ONE MORE SLEEP

We've made it all the way here to NRL eve, just one more sleep to go, tomorrow we'll be watching the likes of Inglis, Jennings, Burgess and of course SBW in action. Before we get to revealing number one, I wanted to touch on a couple of other things.

Firstly, this list has been counting down the top thirty players in the NRL and it has been absolutely jam packed with talent. We are truly fortunate as fans to have so many incredible players to watch, but what of those who missed out? there's a long list of amazing players that did not make the cut. These aren't just "good" players, but Origin players, International players, and it's a reminder of just how talented the NRL altogether is. Let's take a look at a quick list of guys I compiled who are still very much household names...

Alex Glenn, Matt Gillett, Tom Leayrod-Lahrs, Danny Buderus, Jamal Idris, Glenn Stewart, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Justin Hodges,Konrad Hurrell, Chris Sandow, Ben Hannant, Kade Snowden, Andrew Fifita, Ben Te'o, Michael Gordon, Sika Manu, Todd Carney, Issac Luke, Darius Boyd, Sam Perrett, Shaun Fensom, Kane Linnett, Josh McGuire, Ryan Hoffman, Josh Hoffman, David Stage, Krisnan Inu, Tony Williams, Michael Ennis, Corey Parker, Tariq Sims, Michael Gordon, Manu Vatuvei, Steve Matai, Matt Duffie, Kurt Gidley, Ben Matulino, Frank Pritchard, Brett Morris, Josh Reynolds, Adam Reynolds, Nathan Friend, Jake Friend, Nathan Merritt, Michael Jennings, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, James Maloney, Matt Ballin, Luke Douglas, Dallas Johnson, Ashton Sims, Blake Ferguson, Josh Papalii, Aidan Tolman, David Shillington, Anthony Watmough, Jamie Buhrer, Michael Crocker, Ben Creagh, Matt Cooper, Mitchell Pearce, Dane Nielsen, Jason Nightingale, Trent Merrin, Braith Anasta, Shaun Johnson, Simon Mannering, Chris Houston, Jeremy Smith, Timana Tahu, Lachlan Coote, Tim Grant, Fuifui MoiMoi, Luke Galloway, Tim Mannah...

this list is by no means exhaustive, there's plenty of other very talented players in the NRL, and every year the Under 20s competition introduces us to new exciting talents. Just soak that bunch of guys in for a moment, so many great players there, maybe you think a couple of them belong in the top thirty, but the point is to reflect on just how deep the NRL is, which is one of several reasons why it is the greatest competition in the world.

 "hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha" - Johnathan Thurston

The second thing I wanted to do was to investigate how the teams in the NRL were represented throughout my list. In theory, the most successful teams of 2012 will likely be well represented. I paid no attention to this when creating the list, so this reflection is as much to satisfy my own curiosity as anything else.

Sea Eagles 5

Cowboys 4

Bulldogs 4

Melbourne 3

Titans 3

Tigers 3

Rabbitohs 2

Sharks 2

Warriors 1

Knights 1

Thaiday 1

Raiders 1

Eels 1

Panthers 0

Dragons 0

Roosters 0

It is important to note that roster movements saw the Panthers drop from 1 to 0 with the move of Luke Lewis, and the Rabbitohs lose 1 player while the Titans gained 1 with the move of Dave Taylor. Melbourne's 3 are of course a lot more valuable than any other 3 that can be put together. For the most part however, these rankings paint an accurate picture of where the power currently seems to reside in the NRL. Moving on now to the moment you've all been waiting...

#1 Johnathan Thurston

The newly crowned "face of the game" after Ben Barba's exit from the stage, JT has for me been the best player in the NRL for many years now. 2012 was yet another great year for Thurston, third highest scorer in the competition with 192 points, with 90 goals, 232 kicks in play and 23 offloads. Thurston moved into five-eighth for both the Cowboys, Queensland and Australia, a move prompted by the retirement of Darren Lockyer, Thurston stepped forward to fill the void at 6 and allow Cooper Cronk to play in his regular halfback position. The number changed, the game didn't for JT, scoring a try and adding 4 goals in the ANZAC test victory over New Zealand, along with a try and 9 goals in the State of Origin series. Though Thurston's Cowboys would bow out to Manly in the semi final, on the back of some very dubious decisions, the Cows spent the year as one of the most dynamic teams in the NRL and the play of JT and Matt Bowen were the triggers for their explosive backline. Thurston's shift to five-eighth resulted in being named the Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year for 2012, the first year he had played the position full time, and immediately becoming the best player in the NRL wearing number 6.

