The prop forwards. Not a position that draws the attention of the halfback role, or even the modern-day fullback, but just as important.
They say that Origin is won in the forwards. It's hard to name a brilliant halfback who stars with any sort of consistency whilst playing behind a beaten forward pack.
In 2022 we are spoilt when it comes to middle forwards. The shortlist here was 18, without even deep diving for names that didn't come to mind right away.
Some super-performing props are going to miss out here, but here are the 10 props I believe performed best in 2022.
Only 2022 is taken into account. To qualify a player must have played more games in the front row than elsewhere. There may be some crossover with the lock position, but we'll cross that if and when we come to it.
6. Josh Papalii
I'm convinced Josh Papalii has found the fountain of youth. Effort and performance wise he absolutely refuses to either age or slow down.
In 25 appearances for Canberra in 2022, he ran for an average of 124 metres, tackled at almost 97%, produced 39 offloads and broke 81 tackles.
Personally, I hate playing Canberra as Papalii hasn't had a bad, or even average game, against the Sharks since he took it to Paul Gallen all those years ago.
Papalii declaring that he would play for Samoa was a coup for the nation and a huge blow to the Kangaroos. What a brilliant season. Again!
Personally, I would have dropped David Klemmer for Jordan McLean, but I can’t really grumble about that list.