Straight off the bat, I'm going to admit that ranking the second rowers in 2022 was the most difficult of all lists.
There were so many good performers this season which made narrowing it down to just the ten very difficult.
Ranking them was even more difficult. I very much look forward to the comments, which again I expect only to be complimentary.
Here are the top 10 NRL backrowers from 2022. Only performances this year are taken into account and only players who were named in the back row more often than they were in other positions are eligible.
For the record Liam Martin, Briton Nikora and Jai Arrow were all shortlisted but missed the final cut.
8. Haumole Olakau'atu
Olakau'atu was one of Manly's best in 2022. Cherry-Evans aside, he may have been the star performer across the season.
If he starts 2023 in good form, there is every chance he'll make an Origin debut that probably should have come earlier this season.
In a largely dire Manly side, in his 21 games he crossed for 10 tries, made 11 line breaks, produced 11 offloads, ran for over 100 metres per game and broke an eye watering 111 tackles.
The 24 year-old, wide running wrecking ball can be very proud of his return this year. Manly could do worse than to build around their newly minted prized asset.
Koloamatangi for me, for consistency.
I was surprised you gave Briton Nikora a place in the shortlist. I don’t rate him as highly as Cronulla compatriots Williams and Wilton (but you’re probably a better judge of Sharks personnel than I am).