North Queensland Cowboys great Johnathan Thurston has been named the greatest player of the NRL era, beating out the likes of Andrew Johns and Cameron Smith.
Thurston won everything there is to win in the game in his illustrious career with both the Cowboys and the Bulldogs, cementing his status as one of the legends of the game with his 2015 premiership win.
The Cowboys and Queensland legend placed ahead of Johns and Smith, while Darren Lockyer, Billy Slater, Brad Fittler, Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk, Jason Taumalolo and Laurie Daley rounded out the top 10.
10. LAURIE DALEY
RECORD: 244 games (87 tries), 23 Origins (6 tries), 21 Tests (11 tries); 3x premierships (1989, 1990, 1994), 2x Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year (1995, 1996).
"Competitiveness, apart from his running ability, he was one of the greatest-ball runners the game has ever seen. He can make something out of nothing. In his younger days he was extremely quick, but he had a power and a strength about him. What I noticed about Laurie too, Laurie could throw the first step and he was already thinking about his third step. The people in front of him, he'd already beaten before he got to them. He was actually thinking about how he was going to beat people in the backfield and they were going to do from there. I once said to him as a player that I thought he was passing the ball too much and I said if I'm coaching against you, I want you to pass the ball, I am scared when you've got the ball in your hands. He had the ability to catch everything, I don't ever remember him dropping one." - Phil Gould
"Laurie was the best defender out of just about any back I've ever seen. He'd stand up to front-rowers, he was great with people that had footwork and he very rarely missed tackles. He could pick up a bad pass and turn it into a good pass, that's a really hard skill to do. He could turn something bad into something positive (in an instant)."- Brad Fittler
9. JASON TAUMALOLO
RECORD: 182 games (35 tries), 23 Tests (2 tries); premiership (2015), Dally M Medal (2016), 3x Dally M Lock of the Year (2015, 2016, 2018).
"He's just a machine. The agility for a big man, he runs around like a 90kg man, the way he steps and props. He is a wrecking-ball. We haven't seen a damaging player like him with the ball and over time he's developed a motor. He plays huge minutes and he's just destructive with and without the ball. We've never seen a player as destructive as him. Even Gorden Tallis at his best, I think he beats Gorden." - Andrew Johns
"It's interesting with Jason's career, and it's a lesson to all kids about perseverance and the importance of self-belief as well, if you remember back in the Under-20s competition he was dynamic. Even when he first came into first grade, he looked like being anything. He then went into a two-year lull, he lacked confidence, he lacked self-belief, they started to use him in shorter minutes and question his work ethic and then all of a sudden he came out of that and stopped listening to the negatives and stopped listening to people criticising him and started to put his own skill forward believing in himself. It's a tremendous story for perseverance and development." - Phil Gould
"He's also taken it to the next level with the Tongan team and the impact he's had with that." - Brad Fittler
8. COOPER CRONK
RECORD: 372 games (101 tries), 22 Origins (3 tries), 38 Tests (16 tries); 4x premierships (2012, 2017, 2018, 2019), Clive Churchill Medal (2012), 2x Dally M Medal (2013, 2016), 5x Dally M Halfback of the Year (2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016), Golden Boot Award (2016).
