Can anyone stop Mudgee? What's up with Dubbo CYMS? Are Parkes the real deal? Could Lithgow play finals?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
They're just some of the many questions floating around the Peter McDonald Premiership as we approach the competition's halfway point.
They're all valid questions, but as always, not the one we've been asking this time of year.
The annual PMP Most Influential countdown is back to answer the question of who's been the most important player so far this season?
We've got part one today - counting down players 40-21 - and we'll bring you the top 20 on Friday morning.
40 Tom Phillips (Forbes Magpies)
Forbes' forward pack has chopped and changed a lot due to injury and suspension but Phillips has been a constant.
The young gun has taken on a leader's role and always seems to make those few extra metres when he crashes into the defence.
If he continues to improve and Forbes gets everyone back on deck, the pack will be one to watch.
39 Lachlan Lawson (Orange Hawks)
Not always spoken about, but someone who rarely has bad game.
The Orange Hawks centre is a wholehearted player who works hard and hits hard and has some real speed as well.
Towering teenage winger Harry Wald steals a lot of headlines but it's Lawson who allows him to do what he does best a lot of the time.
38 Ethan Pegus (Mudgee Dragons)
The round one loss to Orange CYMS was a bit of a baptism of fire for the former Castlereagh League star, but Pegus has bounced back since.
His pace on the wing provides a real point of difference and his partnership with centre Camden Sutton is becoming one of the best in the competition.
Pegus will kick, throw a flick pass or do something which could make a coach wince, but he's scored the second-most tries of any player so far and has added a new dimension to Mudgee's attack.
37 Corey Cox (Nyngan Tigers)
Still one of the most naturally-talented players in the competition, all of Cox's quality was on show last round when he led the Tigers to their first win of the season with a hat-trick.
Always a threat on the left-edge with his neat footwork, Cox provides Nyngan with that type of X-factor any side would crave.
36 Haydn Edwards (Bathurst Panthers)
The rise of Edwards from being an exciting under 18s prospect just two years ago to being one of the most popular members of the senior squad has been something to behold.
There aren't many players in the Panthers side who generate bigger cheers and support from the crowd week to week - people simply love watching him weave his magic on the wing.
What he lacks in size Edwards easily makes his for with his speed and craftiness - look no further than his match-winning effort in the dying seconds against Dubbo CYMS or his intercept try against the Mudgee Dragons.
35 Mitch Collins (Orange CYMS)
Many of his teammates have stolen the limelight but Collins has given CYMS something they seriously lacked during a dreadful 2023 campaign.
A big body, Collins provides CYMS with real impact from the bench and that's something which was sorely lacking.
Collins' work off the bench, in the backrow or at prop, has given CYMS a lift each time he hits the field.
34 Blake Ferguson (Wellington Cowboys)
You might expect him to be higher on the list, but Ferguson hasn't quite yet hit the heights of his 2023 season with the Cowboys.
Nevertheless, he's still be one of the side's better performers and his presence simply makes the team better.
Arguably the hardest player in the competition to tackle and always a threat from kicks, Ferguson has the undoubted ability to lead Wellington up the ladder.
33 Jason Boney (Macquarie Raiders)
Macquarie's disappointing back-to-back losses to Parkes and Forbes had a common factor and that was the absence of Boney.
The halfback has been hampered by injury but, when he has been on the field, he's provided much-needed experience and calmness for the Raiders.
Having been key in wins over Dubbo CYMS and Panthers, Macquarie needs Boney to stay injury-free.
32 Jacob Smede (Parkes Spacemen)
Smede scored his first try of the season in last weekend's round six win over Orange CYMS. You might think an outside back in a team as attacking as Parkes should have more, but Smede is about much more than four-pointers.
As reliable a winger as there is, Smede has also filled in at fullback for the injured Sam Dwyer with aplomb in recent weeks.
One of a number of underrated Spacemen, Smede also takes plenty of tough carries for his side.
31 Richard Peckham (Wellington Cowboys)
Whether it's hooker, halfback, or lock, Peckham has delivered for the Cowboys. He has spent most of the season in the number nine jersey and he almost always seems to make the right decision. His craft and experience has played a big role in most of Wellington's best moments.
Unfortunately for Peckham, not everyone else in the Cowboys' side has been at his level so far in 2024 and the Wellington side finds itself outside the top eight.
