Greatest individual seasons in RL history

THE TOP FIVE GREATEST INDIVIDUAL SEASON PERFORMANCES IN RUGBY LEAGUE HISTORY.

By Scott Bailey

5. Darren Lockyer – 2006

At the beginning of the 2006 season Brisbane were a fading team, Queensland had lost three straight Origin series and Australia had just been beaten by New Zealand. A year later, and Darren Lockyer had engineered them all back to the top. He scored the match-winning try against the Blues in the Origin decider, set-up both Broncos tries in the grand final and kicked the match-sealing field goal and finished the season with a golden-point try in the Tri-Nations final.

4. Peter Sterling – 1986

Parramatta’s dominance throughout the 1980s was built on the back of having one of the greatest all-round teams of all-time, but in 1986 Peter Sterling’s ability to control a game was at its peak. The halfback guided them to 18 victories from 23 appearances, claiming the Dally M and Clive Churchill Medals in the process.

3. Johnathan Thurston – 2015

Thurston became just the second player in the history of the game to claim the premiership, Dally M Medal and Clive Churchill Medal in the same season as he kicked the winning goal in Sunday’s grand final. He set-up five of his 37 try assists in the preliminary final against Melbourne and also led the competition for line break-assists (36).

2. Frank Burge – 1918

Dally Messenger’s efforts in the early years of rugby league brought rugby league to the fore but even he couldn’t top Frank Burge’s 1918 season for the best of the early years. The Glebe forward overpowered opposition packs with ease, scoring a ridiculous 24 tries in 14 games, accounting for more than half of the club’s tries that season.

1. Dave Brown – 1935

The Roosters centre’s season strike rate of 2.53 will never be matched, nor will the 38 tries he scored in 1935. Demonstrating Brown’s dominance, he scored an incredible 11 tries and 83 points against first-season Bulldogs in two games, while he also crossed for six tries in a match against Balmain on the way to the Tri-colours’ premiership.

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