The best and most important players in the NRL are often spine players.

All of the top teams have a number of excellent players in the spine, and the Dally M Medal count was dominated by spine players in 2021.

While fullback Tom Trbojevic won it, the top five was made up of halves Nathan Cleary, Cody Walker and Daly Cherry-Evans, while another fullback rounded it out with James Tedesco finishing fifth.

All of those players are at the peak of their powers, and their teams made up those going deep into the finals.

There could be a change a foot for 2022 though, with a few bottom-eight teams from 2021 appearing in the top eight of this list.

Yesterday, we ran through the bottom eight spines in the competition, and now, it's time for the top eight.

Here is the list.

7. Cronulla Sharks

William Kennedy, Nicho Hynes, Matt Moylan, Blayke Brailey

With Braydon Trindall missing the start of the season with suspension and having an overall poor trial, the Sharks are likely to go with Matt Moylan and Nicho Hynes in the halves, for now at least.

Will Kennedy is an excellent fullback and, having gone from strength to strength in 2021, could enter the upper echelon of NRL fullbacks soon.

Nicho Hynes comes into the season in red-hot Melbourne form, while the hooker partnership of Blayke Brailey and Cam McInnes provides the right balance between strong defence and electric attack. Matt Moylanโ€™s best is not beyond him, but he needs to stay injury-free to nail down a spot in the side going forward.