30 Tom Lawson (Mudgee Dragons)
Last season Mudgee had former NRL player Jack Littlejohn starring at fullback so it's a credit to Lawson the Dragons haven't lost anything with him in the number one jersey this season.
Having played a bit-part role in 2023, Lawson has certainly made the fullback spot his own.
Only two players have more tries than Lawson, who also showed his creativity by setting up a try with kick during the Dragons' big win over Dubbo CYMS last round.
29 Luke Single (Bathurst St Pat's)
The engine of the St Pat's pack looks as good as he ever has nearly four years since his return to the Saints.
Ten years on from helping the Saints claim a Group 10 title Single is still the man the team turns to for serious go-forward through the centre of the park.
There's no one else whose hands you want the ball in when you're trying to make gains early in a set.
28 Thomas Lemmich (Bathurst Panthers)
In a season where the Panthers pack has had to undergo several changes the impactful presence of Lemmich has remained a constant.
The Panthers forward plays beyond his years, and there's a good reason why just a few seasons ago he was competitor at the Australian Schoolboys Championships.
It's almost hard to believe that Lemmich had started the season of the bench back in round one, given the spark he's been able to provide in the second row.
27 Sandon Gibbs-O'Neill (Orange Hawks)
One of the few older heads in a young Hawks side, Gibbs-O'Neill might not be the type of half to take a game by the scruff of the neck, but he's still extremely valuable.
Providing the kind of direction and experience needed for Hawks, the five-eighth's performance are all the more impressive given he's barely played footy in the past decade.
If Hawks are to launch any type of raid on the top eight, Gibbs-O'Neill will be key.
26 Jarryn Powyer (Dubbo CYMS)
CYMS simply isn't at the level so many expect of them this season, but the captain continues to do all he can to drag them forward.
Powyer has moved from prop to lock this season but it hasn't changed his output too much. CYMS may only have three wins, but Powyer continues to produce wholehearted and tireless performances up front.
The Fishies were already on their way to a heavy loss at Mudgee last round when Powyer exited the match after a severe head knock. But without the inspirational leader, the Fishies folded like a house of cards in the last half hour.
25 Jake Porter (Parkes Spacemen)
One of the most underrated and most durable players in the competition. A workmanlike back-rower for a number of years, Porter made the move to hooker last season and has thrived.
While Parkes' forward pack has changed a lot this year, Porter continues to play a key role in leading it around and then creating off the back of it.
Also a workhorse in defence, he gets through a lot of the dirty work which allows Parkes' flashy attack to shine.
24 Jeremy Thurston (Dubbo CYMS)
He hasn't been in the destructive kind of form we've seen in the past - to be fair to him no-one at CYMS has - but the rangy fullback is still so important for his team.
Changes to CYMS' halves has changed his role slightly and he's had to get a bit more involved with the creative side of things, but his danger in attack was on show when he scored a double in the Fishies' much-needed win over Orange Hawks in round three.
23 Josh Merritt (Bathurst Panthers)
One of the biggest signings of the off-season, the Western Rams halfback showed his value in round one when he scored a double and starred throughout Panthers' 44-22 win over Lithgow.
His creativity and kicking game has been on show in a big way but it's been slightly tempered by a suspension which forced him to miss Panthers' win over Dubbo CYMS.
Someone capable of being top three in a list like this at the end of the year should he drive Panthers deep into the finals, Merritt remains one of the best players to watch on his day.
22 Ben Maguire (Forbes Magpies)
I doubt even the biggest Ben Maguire fan would have expected to see him on this list at the start of the season.
After a season at Condobolin, back-rower Maguire returned to Forbes for 2024 and coach Cameron Greenhalgh's plan was to ease him into things to ensure he was fit and firing come the end of the year.
Suspensions and injuries meant that didn't go to plan, but Maguire responded by playing 80 minutes in a round four win over Wellington and scored two tries to boot. Two more tries followed the next week in another win over Macquarie.
21 Seaun Stanley Jr (Wellington Cowboys)
The first half of the season hasn't gone the way Wellington would have hoped, but it would have been worse if it wasn't for this rampaging back-rower.
Much of the focus of Wellington's right edge might be on Blake Ferguson, but Stanley Jr has enhanced his reputation as one of the best young forwards in the competition this season and has scored in two of the past three games.