Who Are The Best Forwards In The NRL Over The Past Decade?
Playing as a forward in the NRL takes some serious courage. These guys end up as battered and bruised as anyone, consistently smashing their bodies against the biggest and strongest opposition players. There have been some brilliant forwards in the league over the past ten years, and weve taken a look at some of the best of them. Cameron Smith  Its difficult to find words that do justice to the glittering career of Cameron Smith . The NRL games record holder, Smith represented his Storm side on a staggering 433 occasions between 2003 and 2020, picking up accolades for fun along the way and leading his side to five Grand Final wins  though the club was later stripped of two of those for salary cap breaches. Though his achievements span the entirety of his 17-year career, it was in the past decade that he truly established himself as a future Immortal. The list of awards he accumulated between 2011 and 2020 is too long to discuss in its entirety, but the most significant among them include three Premierships (2012, 2017, 2020), a second Dally M Player of the Year medal (2017, having also won in 2006), and five Dally M Captain of the Year awards. The hookers presence on the field was a major factor behind the Storms continued success during this time, and the culture of success he helped to instill has ensured they remain an NRL Premiership favourite according to the latest 2021 NRL season odds with Betway , even after he retired in style following a third Premiership in 2020. Paul Gallen  Paul Gallen might be plying his trade as a boxer nowadays, but its safe to say that it was on the rugby field where he truly made a name for himself. Despite standing at just 180cm tall, Gallen weighed in at well over 100kg throughout his playing career, making him a formidable presence at the lock, prop and second-row forward positions at which he played during the course of 19 seasons with the Cronulla Sharks . He enjoyed a brilliant career in the NRL as well as at a state and national level, but undoubtedly the standout moment of his career came when he led his Sharks to the 2016 Premiership. Gallen played a pivotal role in a game which saw Cronulla end a 49-year-long Premiership drought, and established himself as a club great in the process. Sam Burgess  Sam Burgess moved from the Bradford Bulls in his homeland of England to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2010, and over the next decade stamped his authority on the league as one of the best forwards, and indeed players, of the decade. He stepped out for the Rabbitohs 182 times in total, but it was in 2014 that he really made his mark. Aged 25 and in the prime of his career, the powerful forward would go on to play a key role for his Rabbitohs in a Premiership winning year, both throughout the course of the season and on Grand Final day itself. He ended the season as the George Piggins Medal winner (the Rabbitohs best and fairest) and also took out the Clive Churchill Medal for the best player on the ground in the Grand Final. Unsurprisingly, in 2019 he was named as a starting member of the NRL team of the decade . Jason Taumalolo  Its incredible to think that Jason Taumalolo is still only 27 years of age. Already, he has put together a brilliant career, playing over 200 games for the North Queensland Cowboys after beginning his career in 2010 at just 17. The New Zealand-born lock and second-row forward was the youngest debutant in history for the club, and their faith in him at a young age proved well and truly justified. Alongside superstar Johnathan Thurston, Taumalolo was one of the Cowboys most important players as they recorded a famous victory in the 2015 Grand Final, and from there his career has come on in leaps and bounds. The following year he won the Dally M Medal, and in each of the past five seasons he has taken out the Cowboys best and fairest award. Easily the youngest player on this list, Taumalolo still has plenty of life in his career yet, and he will likely remain one of the NRLs best forwards for many years to come.