In his younger days Thurson would wear several spiders on his head to ward off tacklers

The 2012 Five-Eighth award was but another feather in the cap for JT who has been recognized as one of the top halves in the game several times in his career, starting way back in 2005

• 2005 Dally M Halfback of the Year
• 2005 Dally M Player of the Year
• 2007 Dally M Halfback of the Year
• 2007 Dally M Player of the Year
• 2007 RLIF Back of the Year
• 2007 RLW Player of the Year
• 2008 Wally Lewis Medal
• 2009 Dally M Halfback of the Year
• 2011 Golden Boot Award
• 2012 Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year

Thurston was also named in the Indigenous Team of the Century. The most impressive part of Thurston's career however is his exploits in State of Origin. Thurston is the only player to have played in every single game in Queensland's 7 consecutive Origin series victories. Since Thurston's Origin début in game 1 2005, Thurston has played an astonishing 24 straight Origin games. This leaves JT with North Sydney great Gary Larson for the all time record, and provided he isn't injured, Thurston will break the record for most consecutive Origin appearances in 2013. The Queensland Origin teams over the years have been a unit of amazing players, but Thurston is the only man who can lay claim to being part of the entirety of Queensland's dominance. His 24 Origin appearances have resulted in 4 tries and 61 goals, he's also been a staple of the Australian team for a long time with 23 appearances, 10 tries, 99 goals.

JT doing it all

On the field, Thurston is the best playmaker in the business, nobody leads an attack around the field quite as well as he does. Incredibly intelligent on the field, one of the best kicking games in the business, the ability to take the line on and break through it with his dummies and steps and amazing vision. At times it seems as if Thurston's thinking is three or four plays ahead of what is happening on the field, he's already got everything organized, it's just a matter of him playing the waiting game until he can execute. Despite the regular screams of frustration he unleashes when he doesn't do something perfectly, Thurston is one of the coolest customers in Rugby League. That's why he's been such an amazing goal kicker over the years. He's brilliant when it comes to kicking goals to begin with, but when the pressure turns up, Thurston never notices. This is the guy you want on the sideline attempting a match winning kick, he will put his trademark big curve on it, bending it back over almost every time. He has all of the tools that you want from a guy in the halves, and defensively he's no giant but he has so much heart that he makes an impact, Thurston loves to get involved in absolutely everything. It's the "heart" that Thurston shows that sells me on him being the best player in the game. Unlike the cerebral Cameron Smith, Thurston wears his heart on his sleeve for all to see. He's so passionate about the game, he's so passionate about leading his team, there seems to be no star harder on himself when he does well, and no star that relishes in the "fun" of the game as much as he does. All of these guys up the top of the list have the skillset to be the best player in the game, they all "do it all", so for me, what separates JT is that heart, that passion, the leadership. There's nobody else in the game I would rather have leading me into war.

How do you separate these two?

While I tried to maintain judgement of players for this list strictly based around on field abilities, Thurston's personality deserves special focus. He is the perfect face of the game, he may have the odd blow up out of frustration, but he is passionate, hard working, determined but at the same time is so grounded. He has every right to have an enormous ego, but Thurston so often is the fun loving comedian of the "stars" of Rugby League. There is nobody who seems to love the game more than Thurston. The work he does in the community and the work he does with fans, it all goes a long way. His interactions with the ball kids when he makes his kicks are just a brief little glimpse at how good of a bloke he is. It appears such a small gesture to many of us, to pick up the kicking tee, hand it to the kid and give him a little rub on the head, but to those kids who look up to JT as a hero, it means a lot to them. Despite his at times ferocious on field persona, he always switches that off, just for a couple of moments, to give these kids respect and attention, no matter how tired he is, regardless of whether his team is winning or losing. Rugby League players have developed such a terrible reputation over the years, the increasingly media dominated world has not been kind to the indiscretions of League players. Thurston is the guy we as League fans can be proud to point to and say this is our guy, this is our leader, this is the face of our game,  this is the best we have. 

I hope those who had a read enjoyed this countdown and I hope it helped pass the time for you until kickoff tomorrow night, it certainly made the time go by for me! and with that I depart, with the excitement of a kid on Christmas eve, waiting for kickoff tomorrow night. Check back in during the season on my blog as I'll be posting my thoughts and rantings throughout the year. As always, any comments feel free to give me a message on Twitter @WellsNorthShore thanks to everyone who has floated me a message or give me a RT it is much appreciated.

