Although no kid grows up dreaming of being a bench player, the impact that they can have on the game is just as significant.
Case and point the NSW Origin team for 2018, although Jack De Belin started at lock for the Blues, Jake Trbojevic is a far superior player in terms of his tackling and running output.
However, Brad Fittler thought that Trbojevic had greater potential to change the game off the bench than De Belin, so he made the selection accordingly.
So take a look below at who we think are the best bench players in the NRL.
4. Alex Twal
A relative unknown to most apart from diehard Wests Tigers fans, Alex Twal has proved to be a great investment following his mid-season switch to the Tigers from Parramatta in 2017.
Still only 22, Twal is a prototype NRL front-rower, in that he is tall, built, and surprisingly mobile for a man of his size.
After debuting for the Tigers in 2017, Twal cemented himself on the Tigers bench in 2018. The Eels junior had a breakout year, playing all but one of his 21 appearances off the bench, and only being absent from the final few rounds due to injury.
A somewhat surprising statistic that popped up during my research for this article was that the young prop possesses the most effective tackle percentage in the competition, with 95.3%. He also averages an impressive 94 running metres per game from 7.9 hit ups.
With the bruise brothers Russel Packer and Ben Matulino getting no younger, look for Twal to stake a claim for a starting jersey sooner rather than later.
I thought when Sims came off the bench for NSW at Origin time he was like letting a Pitty off its leash. Masterstroke. Same with Hunt (at hooker) and Ponga coming off the bench for QLD. Back in the days the best guy off the bench was Ifeka Paleasena (probably spelled wrong). Just came on for 10-20 mins and turned it up for the Warriors.
Mitchell Aubusson would have to be there surely?