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I have been tasked with selecting the best team of NRL players over the past quarter-century.

The single restriction is that we only consider a player’s deeds over the period from 2000 to 2025. So Joey Johns’s grand final heroics in 1997 don’t count, but his 2001 triumph does. I have also avoided the temptation to select players out of position – such as moving centre Greg Inglis to wing to accommodate Stephen Crichton, currently the best defensive centre in the NRL. But that’s my choice. You can pick GI as fullback, where he played in South Sydney’s 2014 premiership team, if you wish.

Why does that matter? Well, as this masthead is an equal opportunity publication, the readers have a choice.

Select your team and send it to us via the form below of the article, and we will update this article with a selection of readers’ squads. You can also vote on my team in the poll included in the article.

Flying high … Billy Slater scores a try against the Warriors in 2008.Credit: Paul Rovere

Billy Slater. An easy one to start. Slater was better than anyone during this period and even earlier, back to any fullback not named Clive Churchill or Graeme Langlands – both of whom are rugby league Immortals. One test of greatness is whether the player’s dominance led to a rule change, and Billy the Kid did.

Opposition teams were so worried about his ability to return the ball from kicks that they booted it past him. So, the rule-makers introduced a seven-tackle set from the 20-metre mark to punish kicks crossing the dead ball line. Slater sliced through defences with such ease it seemed as if he had a contortionist’s body and a cat burglar’s feet. He sophisticated the role of organising the defence. Plus he played 311 NRL games – nearly 50 more than the next best No 1, James Tedesco, who, admittedly, ain’t finished yet.

Brian To’o. The winger’s role has changed dramatically over the past quarter-century, from try-scoring to metre-eating. The Penrith winger can do both, plus play both sides of the field in an era when junior coaches bracket backs as left or right. “Bizza”, as he is nicknamed, is certainly busy, making more metres than men nearly twice his size. He plays as if building a flat stretch of highway.

When he returned to the Panthers side after an injury, one commentator quipped that Penrith had acquired another front-rower. He was NSW’s best player in the second and third matches of the recent Origin series despite playing on one leg. He has tallied 125 NRL games since starting in 2019, putting him on track to equal the Roosters’........

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