With the off-season comes the usual troupes.
Talk of expansion, the divisions talk, player movements and of course post-season rankings.
Today we're here to focus on the rankings. More specifically, the NRL five-eighth rankings from 2023.
Please keep in mind that these rankings are based only on 2023. Both NRL and Origin performances will be taken into account. Not specifically who is the best five-eighth outright.
Before we start, I'm going to take a moment to answer some of the usual questions to appear in the comments to any sort of rankings.
Do I even watch football? Yes, every game.
Are my eyes painted on? No. That would be funny though.
Who am I? Just a fan.
This was by far the more difficult to rank, thus far. It's also the list I'm expecting to cop more grief for in the comments. That's ultimately what it's about though, right?
With that said, below are the top 10 NRL five-eighths based purely and totally on 2023:
Honourable mentions: Jack Wighton
10. Matt Burton
To further endear myself to the Canterbury faithful, I don't think Burton had a great season in 2023. He was just better than some slim pickings.
Four tries, 16 try assists, 13 line break assists, 350 kicking metres per game and 82 run metres per game put him above Jack Wighton, who he edged out for 10th.
Burton was far too one dimensional in 2023 but to be completely frank, he was forced to play a lone hand far too often.
The one thing you can never accuse Burton of is phoning it in. The bloke bleeds for the Bulldogs and if he ever receives the assistance he deserves, can rocket up the rankings.
I wondered where you would put Dylan Brown and Luke Keary.
Personally, I would have moved Keary a bit higher and had Brown somewhere near the bottom of the list. As you said with Kieran Foran, it’s not just the stats – it’s also what the eyes tell you and my eyes didn’t tell me the Parra 5/8 was one of the top 50% of players in that position.