Best of the best: Who is the No.1 player in the NRL?

As every rugby league fan knows, the NRL is blessed with an abundance of superstars. It is home to all the world’s best league players.

But narrowing the list down to determine the best of the best is no easy task. So to mark the start of the 2024 NRL season, experts from The Sydney Morning Herald and Nine’s Wide World of Sports have come together to give their views – and a collective verdict – on who are the best 50 players in the game right now.

A panel of 10 judges was put together: Andrew Johns, Darren Lockyer, Brad Fittler, Allana Ferguson, Emma Lawrence, Danika Mason, Roy Masters, Andrew Webster, Michael Chammas and Adam Pengilly. Together, they have many decades’ experience of playing, coaching, covering and analysing rugby league at the highest level. The players chosen as the top 50 current NRL players can be sure that they’ve earned their selection.

Each judge was asked to compile a list of their own top 30 current NRL players. They were to order the list 1-30, with the player they considered their No.1 allocated 30 points, their No.2 allocated 29 points, and so on, with the 30th player allocated one point.

After all the judges had submitted their top 30, the total number of players named by the 10 different judges tallied close to 60. We then added up all the points awarded to each player and listed them from most to least. Where there was a tie we sorted it by alphabetical order. The player with the most points was crowned our judges’ pick for the NRL’s No.1-ranked player.

We kicked it off with the players ranked 50-41 on Monday. We’ve since revealed numbers 40-31, numbers 30-21 and numbers 20 to 11. It’s time to crown rugby league’s king.

10. SHAUN JOHNSON (Warriors, 161 points)

Just when you thought one of the best halfbacks of his generation was coming to the end he springs back to life with a dominant season with his home club, the Warriors. At his best he can torment defences, and his game management has matured to the point that he’s now one of the best generals in the NRL. After losing the preliminary final in 2023 he was standing on the field saying that his team was ready to take another step in 2024. That’s great leadership and the kind of confidence every team needs from its halfback.
Danika Mason

9. PAT CARRIGAN (Brisbane, 190)

He’s the glue of the Broncos middle. Simple as that. He plays long minutes and gets through so much work in attack and defence. A lot of it actually goes unnoticed. Carrigan is also an incredible leader. When he talks, his teammates listen! The 26-year-old is now part of the furniture for the Maroons and Kangaroos and his best years are still ahead of him. He’s not known for his try-scoring ability, but who could forget that night last year when he finally broke his duck in his 78th game of first grade?
Emma Lawrence

8. JAMES FISHER-HARRIS (Penrith, 209)

The Panthers have been the benchmark for the last three years and he’s been a big reason for that. He’s an intimidating presence in the middle of the field and he leads from the front. JFH is one of the hardest hitters in the game, he dishes out the punishment and then when it’s his turn to run the ball he’s so difficult to tackle cleanly because he gets his bumper bars up and he finds a way to either get a quick play-the-ball or pop a pass to create something unstructured for his halves and skilful edge forwards. Nathan Cleary’s the man at Penrith but this guy’s not far behind.
Allana Ferguson

7. CAM MURRAY (South Sydney, 222)

There’s a good reason why he’s become one of the first players picked in rep teams. He’s almost the perfect modern forward, although some of the ways he helps a team win go undetected unless you play with him or coach him. He’ll give you a 9/10 just about every week. As a coach you know that you can trust him to do his job. On top of that he’ll come up with the big, match-winning plays, whether that’s a cover tackle or a try to get his team over the line.
Brad Fittler

6. CAM MUNSTER (Melbourne, 232)

I think it’s a big year for Cameron Munster this year. Last year his form dipped a little bit and he wasn’t that really dominant player, and the Storm as a team dropped a level. He has come out publicly and said he lost a little bit of confidence, which really surprised me. I never thought he’d question his confidence, but it’s fair to say last year was the quietest he’s been for a long time. Yet, he’s still one of the few players in the game who can get me out of my seat. A joy to watch.
Andrew Johns

5. HARRY GRANT (Melbourne, 246)

His speed off the mark out of dummy half makes him the most dangerous No.9 in the game. He’s also got a kick in him, he’s a great competitor and he’s extremely fit. If you get a bit of a roll on with your forwards, Grant has the weapons to capitalise and defensively you’re more worried about how he can hurt you than what the No.7 might do. His game awareness is very good. When there’s one marker or tired forwards, he can read the game very well and he has the speed off the mark to make him extremely dangerous.
Darren Lockyer

4. REECE WALSH (Brisbane, 258)

He’s destined to become a great fullback but his fourth ranking in the Herald and Wide World Of Sports′ elite 50 reflects an aura that outshines reality, newly enhanced by catching a Tom Brady spiral pass in a theatrette. He’s a natural in attack, a pop-up player who will improve with the guidance of a veteran halfback and a strong Broncos pack. He enjoys the freedom to attack from open field but loses focus in defence. There were many ways the Broncos lost the 2023 grand final but the first try they conceded came from a Panthers’ kick, a bouncing ball and Walsh nowhere to be seen.
Roy Masters

3. PAYNE HAAS (Brisbane, 271)

The Broncos prop is one of the most destructive forwards of the modern era and has the motor to match. He’s been voted the best forward in the game on the back of an impressive 2023 season, leading the Broncos to a grand final. Haas averaged the most post-contact metres of any player in the competition last year with more than 70 metres per game, finishing ahead of Penrith metre-eater Brian To’o and powerful Knights winger Greg Marzhew. He also has the skill to complement his power, finishing in the top five players in the NRL for average offloads per game (2.2).
Michael Chammas

2. KALYN PONGA (Newcastle, 275)

Just less than a year ago, Ponga flew to Canada fearing his career was over after another concussion. Yet at the start of 2024 he has a Dally M Medal around his neck as 2023’s leading player and almost stands atop the mountain as the NRL’s best. For 10 magical weeks, he threw the Newcastle Knights on his back and carried them to a fairytale finals appearance. Can he do it again? It would be a brave man to say not, and then there’s the little matter of recapturing his Queensland State of Origin jumper.
Adam Pengilly

1. NATHAN CLEARY (Penrith, 300)

How do you define greatness? Winning three premierships with Penrith, State of Origin titles with NSW and World Cups for Australia was never going to be enough for the Penrith halfback’s critics. But the manner in which he dragged his team back into last year’s grand final against Brisbane, with the Panthers trailing by 16 points with 20 minutes to go, ended the debate. Only the special playmakers like Lewis, Johns or Thurston are capable of such heroics in the biggest games. Cleary joined them that night. By the way: he’s only 26.
Andrew Webster

The NRL’s Top 50:

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