Foxsports Top 20 Players of the NRL Era

[Dave's mate]

Yeah but what about that bloke from my team

Well yeah Priddis was better than Bedsy. Passing the ball to Joey made his whole career

 

[Vee]

I get the way he ended his career probably discounts him but can anyone say Brett Stewart was a better player then Jarryd Hayne and keep a straight face?

Fair point. Consistency and involvement perhaps? Certainly Hayne's top end offered more than most.

 

[magpie_man]

I get the way he ended his career probably discounts him but can anyone say Brett Stewart was a better player then Jarryd Hayne and keep a straight face?

Yeah, he was the omission that immediately jumped out and bit me.
Other than that it's a pretty good list; my only other minor grievances are Inglis being too high and I never really rated Webke.

 

[dogslife]

I get the way he ended his career probably discounts him but can anyone say Brett Stewart was a better player then Jarryd Hayne and keep a straight face?

Yes.

Glad I could help.

I'll be here all week.

 

[crocodile]

I think it's definitely up for discussion.

I think so too. And I'm not even a banana bender.

 

[Vee]

I think so too. And I'm not even a banana bender.

Webcke polarized opinion along state lines and had a reputation as a flopper. Scott never fired up, just kept driving forward.

 

[Canard]

Some Newy fans like to promote the myth that Johns played with a team of nobodies to elevate his God Like status.

Kennedy and Buds where once in a generation talents at key positions.

 

[Captain Apollo]

I’d have Brad Fittler in at 5 above Thurston Cronk and Slater. All were great players, with the memories of the last 3 fresher in the mind. But for me Fittler was an absolute machine who could play centre, five eight and lock with ease. Was absolutely devastating either on his own or with team work. I’d have them all about even in a teamwork scenario (probably Thurston first) but Fittler just ahead of Slater as an individual game breaker.

Last night Fox Sports televised a replay of a 2001 game between the Roosters and the Broncos. The Broncos were at near full strength whilst the Roosters had some players out due to injury so had journeymen like Michael Korkidas and Sam Obst in the starting side. Freddy dragged them to a 20-18 victory as he was all over the shop inspiring his team mates to victory.

 

[Captain Apollo]

I get the way he ended his career probably discounts him but can anyone say Brett Stewart was a better player then Jarryd Hayne and keep a straight face?

Hayne at his best was unstoppable, but over the course of his entire career how consistent was he? Hayne had all the raw talent but rarely seemed to apply himself. Stewart turned up every week and gave it his all. As such I'd rate him higher as you win with players that put in every week.

 

[Tommy Smith]

Last night Fox Sports televised a replay of a 2001 game between the Roosters and the Broncos. The Broncos were at near full strength whilst the Roosters had some players out due to injury so had journeymen like Michael Korkidas and Sam Obst in the starting side. Freddy dragged them to a 20-18 victory as he was all over the shop inspiring his team mates to victory.

Freddy is the forgotten genius in these 'Greatest Player' debates.

In terms of pure talent I think only Joey has him beat.

But Freddy had it all. I've never seen a more deadly duel attacking threat - passing and running game - he could carve you open with a 30m bullet pass to a centre/winger on the fly, or bust through your defence with great power and the game's most devastating sidestep of all time.

And in defence he was a brick ball. Absolutely impregnable and capable of defending at lock forward for 80 minutes with ease. How many halves can do that?

He was also a great centre in his early days so was world class in 3 positions. Just a total footy player.

And then you have to add in his leadership qualities and ability to inspire his teammates.

When he joined the Roosters, the club was a basketcase. And yet he led them to the finals in all 9 seasons; as well as 6 Prelim Finals; and 4 GFs and 1 Premiership in his final five seasons in his prime. And then he retired and the Roosters returned to being a basketcase for the next few years.

Also the most capped Blue of all time, he captained the Kangaroos to two World Cup victories as one of the most decorated rep players ever.

And yet, he never gets mentioned in the Immortals debate. But Inglis does? Again, drugs are bad.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

This list could also be named top 20 dickheads of the NRL.

 

[_Johnsy]

It's just my opinion, don't care either way really.

Webcke was a great prop no doubt, but his notoriety comes from being a prominent Bronco who has gone on to a successful media career.

Scott has a more understated personality and plied his trade away further from intense media scrutiny and plaudits.

Let’s not forget Webcke’s positive test.

 

[_Johnsy]

Some Newy fans like to promote the myth that Johns played with a team of nobodies to elevate his God Like status.

Kennedy and Buds where once in a generation talents at key positions.

Valid points, brilliant players no doubt, although once in a generation players? I think that may be a tad generous mate.

The same point could be easily raised for Smith, Slater, Inglis, Cronk, Thurston, Lockyer.

 

[Canard]

Valid points, brilliant players no doubt, although once in a generation players? I think that may be a tad generous mate.

The same point could be easily raised for Smith, Slater, Inglis, Cronk, Thurston, Lockyer.

There was no hooker near Buds for the majority of his career, similarly with Kennedy at back row.

I'm not disagreeing with your last point.

 

[perverse]

Some Newy fans like to promote the myth that Johns played with a team of nobodies to elevate his God Like status.

Kennedy and Buds where once in a generation talents at key positions.