10 sleeps to go

For the last time my countdown to the 2013 year will feature a double digit number, once we move past here, we are down to only 9 more sleeps! Today we were hit with the shock news of Ben Barba being removed from the game indefinitely. There's a lot of rumours floating around, and a lot of people making comments without really having a clue what Barba has done, including some pretty big names in League throwing out some unverified comments. In today's social media driven world, it's far too easy for people to make a quick comment without thinking about the repercussions. Earlier today, social media was blowing up about Barba and apparently he was a wife beater and on it went. The guy clearly has some issues that he needs to sort out, but we aren't privy to what exactly those issues are, nor do we need to be. It sounds like his team is doing the right thing for Ben, and that should be all we need to know unless Barba wants to open up further about it. Hopefully whatever issues Barba is dealing with can be overcome and we as fans will be luckily enough to have him back entertaining us on the field sometime soon. At the end of the day, as much as we all love Rugby League, there are more important things in life, let's just remember that he's a 23 year old kid despite being on top of the Rugby League world in 2012. Now let's move on with the countdown...

#10 James Tamou

Despite not picking up the Dally M honours, in 2012 James Tamou for me cemented himself as the premier prop in the competition. While he still needs to pad his CV to match the likes of team mate Matt Scott, at just 24 Tamou has blossomed into the yard stick which all other props will be measured. He's a whopping unit at 195cm and 114kg and he has a motor that just doesn't stop. Put a couple of pairs of footy boots on a horse, strap a pair of hands to it, and you'd have James Tamou. 394 runs for 3808 metres, putting him second in the NRL in both categories despite missing time for Origin. 86 tackle busts, 35 offloads, Tamou is just an absolute force carrying the ball. Tamou found himself the centre of controversy in 2012 as the Palmerston North born, former New Zealand Maori representative was caught in a war over his eligibility between New Zealand, Australia and subsequently New South Wales. The allure of the Origin stage and it's financial benefits proved too much for Tamou and he subsequently pledged his allegiance to Australia, resulting in Tamou starting all three games in the #10 jersey for NSW and making his Australian test début off the bench against the Kiwis. It was Tamou who would have the last laugh as he was voted the Australian teams players player of the game in the test, rising to the occasion in a raucous Eden Park environment against a team clearly out to teach him a lesson.

 Where is Palmerston North? that's in New South Wales! Queensland's everywhere!

Beginning his NRL career back in 2009, Tamou had logged 78 games for the Cowboys at the age of just 23 after making his move from the Sydney Roosters Toyota Cup team in 2008. His 3808 spread over his 24 appearances on the season saw him average a gigantic 158 metres per game, more than any other prop in the competition and he's generally good for around 50-60 minutes on the field every week, a huge workload for such a big, damaging runner. His great size and strength allows him to free up his arms for an offload regularly, which proves very dangerous with the dynamite backs at the Cowboys. Tamou gives you go forward all night long, there's nobody better in the competition at putting your team on the front foot than Tamou. 

There's nowhere to hide from Aussie Jim

What is most often overlooked about Tamou is that the guy is actually really quick for someone his size, really agile to boot. Someone his size doesn't often have to go around a player, not when he can just turn them into a speed bump and run straight over them, but Tamou actually has a pretty useful step on him. If Tamou finds himself in the open field, which he often does thanks to the playmaking genius of Thurston and Bowen, then watch out. A 114kg tank who has pace and the step to turn defenders inside out is more than a handful. Defensively, Tamou is good for around 20-30 tackles a game and he doesn't miss many. On only three occasions did Tamou miss more than 2 tackles in a game and as you'd expect from a guy his size, when he tackles someone, they feel it. He doesn't deliver too many highlight reel huge hits, but when he hits someone, there's no leeway there, it's like running into a brick wall, once you hit Tamou, your run stops. 

Take a moment to look at how monstrous this guy is compared to the rest of the field

Tamou on the rampage with the big step

2012 was really the coming out party for Tamou, taking his game to the representative stage for everyone to see. From here, expect to see Tamou add to his career becoming a staple member of the NSW and Australian teams for years to come as well as continuing to help lead the charge on one of the most competitive outfits in the NRL. He's already ascended to the top of the propping ladder on the field, now it's a matter of forging a career of accomplishments to testify to his amazing on field efforts. 

Check back in tomorrow as we move on to number 9, so close to only a week away. Any criticisms or comments, throw me a Tweet @WellsNorthShore

God of nations at thy wait wait wait let me start over

11 sleeps to go

Only one more League free Sunday left until the season begins, how good does that sound? if we can just make it through this coming week, we're on the home stretch! in fact with the season kicking off on a Thursday, there's only one more League free Thursday left as well until kick off! moving on now with 11 sleeps until the season begins, here's number 11 in the countdown...

