As the bottom eight teams work through what went right and what went wrong in 2020, a handful can hold their heads high following excellent individual seasons.

The Stats Insider Player Ratings System has looked into the teams that have already been on holiday for a week to highlight the best performing player from each club. 

How it works

Much like Stats Insider’s Team of the Season , players have been allocated a rating for each match they played in the 2020 season using Stats Insiders NRL Player Rating system. A player’s game by game ratings are then added together and the player with the highest overall rating at each club is awarded their ‘Player of the Season’.

Because every game a player takes part in are included in calculating their overall rating, this method tends to reward players who have performed consistently over the entire 2020 season. It also makes it difficult for players who have missed a chunk of games (through injury or suspension) to poll highly. 

Now, while we think our player ratings do a pretty good job overall, that’s not to say we think they are perfect, nor do we profess they capture absolutely everything a player does on a football field that is good or bad, and contributed to their team winning or losing. 

With that in mind, it's important to remember that just because a player is selected as our ‘Player of the Season’, the rating system isn't necessarily saying they are currently the best player at the club – only that they have performed consistently well throughout the 2020 season. Those performances have seen them named as each Clubs player of the season.

Gold Coast Titans - Jamal Fogarty

Despite playing two games back in 2017 and turning 27-years old in the upcoming off-season, Jamal Fogarty is considered an NRL rookie. He didn't look anything like a rookie while playing 18 games for the Titans this season, though.

His inclusion in the side added a level of structure and organisation the Titans lacked in 2019. The players around him - Ash Taylor, in particular - all looked better for having Fogarty in the side and he was able to make regular contributions to the Gold Coast's once flailing attack. 

The Titans averaged 17.3 points per game in 2020. However, once AJ Brimson returned to the lineup and Fogarty had an extra option in attack, the Titans averaged 23.3 points per game across the last two months of the season.

By the numbers, Fogarty produced the goods to finish with three tries, 10 try assists, nine line break assists, 11 forced dropouts and three goals while running for 90 metres per game - the most of any halfback in the NRL (min. 12 games).

New Zealand Warriors - Tohu Harris

Tohu Harris hadn't completed a full NRL season since 2016 before playing all 20 games for the New Zealand Warriors this season. Boy, did his good luck with injuries come at the right time for the Kiwi club.

One of the most underappreciated players in the whole competition, Harris played a career year while jumping between the backrow, prop and lock positions. It's his work in the middle that really warrants the recognition as the Warriors player of the year.

Harris averaged a career-high 172 metres per game in 2020. He had run for over 180 metres just three times across 147 games before this season. The 28-year-old cleared that number eight times in 2020 alone.

This marked Harris' first season without a try assist, but his role in the Warriors attack became clear when the season resumed in Round 3. Having touched the ball just 17 times per game in Round 1 and 2, Harris averaged 24.3 touches in the following 18 games. He gave the Warriors another ball-player when coming out of their own end:

And his ball-skills in good ball areas isolated teammates onto opposing defenders:

Add 42.2 tackles per game to go with all that he offered in attack and Harris dominated on both sides of the ball all season.

Wests Tigers - Luciano Leilua

No surprises here for those that saw the Stats Insider Team of the Season  last week. 

A career-year averaging 102 running metres, 2.6 tackle breaks and 1.1 offloads per game see Luciano Leilua take the top gong for the Tigers in 2020. Having shown flashes of potential during his three seasons at the Dragons, Luciano trimmed down during the summer and it paid dividends on the field. He offered the sort of consistency that hasn't been attributed to the Leilua name in recent years while playing all 20 games for the Tigers this season. 

However, Luciano isn't the clear cut winner at the club. A special mention goes out to David Nofoaluma and his 17 tries along with 178 running metres per game. He ended up just behind Leilua in player ratings points. Meanwhile, Harry Grant's stellar rookie season translated into Wests highest per game average while playing five fewer games.

St. George-Illawarra Dragons - Cameron McInnes

The St. George-Illawarra Dragons captain is the heart and soul of the club. No matter how tough the job or unlikely the victory, Cameron McInnes throws everything into every game he plays. It doesn't matter where he plays either.

Shuffled between hooker and lock as Paul McGregor tried to nail down his spine, McInnes did whatever was needed of him. 

As a hooker, McInnes averaged 100 running metres and 56.7 tackles per game. He recorded 75 tackles against the Warriors in Round 3.

As a lock, the 26-year-old averaged 144 running metres and 51 tackles per game. His 203 running metres against the Cowboys in Round 17 is a career-high.

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles - Daly Cherry-Evans

While there is an element of 'last man standing' about the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles player of the year, Daly Cherry-Evans dragged his injury-ravaged side as far as he could in 2020. 

If the attack wasn't coming through Cherry-Evans, it more than likely wasn't coming at all. He finished 3rd in the NRL in try assists with 20 this season. Manly's next best, Tom Trbojevic, could only stay on the field for seven games leaving all of the responsibility with Cherry-Evans. 

The Manly captain added 17 line break assists to the attack while also forcing 11 drop outs throughout the year. Without much help and a regular turnover in spine players, Cherry-Evans did what he could with an otherwise lacklustre list around him. 

North Queensland Cowboys - Jason Taumalolo

A regular feature in the Stats Insider Team of the Week and a moral for Team of the Season, Jason Taumalolo won his fifth Paul Bowman Medal for North Queensland Cowboys Player of the Year. 

A freak of nature and still threatening to get better, the 27-year-old Tongan International led all forwards in yardage this season with 207.5 running metres per game. He's the most damaging ball-runner in rugby league. Leaving defenders in chalk to register 53 tackle breaks at an NRL-high 88 post-contact metres per game, Taumalolo did his part for the Cowboys this season. It was those around him that saw the club struggle towards only five wins all season.

We didn't see it alot, but where Taumalolo threatens to get better is in his ball-playing. If he digs into the line a little more and plays late enough to attract the outside defence, space will open up for the Cowboys out wide in 2021.

Ball-playing is becoming a feature at the lock position. If Taumalolo can add it to his game, look out.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs - Aiden Tolman

He's not going to be at the club next season, but Aiden Tolman left everything out there for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs to accumulate the most total ranking points in 2020.

Tolman is a workhorse. While not flashy, Canterbury could always rely on his 141 running metres and 40 tackles per game. His selection here is a reflection of where the Bulldogs are at right now. A meat and potatoes middle forward came out on top in a basic and rather bland football side.

Kieran Foran was named by the Bulldogs as their Player of the Year and deserves a mention here. Like Grant at the Tigers, Foran missed too many games throughout the year but averaged the most ranking points per game at the club.

Brisbane Broncos - Payne Haas

Payne Haas has started his career so well that a season in which he averages 71 minutes while running for 175 metres per game is talked about as relatively quiet.

At just 20-years-old and in a side that lacked leadership, resilience and direction, Haas stood tall. Few players at the Brisbane Broncos can walk away happy with their performance in 2020. However, Haas gave the faithful fanbase hope for the future with a stellar season. He led the side in yardage while only Patrick Carrigan averaged more tackles than Haas' 44.1 per game.

The ferocity at which Haas charged into the defensive line never wavered despite the club falling to pieces around him. Every week his incredible footwork and leg-drive put the Broncos on the front foot, if only for a single tackle. 

It's any wonder how bad things would have been for the Broncos in 2020 had Haas not played 17 of the 20 games.

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