Foxsports Top 20 Players of the NRL Era

[_Johnsy]

Probably because he continually gets shafted in these rankings.

Only a lifelong methhead would rate Greg Inglis as a better footy player than Freddy.

And I love Cooper Cronk more than anyone not named Tara Rushton, but I can say objectively that Freddy leaves Cooper for dead as a footy player too.

Hard to argue against this. I certainly am no fan of Fittler, but he is ahead of both GI & Cronk, no doubt about that.

 

[Rhino_NQ]

Inglis deserves a place in this without any doubt, he did things on the field that only he could. In terms of placings though one description that shouldnt be there is "lazy" which you cant use for slater, smith, cronk, jt and pretty much the other 19 guys on that list.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

When you see how much more praise a plainly inferior footballer like Thurston gets, it’s really no great mystery.

No one said it was a mystery Nick.

 

[From Where the Sun Rises]

No one said it was a mystery Nick.

Those damn Roosters. I hate, hate, hate them!

 

[Rhyno]

2x dally m winner Jarryd Hayne doesn’t make the list but benji ( he wouldn’t make the top 50) does what a joke

 

[_Johnsy]

2x dally m winner Jarryd Hayne doesn’t make the list but benji ( he wouldn’t make the top 50) does what a joke

Longevity

 

[Captain Apollo]

Longevity

Also winning at least one NRL premiership helps.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Jarryd Hayne single handedly won an Origin Series against possibly the best rugby league team ever assembled.

I loved Freddy but think his place is fine. Remember 10 years of his career was pre NRL

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

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.

Absolutely this.

Johns could drag any team to great heights, and every one of the knights would follow him over the hill without question. They were almost unstoppable in the back end of 2005 when theyd made a dogs breakfast of the early season and had next to no hope of finals.

I put Fittler in the same category. Absolute leaders. Yes both played a lot with the predecessors to the NRL but these blokes, Smith and Lockyer the standout top 4 players of this era for mine. With Inglis at 5. Thought a bit more after my original post here with some of the comments and good points from some others.

1 - Smith
2 - Johns
3 - Fittler
4 - Lockyer
5 - Inglis.

 

[captainwarrior]

I love Benji but the best NZ NRL player between 1998-2019 has been Stacey Jones, would’ve had him at worst 16th.

JT should be top 5 over Inglis and I agree with the Smith, Johns and Lockyer top 3. Would have JT at 4 and Fittler 5.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Give me Fittler most days of the week.

f**k...I'd have him at #1 purely because he could care less. Knows he was good at what he did. Doesn't need to be reminded.

 

[From Where the Sun Rises]

Give me Fittler most days of the week.

f**k...I'd have him at #1 purely because he could care less. Knows he was good at what he did. Doesn't need to be reminded.

He was certainly a better footballer than Lockyer & Thurston.

 

[Nevan_]

The fact that Cooper Cronk gets mentioned in debates like these is an indication of the atrophying skills of the modern day rugby league player. Cronk’s game management was fantastic, but he didn’t come close to the likes of Johns, Langer and Fittler in terms of skill and the ability to single-handedly dismember the opposition.

 

[Vee]

Absolutely this.

Johns could drag any team to great heights, and every one of the knights would follow him over the hill without question. They were almost unstoppable in the back end of 2005 when theyd made a dogs breakfast of the early season and had next to no hope of finals.

I put Fittler in the same category. Absolute leaders. Yes both played a lot with the predecessors to the NRL but these blokes, Smith and Lockyer the standout top 4 players of this era for mine. With Inglis at 5. Thought a bit more after my original post here with some of the comments and good points from some others.

1 - Smith
2 - Johns
3 - Fittler
4 - Lockyer
5 - Inglis.

Pretty much, though I could omit Fittler as most of his career was before the NRL. I'd argue for Slater and Thurston ahead of Inglis.

The thing for me is Johns and Fittler could both defend, something Lockyer and Thurston both struggled with. Inglis had it but Slater and Thurston both had the constant involvement.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

Pretty much, though I could omit Fittler as most of his career was before the NRL. I'd argue for Slater and Thurston ahead of Inglis.

The thing for me is Johns and Fittler could both defend, something Lockyer and Thurston both struggled with. Inglis had it but Slater and Thurston both had the constant involvement.

Yep some good points there. Thurston also kicked goals, I didn’t consider goal kicking in mine but that could possibly put him above others he’s hard to split from.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Fittler 9 years of ARL/NSWRL (1989-97 2 GFs, 1 title) and 7 years of NRL (1998-2004 4 GFs, 1 title).

 

[GongPanther]

Yeah but what about that bloke from my team

x3 like if I could.

 

[From Where the Sun Rises]

Yeah but what about that bloke from my team

If only Canberra had anyone worth mentioning.

 

[GongPanther]

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.

The voice of reason.

 

[Vee]

Fittler 9 years of ARL/NSWRL (1989-97 2 GFs, 1 title) and 7 years of NRL (1997-2004 4 GFs, 1 title).

Interesting. Too long ago. Is 1997 ARL or NRL?