They're the players who get the job done without hogging the spotlight, the players every successful club needs. We asked some NRL stars to name the most underrated player at their club, and these were there answers.
Bodene Thompson (Warriors) – Simon Mannering
"Simon Mannering because a lot of his work goes unnoticed. I just think he doesn't get enough credit for what he does. He is the captain of New Zealand and everything but he doesn't get the media attention and that kind of thing. He does a lot of things that are world class."
Ben Hannant (Cowboys) – Jake Granville
"I trained with him at the Broncos and I don't think a lot of people really knew what he could offer. For me he's been by far the standout hooker in the competition all year and he's sort of new in first grade. I think he's probably only played 20 first grade games, so the more games he gets, the more time he gets to build combinations with 'JT', 'Morgs' and 'Cootey'; it's going to be onwards and upwards for him. He's super fast, very skilful and he's always willing to learn. He's a very quiet, humble kind of kid but he's got all the skills."
Jack Reed (Broncos) – Adam Blair and Corey Parker
"They get their raps but the workload of our forwards in general is amazing. What Adam Blair has brought to this side with his kick pressure, his defence and his aggression which is great for us and needed up front is amazing. And Parky's workload... He can make 40 or 50 tackles and have 20 carries so probably those two boys."
Aidan Sezer (Titans) – Beau Falloon and Luke Douglas
"I can't split Luke Douglas and Beau Falloon. When they're in the team I know myself I'm more confident because they do so much work in the middle and they're always cleaning up after blokes. They're two of our hardest trainers and when Beauy is there he is the heart of our team and I know all the boys love playing with him."
Sam Tomkins (Warriors) – Chad Townsend
"I think people give Shaun [Johnson] the big raps and he gets the headlines, because he is such a special player and deserves that attention, but alongside that Chad does his job and does some massive things for the team that probably go unnoticed."
Matt Gillett (Broncos) – Adam Blair
"He's been playing well for us this year and he does all the little things no one notices out on the field. The playing group and the staff all see it – the kick pressure, inside pressure, third man into the tackle – he's there to do that and he's been doing it well for us."
Lachlan Coote (Cowboys) – Gavin Cooper
"He's a massive, massive asset to our team and the talk that he comes up with on the field... He's just a great player and he's massively under-rated. I think he would have made (the Queensland Maroons) last year if he didn't pop his hip out, so he was very unlucky there. It's good to have him in the side during that Origin period because he's a massive leader. That left side, I'm sticking with that left side at the moment, so they just take everything under control and I just run off the back of them two."