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
5. Kieran Foran
This is an entry where stats are hard to prove the ranking, but truthfully the eye test confirms Foran was a top five number six in 2023.
The way he lead and inspired the Titans kept the club in the Finals race for many weeks more than they otherwise deserved.
Foran made 20 appearances for the Gold Coast in 2023, scoring six tries, setting up five, assisting 11 line breaks and tackling at over 86%.
If other Titans players played with the heart of their 33 year-old five-eighth, they'd have walked into the Finals this year.
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.