With the off-season comes the usual troupes.
Talk of expansion, the divisions talk, player movements and of course post-season rankings.
Today we're here to focus on the rankings. More specifically, the NRL lock rankings from 2023.
Please keep in mind that these rankings are based only on 2023. Both NRL and Origin performances will be taken into account. Not specifically who is the best lock outright.
Before we start, I'm going to take a moment to answer some of the usual questions to appear in the comments to any sort of rankings.
Do I even watch football? Yes, every game.
Are my eyes painted on? No. That would be funny though.
Who am I? Just a fan.
With that said, below are the top 10 NRL locks based purely and totally on 2023:
Honorable Mention: Victor Radley, Adam Elliott
10. Josh King
One of the true unsung heroes in purple, Josh King played big minutes, worked hard and was relatively error free. So pretty much the perfect Craig Bellamy prototype.
King certainly doesn't have the name value of many on this list, or even some who missed, but he was brilliant in 2023.
26 games saw him cross for three tries, run for over 105 metres per game and tackle at 93%. He also had 11 offloads and 17 tackle breaks.
King pipped both Elliott and Radley on here by the slimmest of margins. I simply couldn't leave him out.
Harris and Yeo are club captains.
McInnes (former Dragons captain) ought to be captaining the Sharks.
Nico is too nice.