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
2. Cameron Munster
There was a fair bit of online criticism when Cam Munster was overlooked for the Dally M five-eighth of the year. I see the argument but I'm very happy placing him second here.
Munster is another player whose involvements are far more important than the measurable stats will show.
Eight tries, 15 try assists, six line break assists 236 kick metres per game, 28 offloads and 125 run metres per game show he was super involved in everything.
Munster was brilliant again for club, state and country. It's hard to be shocked by that by the great Melbourne number six.
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.