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)

3. Dragons vs Roosters - Round 12

Some games are ok, pretty good even, through 78 minutes, but what happens in that final two minutes catapults the contest into the unforgettable category.

The Dragons 24-22 win over the Roosters was exactly that ... and then some.

Don't get me wrong, this was an entertaining game throughout. We saw some brilliant tries as two desperate teams scratched and clawed.

That said, the carnage of that final play that saw Tyrell Sloan kick across the park in the mother of "all or nothing" plays, only to see Mathew Feagai gather the ball, step inside and score under the sticks, is all people will remember.

Truthfully it's all you need to remember for it to hold a place firmly in the top five contests this season.

Just to add some context - the Roosters were on a two game slide, while the Dragons themselves had lost five straight. The latter said goodbye to their coach in the days leading up to this game.

You could have been forgiven for writing this off as a "6pm classic" but every player on the field went out of his way to prove you wrong.

Ben Hunt throwing his hands on his head as the kick went up, only to throw them in the air following the match-winning try, is a moment I won't soon forget.

rugby league theatre at its very finest! What a moment, what a game!