Despite the excitement for the upcoming State of Origin series, let's face it - for the next two months the NRL is going to largely take a back seat.

That's not to say it won't be brilliant, any rugby league is better than none, but there's a plethora of Origin-effected tussles coming up.

Although I'll likely complain about it, the truth is we have been spoiled thus far in 2023.

So much so that I've compiled a list of the top five NRL games of the season. The cut off is the end of Round 12, so any Round 13 games that have completed before publication were not considered.

Initially I shortlisted 14 games, cut down to nine then painstakingly reduced to five. I re-watched highlights of the top nine, so this was a fun one to put together.

Let us know below what was your game of the season, either for your side or just in general.

Here are my top five NRL games (as of May 25) in 2023:

Shortlisted: Roosters vs Souths (Round 3), Roosters vs Dragons (Round 8), Dolphins vs Broncos (Round 4), Knights vs Panthers (Round 7)

4. Sharks vs Warriors - Round 5

Look away Sharks fans .. of which I am one.

This is a game that will be burned into my memory for many years to come.

What started as a dream, in the bright Shire sunshine, ended up a nightmare in rain and misery.

The Sharks, at home, crossed inside the first minute. They scored again in the fifth minute. Then again in the 14th. Once more in the 26th.

Nicho Hynes went bang, bang, bang with the boot and the Sharks ran up 26 unanswered points right in line with the clock.

Then they completely and utterly forgot how to play the game.

Shaun Johnson wound back the clock to haunt his former team with a best on ground performance. Josh Curran owned the middle. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad ran for 207 metres but it felt like 307.

With the game all square at 26-all with two minutes to go, Shaun Johnson nailed a long range penalty goal to seemingly complete the most likely of comebacks (at that point anyway).

There would be one more twist though as the Sharks were awarded a penalty from the resulting kick off.

Nicho Hynes, kicking into a gale wind, had a chance to send this into Golden Point from 45 metres out, after the siren.

He would give it everything but it would fall well short, consigning the Sharks to a defeat they snatched from the jaws of victory, while the Warriors celebrated one of the all time comebacks.