#11 Matt Bowen

To me, Matty Bowen is one of the most under-appreciated players in the competition. Sure, everyone acknowledges he's a really good player, but I see him as one of the true superstars of the game, and that's why he comes in here at number 11. It's easy to understand why Bowen at times flies under the radar, he plays in the shadow of Thurston at the Cowboys, JT is the identity of that team, and the spotlight for their attacking nous primarily shines on him. He's only had one game for Australia, and despite lodging 10 games for Queensland, he hasn't been in the team since 2007 so he isn't exactly basking in the limelight on the representative stage. At the ripe age of 30, Bowen is amongst the oldest players in my countdown, making his début all the way back in 2001. As he prepares to embark on what will be his thirteenth NRL season, all of them with his beloved Cowboys, Bowen comes off yet another fantastic season, 78 points, 13 tries, 21 line breaks, 117 tackle busts (tied for third in the competition), 189 kicks in play and 28 try assists which was second only to Benji Marshall and Cooper Cronk. These stats tell the story of one of the most exciting, creative, dangerous attacking players in the competition, as you would expect from a former Dally M Fullback of the Year and two time leading NRL try scorer. Then consider this, Bowen was second in Dally M voting for 2012, missing out to Ben Barba, and consider this also, Bowen was second in Dally M Fullback of the year voting, again missing out to Barba. If not for Barba putting on one of the greatest individual seasons we've seen, we'd quite possibly be talking about Bowen being the best player in the competition in 2012. This while playing with a banged up shoulder most of the season that required off season surgery. 

2012 was a fabulous year for the Cowboys speedster

Mellow on those stats from Bowen for a moment, they're certainly very impressive, placing him among the best players in the NRL. Then consider that he puts up those stats playing with Jonathan Thurston. Now of course, JT has a positive influence on his team-mates stats when it comes to things like line breaks and tries, it's but one of his many glorious talents the way he can put guys through the line. But consider the fact that Bowen has to share the ball around with Thurston, indeed JT is the primary playmaker on the Cowboys. Yet Bowen still had more try assists than Thurston, 28 to 23 and he still put up a whopping number of kicks despite being behind team mate Thurston. What kind of gaudy numbers could Bowen put up if he was the main conductor on the team? well we are exposed to that when Thurston leaves the scene for Origin duty and the burden falls heavier on Bowen, and Bowen delivers time after time showing himself to be more than capable of being the go to guy. As it stands however, the two of them have long been one of the most dynamic combinations in the NRL and they are both much better benefiting from each others abilities, but I find it all the more impressive that Bowen can achieve such lofty numbers while sharing the load with JT.

Bowen and Thurston share one of the best on field connections in the NRL

Two knee reconstructions and the effects of age have lead to Bowen slowing down, slightly, but if you watch him in action, you'll think the suggestion that he has slowed down must be crazy. He still has blistering pace and he's not the least bit shy about pinning his ears back and taking off. One of the greatest things about the Bowen-Thurston connection is seeing Bowen flying through a gap and into open field at full speed after JT has hit him with the perfect pass. It's this blurring speed that has seen him amass a whopping 124 career tries so far throughout his 251 NRL games. He is incredibly agile, he has all the steps, all the swerves, and he can turn on his speed very quickly, if you give him an inch he'll take a mile. But Bowen is so much more than just a speed freak, as his stats suggest. As he has gotten older, he's become progressively wiser, and he's now one of the most astute playmakers in the game. He could very easily slip into the halves if it was required, but it would be a waste of his blinding speed to have him stand around waiting at first or second receiver, though he does step into that role from time to time. He has all the tools you want in the halves, a great kicking game, a great passer, and he thinks the game at such a high level like the best halves do. You wrap all of this up and you have the freakish combination that Bowen brings to the table, the blinding speed and agility of a star wing or fullback, combined with the kicking and playmaking and creativity of a top halves player, vastly experienced, and he's a fantastic leader too. It's this sort of versatile, all around ability that saw Bowen selected primarily selected as an interchange player throughout his 10 Origin appearances.

Speedy Gonzalez or the Road Runner?

