Rugby leagues "Most important" position ??

[maxta]

The transformation of the game has seen many changes and the halfback has often been touted as the most important, well for many years and ppl are entitled to feel the 7 and 6 still Are the lynchpin to a footy successful footy side.
Yes every position is important, but what is the Most Important in your opinion ??
I have it as Fullback where we are fortunate enough to have the Best player in the game - Tommy T.
Also players like Tedesco and Latrell Mitchell also in many ppl's top 5 players are in the 1....
Dummy half must also be high and no suprise that the best teams are flushed with quality in these area's in "most" cases.
They create the go forward and are in the drivers seat to blow up the ruck with both dashing runs and good passing skills.
Halves will Always have a place as the schemers, organisers , time keepers and many clutch plays.
There's also an arguement about your front rowers, who are the building blocks and unsung often, but not to the team mates who know they have owned the trenches to make the flashy players look pretty.
A good lock is often the defensice glue in the middle and also a Massive contributer in attack,
Even wingers where the kick returns and early hitups in heavy traffic so often control momentum - or lack of it, have far more say than the quick little blokes who used to just "finish off" tries and stick to their wings....
Centres - well great to have talent there and a bonus that can break a game open, but not as influential as times gone by and in fact, if defence is reliable and strong and can set their outside winger up well, can be enough imo...
Anyways - what's the thoughts and why ?? ....as the game has changed with the fierce speed of modern footy where gaining momentum is everything....well important.

 

[Captain Moondog]

A good coach who can turn a team of individuals into a cohesive unit is most important imo.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Obviously hookers and halves handle the ball the most, but I'd say the captain is the most important, so depends on what position he plays. Sets the tone for the rest. When Jamie Lyon was captain, right centre was the most important spot in our team, but only because he was in it.
Sometimes the team's real leader isn't the captain, for example a dominant halfback or star fullback, but the captain usually doesn't remain captain for too long if he's not being key man for his side.

 

[Jerry1]

Halves, hooker & fullback. If you look back at the touted best players in the game earning the biggest bucks most of the time it would be these positions. Thinking positions. Where the crucial game plan decisions are made.

 

[Will on the hill]

Most important position depends on who you can get. If you've got Turbo it's fullback, Cleary it's halfback, Cam Smith it's hooker. If you can get a superstar in your spine you can get away with reliable players to fill the rest of the spine.

There are only a handful of players that put their hand up to be the most important over the duration of the season, in the good teams they are spine players, in the **** teams your MVP is a backrower that tries hard and makes 40 tackles a game.

 

[Eagle 1]

Half and 5/8, tied for equal most important position. They set up and direct plays and usually have great kicking games, thereby controlling most games they play in.

 

[Woodsie]

Most important position depends on who you can get. If you've got Turbo it's fullback, Cleary it's halfback, Cam Smith it's hooker. If you can get a superstar in your spine you can get away with reliable players to fill the rest of the spine.

There are only a handful of players that put their hand up to be the most important over the duration of the season, in the good teams they are spine players, in the **** teams your MVP is a backrower that tries hard and makes 40 tackles a game.

Agree your most influential player is more important than your most important position.. and as you say, that can change from team to team .

 

[Will on the hill]

If I was to take current players, form and contracts out of the equation and I was building a team from imaginary players I would sign a halfback first. Mostly because the gap between the best and the rest is so vast.

 

[Shoe1]

Right wing?

 

[Will on the hill]

Right wing?

Left right out, because it's the fish that john west rejects...

 

[jbb/james]

halves every day of the week

the reason fullbacks stand out so much is because the halves atm are not that good, and they can roam and in many cases have increased there possessions in line with halfbacks or even greater. fullbacks in the last decade have taken a much larger role organising defences and as a result this has them more alert in attacking situations

big boofing forwards are important and they help lay a platform with and for the halfbacks. halfback decisions and kicking off the back of forwards is just as important role in that platform

but the best players control the team regardless of position but the very good players are quick between the ears. its why cooper cronk, andrew johns have specialist coaching gigs for decades

playing footy and winning NRL matches and GF are 2 very different things. bellamy has proven it so manty times over

the best players want to play in positions that pay the most and that is still half id expect , maybe not

as for tom and lattrell. freakish athletes with pace, strength and size, similar to inglis. just unstoppable freaks that are generational players. i doubt its the new norm otherwise bullemore would be trying out as a number 1, oh oh cat out of the bag

 

[Shoe1]

Lots of teams score most tries in the left wing. So having a gun defender at right wing is most important.

 

[MadMarcus]

Great thread, and lots of interesting views.

I agree with @Captain Moondog that the coach is the most important person. In the salary cap era, and with players all being so fit and strong these days, the big distinguishing factor between the best and the rest are how the individual players play as a team.

On the field, 10 or 20 years ago the halves were very clearly the most important players in the team. Hooker then became more important as Cam Smith progressed through this career and more recently there has been an increase in influence of the fullback as Tommy, Tedesco and Mitchell have come through the ranks (and Stewart and Slater before them).

It's interesting that the trend seems to reflect where the best players happen to play. Is the increase in influence of a position due to the fact that players in that position are starting to dominate games? Is a general lack of quality halves across the competition the reason why hooker and fullback have become more influential?

Overall, I can't split the spine players in terms of who is most influential. As others have said, it will vary from team to team.

Outside the spine, it has been interesting to see how wingers have become more influential than centres as the game has evolved.

There hasn't been much discussion about forwards in this thread. Have they become less influential as the game has become faster? While it is still true that it is hard for gun players to perform behind a beaten pack, it's hard to see a prop winning the CC medal in this era like Brent Kite did in 2008.

 

[BOZO]

A good coach who can turn a team of individuals into a cohesive unit is most important imo.

Good point and that is thinking out the square of the most important position in the team

IMO the hooker has become the most dominant position on the field

 

[Eagle thru 'n' thru]

According to the title of the thread, I'd say whatever position which there is eye contact is most important.😎

 

[Spartan Eagle]

6 & 9 combined gotta be the most important

 

[ABTK]

Maybe the person responsible for arranging the salary cap...

 

[Dan]

Don't say it don't say it dont say it.......

Nope I'm taking the high ground and not mentioning cubicles

 

[alafua8]

The 2 or 3 players that handles the football the most in each game .If they distribute it wisely ,the team will benefit as a unit .

 

[Tragic Eagle]

The inspirational leader in the pack because without a platform and go forward the best halves in the game will be shut down by good sides. We need someone to stand up and inspire the pack in the mold of Ronnie Gibbs, Anthony Whatmough, Glen Stewart and Ben Kennedy. Our pack needs to play with mongrel. Not only do we need to bend the line with the ball we need to crush them in defence. I see Big O as next next potential enforcer. Next is a extremely consistent controlling half like Cronk who plays the game two plays ahead and 9 times out of 10 takes the right options. Everybody else with talent will flourish on the back of this.