"The biggest thing Cooper did was get the most out of himself. He was able to just draw on everything and he did whatever possible through training. To be able to come from Melbourne where everyone gets aligned with Cameron Smith and everything is because of Cameron Smith, to the Roosters and not only beat Melbourne in a Grand Final with one arm, which was possibly the best performance I've nearly ever seen, and then back it up again to be the first team. To understand what he does off the field, how he drives his team at training to get the best out of themselves, he's thoroughly deserving." - Brad Fittler
"(The 2018 Grand Final) is the stuff of legend because I wonder how that story will be told in the future. If we think of the term professional and what epitomises a professional person, Cooper Cronk is the closest thing we've ever had to it in rugby league. He was a student of the game. He took the game as a science, everything was process-driven and everything about him required planning, execution, review to get better the next time he did it. He was also playing with a great group of players which contributed to that, but he contributed to their greatness as well. He showed what a great team man he was when we spoke to Trent Robinson after the Roosters won that game he played with a broken shoulder, and he had been ruled out on the Thursday night and wasn't actually ruled back in until the night before the game. So they sat down and said what are we going to do about the game plan and he said just do what you've been doing all week and I'll just walk around as a decoy and they'll think we're doing something different. He totally gave ownership of the team to Luke Keary and the players that had trained all week." - Phil Gould
"(The move to Sydney) was huge for his career because a lot of the talk would be around playing in between Cameron Smith and Billy Slater, but then he went to the Roosters and changed a few things there from a club point of view. He wasn't a natural halfback, but he just programmed himself and worked so hard so he left nothing behind." - Andrew Johns
7. GREG INGLIS
RECORD: 263 games (149 tries), 32 Origins (18 tries), 39 Tests (31 tries); premiership (2014), Clive Churchill Medal (2007), Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year (2008), Dally M Fullback of the Year (2013), 2x Dally M Representative Player of the Year (2008, 2009), Golden Boot Award (2009), Wally Lewis Medal 2009.
"I remember him as a great left-centre in Origin. He had the talent at club level to play virtually wherever he liked. I was actually surprised at his transition from centre to fullback when he made it because it's such a hard position to play nowadays and so demanding. He showed what a great athlete he was to accommodate to that very quickly." - Phil Gould
6. BRAD FITTLER
RECORD: 336 games (122 tries), 31 Origins (8 tries), 38 Tests (17 tries); 2x premierships (1991, 2002), Rothmans Medal (1997), 2x Dally M Centre of the Year (1992, 1993), Dally M Lock of the Year (1994), 3x Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year (1998, 1999, 2002), Dally M Captain of the Year (1999), Golden Boot Award (2000).
5. BILLY SLATER
RECORD: 319 games (190 tries), 31 Origins (12 tries), 30 Tests (27 tries); 2x premierships (2012, 2017), 2x Clive Churchill Medal (2009, 2017), Dally M Medal (2011), 3x Dally M Fullback of the Year (2008, 2011, 2017), Dally M Representative Player of the Year (2010), Golden Boot Award (2008), 2x Wally Lewis Medal (2010, 2018).
"He expanded (the fullback position). There were a lot of fullbacks who could do some of the things Billy could do, but they couldn't do all the thing she could do. When you were planning to play against a team with Billy Slater in it as a fullback, we talk about the fullback having a relationship with the dummy half, the halfback and the edge both inside and outside, Billy Slater could do that on one play. He could actually be behind the dummy half, but receive the ball three passes wide on the same play and support every one of those playmakers along the way. No player I have ever seen could do all of that in the one play. It was like having two extra players on the field for the Melbourne Storm. I know he was fast, he wasn't slow, but the thing about Billy was that he wasn't blinding quick, but he was flat out the whole time. He was never not at full pace and he just seemed to have a great sense of timing of where to be and the timing of his run." - Phil Gould
"You could never relax against him out there because he could hurt you through the middle, with his play, with his aversion, he's the thinking man's fullback. When he didn't have the football as well, I think he revolutionised the way that fullbacks defend. The video work he'd do on opponents and to know what was coming, he was equally as effective without the football." - Peter Sterling
4. DARREN LOCKYER
RECORD: 355 games (123 tries), 36 Origins (9 tries), 59 Tests (35 tries); 4x premierships (1997 Super League, 1998, 2000, 2006), Clive Churchill Medal (2000), 3x Dally M Fullback of the Year (1998, 2001, 2002), 3x Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year (2004, 2006, 2007), 2x Dally M Representative Player of the Year (2001, 2006), 2x Golden Boot Awrd (2003, 2006), Wally Lewis Medal (2006).
"It was always unbelievable playing with Locky. I played with a lot of great players, but when he came in as an 18-year-old, we didn't really know who he was because there's a lot of kids coming through there who go to reserve grade and train. Wayne brought him straight from Under-18s and all of a sudden this kid was training with us and we said what's this kid's name and where does he play?
