The role of the five-eighth is fun!
They play a hybrid attacking game of a fullback mixed with the halfback. Throw in the movement of a centre and often the defensive work of a second rower.
2025 produced some magnificent efforts in the number six. We are here today to try and rank those.
This was the most difficult position to rank. Fletcher Sharpe was on track until his injury. Huge Savala was dropped more than once. Luke Brooks had some great heights and some horror lows.
Again, this is a list of the best ten performers for 2025 only. This isn’t a list of the top five-eighths outright.
With that said, below are the top 10 five-eighths for the 2025 season:
10. Matt Burton
To say Matt Burton had an uneven season is fair. Some will argue he should be higher, some will argue he shouldn’t be here at all.
Across his 21 games for the Dogs in 2025, he only produced six tries and four try assists. That said, he had a big hand in a lot of movements that led to tries.
His average kick metres were 340, and we all know how dangerous those metres are. He also ran for over 120 metres per game and tackled at 85%. He also forced 11 dropouts.
The upshift in the halves hurt Burton, who will be much better in 2026. That said, he was flying early in the season and had the Dogs leading the competition at one stage.