The Eighth names his top-five players of 2020

Eighth Immortal Andrew Johns has named his top five current players in the NRL, putting Storm skipper Cameron Smith atop the rugby league throne.

Ahead of Melbourne's grand final showdown against the Panthers on Sunday, Johns insisted there had been no player since Wally Lewis who has had as profound an impact on the game until Smith headlined the modern era.

"Cameron Smith is obviously my number one," Johns told Wide World of Sports' Immortal Behaviour. "I think Cameron is the best player I've seen since Wally Lewis.

"I wasn't old enough to understand the brilliance and the dominance of Wally. We look at Cameron and he's laid back and never flustered, but deep down there's a deep desire to win, and a competitiveness that not everyone has got."

Chasing Smith into the Eighth's top-five, in no particular order, was Panthers prodigy Nathan Cleary, Roosters superstar James Tedesco, Storm playmaker Cameron Munster and Raiders powerhouse Jack Wighton.

"Nathan Cleary is up there," Johns said. "Tedesco, Munster and Jack Wighton, too.

"And if you have a look, all those guys were up the top of the Dally M's. You know, we're jumping up and down about the Dally M's but the best players were all up there."

Johns saved special mention for Souths star Cody Walker who he believed just narrowly misses out on his top-tier group for 2020.

"Cody is whisker behind those guys," he said.

Should Smith walk away from the game with a premiership in Sunday's NRL decider, it'd be the perfect ending to what has been a domineering reign as the league's premiere playmaker.

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