{"id":452092,"date":"2026-02-01T18:27:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T18:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/452092\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T18:27:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T18:27:41","slug":"nrl-news-2026-the-mole-exclusive-reece-walsh-james-tedesco-headline-list-of-games-top-10-fullbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/452092\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026: The Mole exclusive; Reece Walsh, James Tedesco headline list of game’s top 10 fullbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fullback is the NRL’<\/a>s super position in the 2020s – the way the game has developed you can’t win a premiership without a game-turning No.1.<\/p>\n

Brisbane<\/a> wouldn’t have taken the title last year without Reece Walsh<\/a>‘s brilliance in the final series and there is little doubt that he is the most dangerous player in the league.<\/p>\n

But how do the rest of the fullbacks rate?<\/p>\n

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\"Reece<\/p>\n

Reece Walsh.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Here’s my top 10 – no easy task as sensational players like Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Jye Gray, Will Kennedy, Sua Fa’alogo and Isaiah Iongi have missed the cut.<\/p>\n

1. Reece Walsh (Broncos)<\/p>\n

Still has plenty of errors in him because of the warp speed at which he plays the game, but untouchable when in the mood.<\/p>\n

Capable of turning a game in an instant with his pace and vision.<\/p>\n

2. James Tedesco (Roosters)<\/p>\n

Getting better with age and if the NSW Origin team was picked on form last year, he would have been at the back.<\/p>\n

Has the most experience of all the fullbacks running around and uses it to deadly effect.<\/p>\n

3. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Dolphins)<\/p>\n

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

One of the most entertaining players to ever lace up a pair of boots, the man known as “The Hammer” scores tries for fun and I don’t think we have ever seen him at full speed because he just glides past defenders with ease.<\/p>\n

May well get the Phins to the finals on his own this year.<\/p>\n

4. Kayla Ponga (Knights)<\/p>\n

Injuries and the poor players around him have seen him struggle over the past couple of seasons but with a new coach and new halves to give him time and space, should bounce back to his devastating best in 2026.<\/p>\n

5. Dylan Edwards (Panthers)<\/p>\n

Not the most brilliant of the bunch, but his consistency and massive numbers put him in the elite class and have turned him into a NSW and Kangaroos representative.<\/p>\n

A key member of the Panthers machine that has dominated the game in recent years.<\/p>\n

6. Jahream Bula (Tigers)<\/p>\n

Jahream Bula.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

After a tough initiation in a struggling Tigers team, showed his class last year when he had quality players around him.<\/p>\n

Wouldn’t surprise me if he jumped into the top three by season’s end – getting better and better.<\/p>\n

7. Scott Drinkwater (Cowboys)<\/p>\n

Along with star playmaker Tom Dearden, he’s been at the heart and soul of the North Queensland attack over many years.<\/p>\n

If he steps up this season, the Cowboys are finals bound.<\/p>\n

8. Tom Trbojevic (Sea Eagles)<\/p>\n

Manly’s old faithful is as good as any fullback running around when fully fit, but injuries have been cruel to him and taken a yard off his pace.<\/p>\n

There’s even talk he may start the year in the centres with Lehi Hopoate at fullback but that will be a brave call if it happens.<\/p>\n

9. Kaeo Weekes (Raiders)\"Kaeo<\/p>\n

Kaeo Weekes.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

One of the main reasons the Raiders stunned the critics and took out the minor premiership last season.<\/p>\n

Quick and the type of footballer who plays what he sees, he’s a natural with the ability to turn games in an instant.<\/p>\n

10. Keano Kini (Titans)<\/p>\n

Very similar to Weekes in that he isn’t afraid to try things on the field.<\/p>\n

Sometimes they don’t come off but more often than not they do and he has set up many tries for his outside men.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fullback is the NRL’s super position in the 2020s – the way the game has developed you can’t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-452092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}