#4 Greg Inglis
2012 proved a very rejuvenating year for the 26 year old Rabbitohs giant, not that his career needed rejuvenating. After the Bunnies began the season with two losses, Inglis was shuffled into fullback where he spent a large portion of his first two seasons with Melbourne. The results were immediate as the Bunnies trounced Penrith 40-24 with GI crossing over for a try. From there, you could not slow the big man down, his scorching form in the number 1 jersey leading a Rabbitohs charge towards the top of the competition. The only people that would prove capable of putting a halt to Inglis would be the judiciary who would ban Inglis for three weeks as a result of one of the most devastating hits we have seen in years from GI on the Dragons Dean Young. This blemish would squash any Dally M hopes Inglis may have had, but Inglis would once again put together a fantastic season, leading the Rabbitohs to a third place finish on the ladder, and eventually bowing out to the Bulldogs in the Preliminary Final. Not quite a Premiership, but a return to finals footy for a starved Rabbitohs fan base. Inglis would once again be a standout on the representative scene, scoring a try while playing centre in an Australian Test victory over New Zealand, as well as once again starring in Queensland's Origin series win, playing the first two games at centre scoring in each and then moving into fullback for game three for an injured Billy Slater. Games off wouldn't stop Inglis from dominating statistically, 4th in the NRL in line breaks with 23, 3096 metres, and leading the NRL in tackle busts with 162. Yes, despite the games off, Inglis still managed more tackle busts than anyone else in the NRL. He even put over a match winning field goal against the Tigers just to cap it off.
Reasons for banning the shoulder charge exhibit A
As with Billy Slater, and the three more players who will follow, I genuinely believe you can make an argument for Inglis or any of this group as the best player in the NRL. I have my opinion of who the number 1 is, but if you tell me you believe Inglis is the top dog then it's an entirely valid opinion. Let's take a look at the long list of career achievements from GI...
- RLIF Rookie of the Year
- Clive Churchill Medal
- Dally M Five Eighth of the Year
- Dally M Representative Player of the Year 2008 and 2009
- Peter Frilingos Memorial Award
- RLIF Five Eighth of the Year
- Golden Boot Award
- Harry Sunderland Medal
- RLIF Centre of the Year
- Ron McAuliffe Medal
- Wally Lewis Medal
He's appeared in 157 NRL games and scored 98 tries which is a fantastic strike rate, but his international strike rate is even better, scoring 19 times in his 21 appearances for Australia. But perhaps the most impressive, amongst all of the fantastic accolades Greg Inglis has earned, is his efforts in State of Origin. Through 18 Origin games, Inglis has never been part of a losing Origin campaign, playing a part in 7 straight Queensland Origin series victories and in 2012 claimed Inglis the all time record for tries in State of Origin, currently standing alone with 14 Origin tries. Unsurprising from the man who scored twice in his Origin début, twice in his second Origin game, ending up with 5 tries in his first three Origin appearances, and it should come as a shock to nobody to see Inglis receiving multiple awards for his representative level exploits.
At just 26 Inglis is already an Origin legend
If you aren't familiar with the full extent of GI's career, you may have noticed something peculiar when reading through his list of accomplishments, and that's the fact that he won Dally M and RLIF honors as five-eighth of the year, while also earning centre of the year respects later in his career. Of course, he's now also playing fullback and did a stand up job of that in a Queensland jersey, and started his Origin career playing on the wing for Queensland. That is the extraordinary ability of Greg Inglis, the versatility to be elite anywhere in the backline. He has the speed and agility to play on the wing, the strength and defense to play in the centres, the skill and kicking game to be recognized as the best five-eighth in the world when he was wearing the number 6. There is nothing that Greg Inglis cannot do, and not only can he do it, but whatever he has done, he has been one of if not the best at it. There are other players in the NRL with the versatile skill set to be able to play multiple positions, but to have been able to succeed at the highest levels in four positions is incredible. That would be enough to make Inglis one of the games best players, but then consider this, he is 195cm and 105kg. He is huge, bigger than most second rowers, bigger than many props as well. If you wanted to put Inglis into the forwards, he'd blend right in, and he's got a hell of a crunching tackle on him . Greg Inglis is the prototype for the perfect Rugby League player, if you could craft a footy player from the ground up, this would be the guy, he's the LeBron James of Rugby League blessed with the perfect physical attributes for his craft. No player in the NRL is more capable of covering basically every position on the field. The guy is built like a second rower, offloads and hits like a second rower, passes and kicks like a five-eighth, runs and finishes like a winger, catches like a fullback, he does everything. The perfect combination of size and speed and he has the best fend in the business, how often have you seen him plant that big right hand into a blokes chest and dispatch them like he's swatting away a fly, in the NRL, Internationally and in Origin. Few others have the ability to make Origin defenders look like junior players, he is the most physically gifted player in the NRL. His kick returns from fullback are unfair, someone so big and so fast getting plenty of space to build up speed and run straight into defenders, there's few scarier prospects for an NRL defense and he's one of the last guys you want to run towards either with his enormous size and strength enough to introduce even the biggest ball carriers to the grass.
What NSW nightmares are made of
At 26 we could now be seeing Inglis start to round into what will be the prime years of his career, a scary prospect considering the incredible destruction he has already unleashed on the Rugby League world. After establishing himself in the number 1 jersey in 2012, a full off season of training dedicated to remaining in the number 1, and the appetite that a close but not quite close enough finals campaign can bring should see Inglis terrorize the NRL once again. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if 2013 becomes the year of GI and we see him take the Dally M award. Expect GI to be monstrous, expect the Bunnies to once again be a force.
Check back in tomorrow as we move on to number 3, no more League free Sundays, I for one can't wait for a bit of Sunday afternoon footy, after the Thursday, Friday and Saturday footy of course. As always, I'm on Twitter @WellsNorthShore so drop me a tweet with comments, criticisms, or just to talk league.
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