Kind of true, kind of not. The 1997-2001 Knights squad was as good as any for sure, but it was all down hill from there. By 2006 the Knights team looked like a team of reserve graders for the most part. For every Johns, Buderus and Simpson you had 2 Abrahams, Tolars, Chris Baileys, Luke Quigleys and Riley Browns. Despite that, while Johns was on the field they were still thought of as a threat for the title. The difference he made was clearly evident whenever he was injured - which was often unfortunately. 2005 showed just how influential he was as much as - if not moreso than - any year when the Knights had success. There is some validity to the argument, although it's obviously disingenuous to claim that Johns didn't play with good players. He had some fantastic support around him at times.

Personally, I don't care much for these lists. You're never going to convince a majority of NQ supporters that JT isn't the GOAT, ditto Knights supporters. Once you get to the very top echelon of players opinion is always going to sway with bias. When I was younger and stupider I would argue tooth and nail about this player being better than that. As I've aged I've come to just appreciate watching these players do what they do. I'll leave it up to others to worry about who was objectively the best, if there even is such a thing - especially when comparing different eras (and this list covers 2 eras for mine).

What I will say about this list though is that Inglis is a bit too high, and that Brad Fittler always gets a raw deal in these kinds of discussions. During that turn of the century era there were only 2 players I really feared playing against the Knights, and they were Darren Lockyer and Brad Fittler.

 

[Big Pete]

Some Newy fans like to promote the myth that Johns played with a team of nobodies to elevate his God Like status.

Kennedy and Buds where once in a generation talents at key positions.

As others have pointed out, it's based on years like 2005 where Newcastle couldn't beat anyone but by the end of the season they were smashing a lot of the top contenders with Johns playing a starring role.

It bled into 2006 where Joey managed to get them into the second week of the finals until they ran into a red hot Broncos without Simpson, Buderus etc. and the rest of the team had shockers.

Similarly in 1998 Newcastle were embroiled in their PED scandal and the side had been torn apart through suspension and injury. Despite this, Joey had Newcastle on equal pegging with that legendary Broncos side and was easily the driving force behind the Knights.

I do think players like JT and Lockyer had similar moments through out their career, but not to the same extent as Joey. Even in the twilight years, Joey was not only leading his team to victory, he was guiding Newcastle to 50 point demolitions of Top 4 teams.

I don't get too caught up in the rankings of these lists, but I do find it odd they couldn't find room for Jamie Lyon.

 

[perverse]

I don't get too caught up in the rankings of these lists, but I do find it odd they couldn't find room for Jamie Lyon.

Yeah I'll pay that. IMO Lyon would be regarded as a great if he hadn't shunned the rep arena for sure. Such a natural footballer.

I do think players like JT and Lockyer had similar moments through out their career, but not to the same extent as Joey. Even in the twilight years, Joey was not only leading his team to victory, he was guiding Newcastle to 50 point demolitions of Top 4 teams.

I think if you went back and watched the Knights games as Joey played out his career you could almost track his bipolar cycle by how dominant the Knights were any given week. When he was in a good mood, any (and I mean any) team could have 40+ put on them, and it looked easy. It didn't seem to matter who his supporting cast was on days like that. As a Knights supporter you really did feel like he could drag a team of Scott Mintos to a 40+ drubbing on a good day. As I said, it's disingenuous to say he never played with good players... but there's a mountain of evidence to show the effect he had even on plodders in his team too. If he has 1 quality that I don't think has been eclipsed yet (and not to say other players don't make up for it in other ways), it's that intangible quality of how much better he made those around him. Cam Smith might be in that discussion, but it's hard to say because he's been very durable and has probably played with higher quality support for longer.

But yeah... ranking them objectively isn't really possible for mine. We've had the immense pleasure of watching some amazing players the past 20 years. Sit back and enjoy the next crop imo.

 

[Canard]

As others have pointed out, it's based on years like 2005 where Newcastle couldn't beat anyone but by the end of the season they were smashing a lot of the top contenders with Johns playing a starring role.

It bled into 2006 where Joey managed to get them into the second week of the finals until they ran into a red hot Broncos without Simpson, Buderus etc. and the rest of the team had shockers.

Similarly in 1998 Newcastle were embroiled in their PED scandal and the side had been torn apart through suspension and injury. Despite this, Joey had Newcastle on equal pegging with that legendary Broncos side and was easily the driving force behind the Knights.

I do think players like JT and Lockyer had similar moments through out their career, but not to the same extent as Joey. Even in the twilight years, Joey was not only leading his team to victory, he was guiding Newcastle to 50 point demolitions of Top 4 teams.

I don't get too caught up in the rankings of these lists, but I do find it odd they couldn't find room for Jamie Lyon.

Maybe it's just being a Cowboys fan, that anyone claiming their side was "weak" whilst still having 3 or more rep players (Especially from 95 to 2005) seems a little bit laughable.

 

[Big Pete]

Maybe it's just being a Cowboys fan, that anyone claiming their side was "weak" whilst still having 3 or more rep players (Especially from 95 to 2005) seems a little bit laughable.

It's grossly exaggerated for sure but there's still some merit to it.

I'd compare Johns' efforts to JT in 2007 where JT still had support from Bowen but he also had to make do with a Queensland Cup calibre side and yet he managed to take them to 3rd and into a Prelim with a -75 differential.

 

[hineyrulz]

This list is missing Brad Parker so therefore is wrong imo

Him and Scott Minto the glaring omissions.