I posted the videos above for two reasons. The most obvious being to show off the amazing speed that he possesses by running down some of the other "speedsters in the competition, but also to illustrate what Bowen brings to the table defensively. Bowen's claim to fame no doubt is his attacking wizardry, but he's also very reliable on the defensive side also. His blazing speed allows him to chase down guys on the break that very few others in the competition would be able to reel in. The play on Locke is particularly impressive, the way he reads what Locke is doing, lures Locke in to taking him on outside, and then reigning him in. Very, very few people in the NRL would be able to run down Kevin Locke, Bowen is one of them. This type of thing isn't what most people traditionally think of when they think about defense, they think about the tackle machine forwards up front, but having a guy who can cut down those open field breaks is a wonderful asset to a defense. Bowen's also very courageous under the high ball and he brings them in reliably, there's no weakness to target here, Bowen stands up to be counted defensively. He's one of the smaller guys in the competition at 175cm and 85kg, but he's actually got some real strength to him, and while he won't be allowed to do it in 2013, he's laid out a few guys with the shoulder during his years. He plays the game like he's 7 foot tall and he's got as much heart and toughness as anyone in the competition.

A familiar sight

Check back in tomorrow for the final instalment before we move into single digit territory. Any comments, suggestions, criticisms, give me a tweet @WellsNorthShore 

16 sleeps to go

Today marks 16 more sleeps until NRL 2013 and I'm a little taken back at how quickly it is going by. I started writing these out of boredom, fun and primarily to help me count down until the season begins, after finishing this number 16, that will have been 15 of these articles I have written, 15 nights checked off the calendar, the halfway point! so let's get on with number 16 in the countdown

#16 Matthew Scott

2012 was just another year for the 27 year old Cowboys front rower, and I mean that in only the most complimentary fashion. Backing up from his 2011 Dally M and RLIF Prop of the Year awards, Scott once again displayed the leadership and consistency that has seen him become widely regarded as the top prop in the game. At 185 cm and 106kg, the Cowboys co captain has been the model of consistency and reliability for some years now. Entering his 10th season, Scott has ascended to the level where he is often taken for granted, he puts in a workhorse effort week in week out, you always know what you are going to get from him, leading from the front. He's reached the top of the mountain and now as he embarks on his prime years, he stands to be the alpha prop in the competition for several years to come. The Cowboys had a fantastic 2012 season, and most of the attention is given to the electrifying back line with the likes of Thurston, Bowen, Graham, Linnett, Tate, but the scintillating form of those backs was made possible from the likes of Scott powering one hell of an engine room.

While the spotlight shines on Thurston, Scott carries a lot of the load

While over the next few years I believe some props may rise above Scott in terms of performance, even if only temporarily, what makes Scott deserving of being ranked so highly is his status as the spearhead of not only the Cowboys forward pack, but the Queensland and Australian forward packs also. He's the alpha prop in Rugby League now. While some young pups may come along who can put out a better showing, Scott is now the guy that has been there, done that, especially with the retirement of Civoniceva. While other props may have surpassed Petro later in his career, he still maintained the status of being the old hand in the front row, now that torch has to be passed on and to me Scott is the guy that is picking it up. Entering 2013, Scott has logged 141 games for the Cowboys, 8 tests for Australia, and 11 Origins for Queensland, he's been starting at prop in the last 9 straight Origins. There may be a couple of guys further down my list who I would suggest had better 2012 seasons than Scott, but his overall package of leadership, experience, proven track record at the highest levels, separate Scott from the pack. There may be no more reliable player in the NRL than this guy. 

No matter the stage, the performances remain the same

2012 didn't see Scott dominate the competitions statistical categories. You won't find around the top of the metres or hit up lists, but as always he was putting in the heavy work. The scouting report on Matt Scott is really pretty simple. Think of everything you want in your prop, you want a big motor, you want legs that don't stop pumping, you want courage, you want a guy who leads from the front, everything you want from a prop, Matt Scott has it. There's nothing fancy about him, he can make a nice offload, but what defines Matt Scott  is just simply being a fantastic, genuine prop. a big strong bloke with a tireless work ethic. I almost feel like I'm not doing him justice, that I'm making it sound easy, but if it was that easy, a whole lot of us would be doing it. Think about some of the big units floating around the NRL, putting big shots on the ball carrier, Scott is the guy who runs at these big opposing forwards over and over again. The grand stage of Origin, big hits galore, and Scott is the guy who is leading from the front, ball in hand, running into those big shots time and time again. It all starts up front, and it really says it all that the Queensland Origin team have turned to Scott to lead the way in their last 9 games. His performance in 2011 Origin I remains one of the most impressive front row performances in recent times, eclipsed perhaps only by the herculean effort from Paul Gallen in the following contest.

This is really more of a JT video, but Scott videos were lacking and this one never bores me

Check back in tomorrow for 15, can't believe that we've almost hit the two weeks to go mark! as always if you have any feedback, positive and negative, but preferably constructive, then give me a tweet on @WellsNorthShore