" When he came in as a young bloke teams tried to rough him up. Everyone knew he was skillful and fast, but I just couldn't believe how tough he was and he lived for those moments and he instilled that in the playing group around him. Especially working with him as a winger, he really complimented us and we were all very proud to play with him.
" It's just knowing where to be, players knew how to react to him. He just had this instinct where players knew when Locky wanted the ball he'd just sweep and he was just such a competitor. Transitioning from fullback to five-eighth it was just unbelievable." - Wendell Sailor
" They talk about the talent scouts who found these players like someone wasn't going to find them eventually. It's in their gait, their style of movement. After two or three years, every opponent knew what Darren Lockyer could do, what foot he stepped off, where he liked to get himself into the play, but no one could stop it and that's the sign of a great player. He'd keep doing it over and over and over again and was always a thorn in the side of the opposition. The thing I remember most vividly about Darren Lockyer was close finishes. At Origin and club level, he would pull games out of the fire in dying moments just with his calm composure and the way he rallied people around him. Extraordinary talent." - Phil Gould
3. CAMERON SMITH
RECORD: 413 games* (45 tries), 42 Origins (5 tries), 56 Tests (9 tries); 2x premierships (2012, 2017), 2x Dally M Medal (2006, 2017), 8x Dally M Hooker of the Year (2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019), 4x Dally M Representative Player of the Year (2007, 2011, 2013, 2016), 5x Dally M Captain of the Year (2011, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019), 2x Golden Boot Award (2007, 2017), 4x Wally Lewis Medal (2007, 2011, 2013, 2016).
"I've seen first-hand throughout my career what Cam brings to a team. He's got so many great attributes a rugby league player needs like his skill, he's so calm and he's got time with the footy, but he's often the best player and the most influential player on the field and the opposition don't even notice him. That's the scary thing about Cameron Smith, he can beat you without you even knowing he's beating you. He's the ultimate teammate, he puts others around him in better positions. He touches the ball first in every play the ball and he makes the first decision on every play the ball so that sets the team up for success.
"He's had to evolve because he's played in different eras, but he's always had that calmness. He's always been this type of player that's just a leader, a guy that is never flustered or overawed by a situation. I think he's just gotten better with his timing and skill and the way that the modern day game is now, No.9 is an integral part of the team and I think it's probably the most important position nowadays in rugby league.
" He's first-class although his body might not reflect that. He works as hard as anyone. I saw him a couple of years ago and he's quite often the last person at training, and this is after I retired. I went to training one day and he was doing his goal kicking after everyone left. There was a couple of media people there, so he did his interviews and then he went back for goal-kicking. He doesn't care what time he leaves the training paddock, he doesn't care what time he finishes his recovery, he's as hard a worker as I've seen." - Billy Slater
" I don't think I've ever seen a player who understands momentum better than Cameron Smith. When they need to play up tempo, he somehow generates that, and when they need a break and they need to slow the game down, he's the one that somehow invariably gets the job done in that area." - Peter Sterling
2. ANDREW JOHNS
RECORD: 249 games (80 tries), 23 Origins (4 tries), 23 Tests (9 tries); 2x premierships (1997 ARL, 2001), Clive Churchill Medal (2001), 3x Dally M Medal 1998, 1999, 2002), 4x Dally M Halfback of the Year (1995, 1998, 19999, 2002), Dally M Representative Player of the Year (2005), 2x Golden Boot Award (1999, 2001), Immortal (2012).
1. JOHNATHAN THURSTON
RECORD: 323 games (90 tries), 37 Origins (5 tries), 38 Tests (13 tries); 2x premierships (2004, 2015), Clive Churchill Medal (2015), 4x Dally M Medal (2005, 2007, 2014, 2015), 4x Dally M Halfback of the Year (2005, 2007, 2009, 2015), 3x Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year (2012, 2013, 2014), Dally M Captain of the Year (2015), 3x Golden Boot Award (2011, 2013, 2015), Wally Lewis Medal (2008).
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/the-greatest-top-10-players-nrl-era-johnathan-thurston-cameron-smith/6d5e8d56-91f0-45a5-a170-c49d29441307
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