The True Underrated player of Rugby League

To become an NRL player, you must have something about yourself that others don’t. It’s not just about skill, but also the hard work and determination that others may not see. Whilst every real rugby league fan knows this, there’s still a large number of players that just don’t seem to get the recognition they deserve.

When you first hear that, a few players might come to mind. Jarrod Croker, Mitch Aubusson, or maybe Luke Patten or Ryan Hinchcliffe - but today, we’re looking at a truly underrated player. A player so underrated that he doesn't even come up in the conversation.

Nathan Cayless

One of the toughest props you will find, Nathan Cayless was described as an inspiration to former teammates, including one of the Eels greatest ever, Nathan Hindmarsh.

“I can remember instances when I’d be out on the field and be absolutely buggered; we’d been out there the same amount of time and done the same amount of work, and I’d be standing hands on the knees and there’s Cayless taking another hit up.”

In his 13 year rugby league career, Cayless achieved countless great feats, including;

• Being the most capped captain in NRL history (217 from 259 games)

• Two minor premierships (2001 and 2005)

• 38 tests for New Zealand, including captaining the Kiwis to a World Cup win in 2008

But despite all of this, you don't hear the name 'Nathan Cayless' when talking about the game's best players - let alone, one of the greatest forwards, but there is a reason for that. What the large majority consider the greatest player is always someone with the statistics to back it up, but Cayless was never that player. In fact, the most tries he scored in a season was 5, and entered a try scoring drought of over 80 games at the end of his career - until he brought that to an end on his last game ever in round 26, 2010, against the Melbourne Storm.

Without the statistics to back it up, what does make Nathan Cayless so good? It's the 1 percenters. Alongside taking all the tough hit ups, the Eels Hall of Famer knew what to do when his teammates couldn't. Just take a look back at Parramatta vs Newcastle, round 3, 2008. With the Knights winning 23-22, Cayless - A PROP kicked a field goal in the dying minutes because nobody else was stepping up. To go with that, it was his 30th birthday! The Eels went on to win that game 24-23, with a Luke Burt field goal in extra time winning the game for them.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/487ba6_4b61e36fe8824ed6b5929718fba635a6/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Whether you like the Eels or not, you have to respect what Nathan Cayless achieved in his career for Parramatta and the Kiwis. He was rated by his club and his country, but never seems to get the recognition he deserves from the media or the fans.

Nathan Cayless truly is one of the greats.