NRL legend Cameron Smith has ranked who he believes is the best hooker remaining in this year's finals series.
The former Queensland and Australian captain was spoiled for choice with a handful of quality number 9s still in the race for the 2022 premiership.
While the Penrith Panthers (Apisai Koroisau) and North Queensland Cowboys (Reece Robson) have already advanced to the preliminary finals, all of the Parramatta Eels (Reed Mahoney), Canberra Raiders (Tom Starling and Zac Woolford), Cronulla Sharks (Blayke Brailey) and South Sydney Rabbitohs (Damien Cook) all still remain in the finals race.
“It’s a difficult one, they’re all pretty well matched when you put them all together," Smith said on SEN's The Captain's Run.
"I think out of those six though, I’d probably say Reece Robson.
“I think he’s been outstanding for the Cowboys this year, (he’s) another young man who played a little bit of football before going to the Cowboys, but he’s made such a difference there.
“You think over the last year he's been playing that tandem role with Jake Granville, where some games he’d start and some games he would come off the bench, he must have had a huge pre-season.
“He must have put Todd Payten in a position where he said I can’t not pick him at nine, he’s playing that well, on top of his great service from dummy-half and he’s got a great pass on him."
Smith's lauding of Robson is not without warrant, as the 24-year-old has played every game for the Cowboys this season, sitting on 25 appearances where he has taken his game to the next level.
Notching up over 1000 tackles at an efficiency of 95% and racking up near 1900 running meters and 7 tries.
"It's hard to overlook some of these (other) guys," Smith continued, "like Api Koroisau, he’s played 23 games this season and he’s played great."
“Blayke Brailey at the Sharks he’s been integral… Reed Mahoney’s played strong again, it’s hard to single one out, but if I had to it would be Reece Robson, out of those final six teams.”
