Fullback : Darren Lockyer
This was an incredibly difficult choice for me, There have been more contenders for best fullback this decade than there have been in the last two decades. Lockyer gets it because he has to be in the side and basically so does Fittler. Even though he only played from 2000-2003 at Fullback he has been superb for the entire decade, His performance in the 2004 tri series final was the best individual performance of the decade to date.
Wingers : Hazem El Masri & Anthony Minichello
This was also a difficult choice on the basis that no one particuarly stood out. Sailor,Tuqiri,Rogers,Folau,Williams,Carney weren't around long enough, Blacklock i feel played his best football from 98-00 so i will rule him out, Tahu and Lewis seemed to spend most of there time away from the wing, Many didn't live up to the hype Hegarty,Utai,Rooney,Grothe.
Minichello didn't play much on the wing either but he had 3 seasons there and was very good on the wing but more at fullback since there are no real standouts.
El Masri whilst he isn't the best player in the world became the leading pointscorer in the history of Australian Rugby League and has been consistently good for the entire decade.
Centres : Mark Gasnier & Ryan Girdler
I chose Girds basically on the back of his unparallelled individual success in the 2000 season he was also very good for Penrith from 2002-2004 he even worked his way back into the Australian side in 2003. Although Hodges,Lyon,Cooper and Inglis were very close i thought Girdler just pipped them.
Gasnier was the easiest selection in the outside backs i feel.
Five Eighth : Brad Fittler
This was an easy selection since you can move Lockyer to fullback there is basically no competition for Freddy.
Halfback : Andrew Johns
Johns along with Fittler and Lockyer were the best players of the decade, There was no way you could leave him out, Though with Jones,Kimmorley,Thurston and Prince at least there was some depth to the competition.
Props : Shane Webcke & Petero Civoniceva
Shane Webcke was the easiest forward to pick he was the best player in his position nearly every season of his career, Which is quite phenomenal to be perfectly honest especially in such a gruelling and demanding position.
Petero was basically in a flip of the coin with Steve Price for the front row position, Petero has also been remarkably consistent and has been superb since signing for Penrith and along with Price looklike they could both play a few more seasons yet, Luke Bailey was quite unlucky also but i don't think he is as good as the 3 mentioned.
Hooker : Danny Buderus
Buderus was a very consistent performer for Newcastle,NSW and Australia. He just squeezes past Cameron Smith,Robbie Farah,Luke Priddis,Craig Wing and Craig Gower. If i were honest i always thought Buderus was slightly overrated that's not to say he isn't a great player he clearly is great. I just don't think he is the best Dummy Half ever to be honest like they always seemed to shove down your throat on channel 9,
Cameron Smith was incredibly unlucky to be honest i only picked Buderus over him because he always was chosen over him for Australia.
Luke Priddis is also a player i feel was really really underrated he won 2 premierships with two different clubs he was great for the Broncos but even better for Penrith he was and i think still is the leading try scorer for a dummy half in the history of the game, Yet he was rarely mentioned when it comes to great players of the decade his performance in the 2003 was probably the best individual performance in a Grand Final for the decade though Luke Phillips,Morley and Kennedy would be close. Like i say i feel he is really underrated but since Buderus got selected over these two it has to be him.
Second Rowers : Gordon Tallis and Adrian Morley
Gordon Tallis was the most devastating forward in the game until his neck injury, he was aggressive always gave his all and played with heart and passion.
Adrian Morley i seriously can't believe people don't have him in there team of the decade. He was awesome for the Roosters from 2002 until he left the Roosters were successful on the back of there rushing and imposing defence this would never of been possible without Morley, Yes they had Mick Crocker,Jason Cayless and Ricketson who also played a big part. But before he got to the Roosters the reason they had failed under Gould was that there Forward pack lacked the nessicary aggression to win the competition, It was the same reason the Dragons didn't win a comp in the mid 2000's there forwards got pushed about by better sides and didn't do enough to stop them, But once Morley settled into the NRL they were the team intimidating the opposition. he was a superb player played every game like it was his last made every hit up and tackle at a hundred miles per hour he was awesome to be honest, I really think the NRL misses players like him and a prime Wiki and Tallis they gave there all every match of course all players do but they did it in an aggressive way which makes it more enjoyable in my opinion yes they sailed close to the wind on occasions but it's more enjoyable to watch players who do this. They played every game like it was there last and it was a joy watching the three players i mentioned.
Lock : Ben Kennedy
This was a pretty easy choice to be honest, Dallas Johnson and Tonie Carroll for me were the next best options and i don't believe they were in the class of Ben Kennedy.
Interchange : Steve Price,Nathan Hindmarsh,Ruben Wiki,Greg Inglis
Price deserves it been consistant for a long long time now and along with Petero been the best prop in the game since Webcke retired.
Hindmarsh has been mr Parramatta this decade and has been very consistent the entire decade and beats out Fitzgibbon for the hard working high workrate backrow spot.
Wiki like Morley and Tallis was full of aggression his best season i felt was 2003 when the Raiders finished 4th in the regular season he was incredible that season which was one of the best ever i felt because of the likes of him, He was also great for many years and a true champion his entire career
Inglis just beats out Billy slater for the Utility Back position a wonderful player and amazing to watch in full flight.
