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)

2. Souths vs Panthers - Round 8

South Sydney 20 defeated Stephen Crichton 18.

This was one of the highest intensity regular season games I can remember. This felt like a final preview and I have no doubt that's what it will prove to be.

The aforementioned Crichton crossed for a hat-trick, landed two conversions and slotted a penalty goal to score all his teams points.

Unfortunately, for Crichton, the final moments ensured his feats were largely forgotten.

Isaiah Tass's match winner in the 78th minute capped off a magnificent late fightback that saw Souths beat the defending back to back premiers in front of almost 20,000 people.

Latrell Mitchell crossed for a double, including a 74th minute try that set up the previously mentioned grandstand finish.

There was almost a 50/50 split of the ball. Both forward packs bashed either each. We had Origin quality players delivering the goods all across the park.

In any other season, this could very well have been the game of the year. It was oh so close to sitting atop the order here if not for ...