The NRL is home to the world’s best rugby 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 2025 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 judges was put together: Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler, Darren Lockyer, Allana Ferguson, Roy Masters, Robert Dillon, Billie Eder, Dan Walsh, Adrian Proszenko, Michael Chammas, Christian Nicolussi and Marlee Silva. 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 from 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.
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 pick for the NRL’s No.1-ranked player.
That player will be unveiled on Friday, when the Herald and Wide World of Sports publishes the final article in our 50-1 series. Today we rank the players from 30-21.
30. Nicho Hynes (Sharks, 49 points)
He’s not just one of the NRL’s great role models, Nicho Hynes is also a hell of a player. He’s a Dally M winner, a NSW Origin and Kangaroos representative and, undoubtedly, Cronulla’s main man in their quest for a first premiership since 2016. The Sharks have featured in the play-offs in each of the three seasons since Hynes arrived in the Shire, without genuinely challenging for the title. The arrival of Addin Fonua-Blake could change that, and Hynes will be the man entrusted with converting the big prop’s go-forward into points on the board. Is this the year Nicho proves nice guys can finish first?
29. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (Titans, 50)
The Gold Coast captain is a fierce and formidable opponent who relishes it when push comes to shove. As he has shown previously on the State of Origin battlefield, when big Tino enters beast mode he can be a destructive force. One of the first forwards picked for Queensland and the Kangaroos, he is still only 25 and presumably the best years of his career are ahead of him. Returning from a knee reconstruction that restricted him to just two games last season, he will be intent on making up for lost time, and his sheer size and physicality will be welcomed by both the Titans and Maroons – if not by opposition forwards.
Tino Fa’asuamaleaui carries four Samoa defenders over the line to score for the Kangaroos.Credit: Getty
28. Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins, 54)
The England centre has established himself as one of the best players in his position, with a superb all-round game that makes him integral to the Dolphins. An offloading machine, he triggers some of his team’s best attacking movements due to his refusal to die with the ball and is also one of the top tackle breakers in the competition. Will have a significant hand in ensuring Kristian Woolf’s first season with the Dolphins goes smoothly.
27. Ryan Papenhuyzen (Storm, 62)
Has had one of the roughest injury runs of any player in the NRL over the last five years but the Storm No.1 showed once again how resilient he is by getting back to top form in 2024 after a fractured kneecap took him out for more than 12 months and then a fractured ankle finished his season in the 2023 finals series. Still just 26, the Storm star is back on a trajectory to being considered one of the best fullbacks in the game.
26. Zac Lomax (Eels, 87)
Regarded as an exceptional talent since debuting in the NRL in 2018, it took until last season for Lomax to realise his potential. Switched to wing by Dragons coach Shane Flanagan, he scored a career-best 14 tries in the season and proceeded to debut for NSW and the Kangaroos. The towering goalkicker has since signed with Parramatta and appears intent on returning to his preferred position, in the centres. But come Origin time, he is likely to be back on the flank for NSW, where he was such a weapon last year. Still only 25, he shapes as a key figure in Parramatta’s rebuild under new coach Jason Ryles.
25. Brian To’o (Panthers, 95)
A power-packed metre-eating machine, To’o has been a key reason behind the Panthers’ dominance over the past four years, with his carries at the beginning of sets putting his team on the front foot and allowing his forwards to rest. An excellent finisher at the other end, with 80 tries from his 117 NRL games, it’s no wonder he’s considered the game’s elite winger.
Brian To’o crosses for NSW.Credit: Getty
24. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Dolphins, 96)
Remember all the fuss about the Dolphins being unable to sign a marquee player for their inaugural NRL season? Well, apparently they did, it’s just that nobody realised. When the “Hammer” left North Queensland at the end of 2022, he had 50 top-grade games under his belt and was already renowned as one of the NRL’s elite speedsters. But he was a backline nomad with no settled role, often playing off the bench. Since then, he has improved exponentially, as evidenced by his hat-trick in Origin I last year and selection in the Kangaroos squad for the Pacific Championships. Still only 23, he is now a lethal weapon, but we haven’t seen the best of Tabuai-Fidow. He’ll be leaving defenders in his slipstream for many years to come, whether he’s playing fullback, centre or wing.
23. Tom Dearden (Cowboys, 106)
Now one of the leading playmakers in the competition, the Cowboys halfback has established himself as the man most likely to succeed Daly Cherry-Evans as Queensland’s long-term halfback. At just 23, Dearden is arguably the Cowboys’ most important player and has already been capped four times by the Maroons and three times by the Kangaroos. Still at such a tender age for a halfback, Dearden has the chance to continue to move up this list and become a top-10 player in the competition.
22. Pat Carrigan (Broncos, 108)
Has become one of the leading middle forwards in the game and, alongside Payne Haas, is 50 per cent of arguably the most feared one-two punch in the NRL. Rated highly as a leader, Carrigan has the potential to be the next captain of the Maroons and is jockeying to inherit the Broncos armband once Adam Reynolds moves on. If Brisbane are to make good on their potential to win a premiership in Michael Maguire’s first year as coach, Carrigan will have played a key role in it.
21. Daly Cherry-Evans (Sea Eagles, 121)
The Queensland captain at 35, Cherry-Evans is one of the NRL’s finest advertisements for longevity. The Manly playmaker is super consistent and routinely appears among the elite for game-breaking stats like try assists and 40/20s. He turns 36 before the Sea Eagles kick off their 2025 season but has vowed to continue to play at Origin level unless selectors intervene due to a loss of form. It would be brave to back against him.
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