Despite a team that on paper appeared to be so loaded with talent, it was the 21 year old who was one of the few guys they could depend on. The Tigers seemed to change their stripes every week, but not Woods, with Woods you knew every week you were getting a guy whose legs didn't stop pumping, who wouldn't stop tackling unless you yanked him off the field, not to mention being a very adept offloader. There's really nothing bad you can say about this guy, he's entered the competition in fantastic fashion and is one of the true rising stars of the game. He's going to be amongst the elite props in the competition for a long time to come.

There's literally more videos of my pet Lorikeet on YouTube than there are of Aaron Woods

If you weren't already well aware of this blokes prowess, I suspect by the end of the end of 2013 you certainly will be. In 2012 Woods played like one of the top props in the game, 2013 will be the year where he is treated like one.

Mateo was evidently very impressed with Woods ability

Check back in tomorrow as we move on to #24, get at me on Twitter @WellsNorthShore if you have any criticisms or comments or you just want to have a blab about sport. With any luck #24 will have some more videos, someone needs to get on to uploading a bit more of Woods in action!