BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

This is an impossible list and of course – there will be more that disagree than agree with this list.

That’s footy, right?

Everyone has an opinion… yet here we are.

Who is the best premiership-team since 2010?

Let’s have a crack.

10: DRAGONS 2010

A Wayne Bennett side built on defence. The 2010 Dragons played to their strengths which were to grind a side down with a superior defensive pattern and to trust themselves to outlast their opposition. They’d often take penalty goals at any stage of the game in the knowledge they could be more patient than their rivals.

9: STORM 2012

Melbourne’s redemption story after the salary cap scandal of 2010. After being knocked out of the finals in 2011, the Storm came back in 2012 and played second fiddle to the minor premiers Canterbury and Dally M Medal winner Ben Barba for the majority of the season. That was until the big day where Melbourne were simply too good and shut Barba out of the contest.

8: SHARKS 2016

The club’s maiden premiership and what a night it was at ANZ Stadium. Phil Gould called it a ‘soft premiership’ which doesn’t make much sense because you can only beat what is in front of you. The Sharks were brilliant and hung on to win a classic decider against the minor premiers, Storm.

7: SEA EAGLES 2011

A mix of stars from their triumph in 2008 and a new batch of youngsters like Daly Cherry-Evans, Kieran Foran and Will Hopoate. Manly watched their fierce rivals Melbourne go down in the preliminary final. The grand final against the Warriors was a showcase of pure talent and skill.

6: ROOSTERS 2018

Nobody will ever forget Cooper Cronk’s efforts in the 2018 grand final with a broken shoulder but he couldn’t have done it if he didn’t have a truly awesome team around him. Cronk’s showing was legendary but he had a fair group of players around him.

5: COWBOYS 2015

Perhaps it’s romance that gets this Cowboys premiership-winning squad so high. It is hard to forget how brilliant and unforgettable this match was.

4: RABBITOHS 2014

The best team doesn’t always win the premiership and the best team doesn’t always finish the season first passed the post. Souths were destined to win this competition. It’s hard to argue that this 17, with the momentum of history behind them, couldn’t defeat any other side on this list.

3: ROOSTERS 2019

What a freaking side! The best part of this outfit was that they found a way to win without sometimes having to show the world how hard they had to try.

2: STORM 2017

A year earlier, it was the Storm. A clear six competition points away of the Roosters at the end of 26 rounds. Eventually, they’d come up against the fairytale Cowboys in the decider. Melbourne crushed them. A Storm side that featured Smith, Slater, Cronk, Munster, Addo-Carr, Vunivalu, Jesse Bromwich, Chambers, Kaufusi, Harris, Finucane and Asofa-Solomona on the bench.

1: ROOSTERS 2013

Yeah they only won the 2013 minor premiership from Souths on points differential but come on – in this writer’s opinion – the 2013 Roosters could beat any other side on this list on its day and do it ten different ways. They beat Manly just 4-0 in the first week of the finals. Newcastle and a million Sid Fogg’s rolled down the M1, expecting a contest in the prelim. The Chooks pumped them by 40. Manly gave a shout in the big one but how do you beat a side with Minichiello, Tuivasa-Sheck, Maloney, Pearce, Jennings, Waerea-Hargreaves, Friend, Cordner, SBW, Tupou and SKD? And just as importantly, coached by Mr. Trent Robinson? You don’t.

My latest episode of Top of the Props is available with Steve Jackson

@woodward_curtis