The Northern Daily Leader
We're down to the last group of players to be named in our Team of the Year, and in many ways these are the most crucial picks of the lot.
As any rugby league fan knows, the spine (consisting of the fullback, five-eighth, halfback, and hooker) is largely responsible for directing traffic on the field and organising plays.
In that sense, the four players we name here can make or break the team.
With that in mind, here are our selections.
Gunnedah Bulldogs
Lake's return to Gunnedah in 2025 coincided with one of his best seasons.
He had long built a reputation as a fast, clever fullback with the capacity to do enormous damage in attack and clean up efficiently and reliably out the back, and he lived up to it this year.
Many of Lake's 18 tries were created by his ability to create and