The winger used to be the worst and least important player on the team. The player that wasn't quite good enough to be a half or fullback and wasn't strong enough to play centre.
There's a reason there are a million footy jokes about wingers. That age is well and truly over.
While it might still technically be the least important, wingers are crucial to a team's success. These days, they take all the hard runs off the line when their team is in trouble and score most of the tries. Metre-making and try-scoring.
Both are pretty important aspects of rugby league.
With players seemingly getting younger and younger, and their talent getting higher and higher, there is a huge pool of players who are scoring tries on the wing only a few years into their career.
Here are the five best wingers aged 22 and under.
3. Taylan May - 20
The Penrith Panthers haven't skipped a beat since losing the best winger in the game in Brian To'o, and Taylan May is the biggest reason for it.
Playing four games in 2022, May has scored seven tries, broken 18 tackles and has 5 line breaks, all while averaging nearly 200m a game. Scoring a try in every game he has played, May has quickly climbed the winger ranks.
Brian To'o is going to come right back into his wing spot as soon as he's healthy, but I wouldn't be surprised if May steals the spot of the man ranked just below him.
Playing for the Penrith Panthers is practically like making the NSW Blues side, and any team in the competition would be happy to have Staines' acrobatics on their wing.
