Group 10 top 50: The best players to play over the last 25 years | players 1-10

This top 50 countdown has taken us back down memory lane and highlighted just how good some of the players to play in Group 10 have been since 1999.

Around 25 premierships have been amassed by this top 10, and they're responsible for some of the best moments in Group 10's recent history.

Check out some of the best players to play in Group 10 over the course of the last 25 years:

The mastermind behind Panthers' run of three grand finals from 2005 to 2007, winning both the '06 and '07 deciders against Workies, the former in extra-time on the road.

Elvy captained Panthers during one of the club's most successful periods and provided a gun outfit with the sort of control and class few teams in the Group have ever enjoyed.

One of the best boots - length and precision - to play in Group 10, and has maintained a presence at the club since retiring at the end of the 2000s.

A life-long mate of the Johns boys, Forbes has been described as "the best player not to play NRL" by Knights premiership-winning five-eighth Matthew Johns.

Scored four tries in a trial game with Newcastle but the club still said he wasn't big enough.

The beneficiary was Country Rugby League.

Those knockbacks and a tough upbringing steeled Forbes to become one of the best players to play anywhere in the bush.

He lined up at hooker for Hawks in the 1999 season and was instrumental in the two blues' incredible season on the eve of the millennium.

Crafty, tough and genuinely one of the best blokes going, Forbes has enjoyed a great Country Rugby League career and will go down as one of the best to ever play in Group 10.

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Country Rugby League royalty - there's no other way of putting it.

Kennedy landed at Blayney in the late 90s after a few games of NRL with Balmain and became an instant cult figure. His speed and evasiveness made him simply must-watch footy.

Has played for a number of clubs, in Group 10 and across Western Division, over the course of over 20 years of first grade footy.

Without any official numbers, and given Kennedy's longevity having played rugby league at a first grade level for around 25 years, it's not hard to fathom the great man has scored over 350 tries in his time out here.

One of the all-time greats.

Anyone who's played in Group 10 would have woken up on a Sunday in winter and have dreaded getting out of bed and making the trip to Lithgow to play footy.

It's just not fun, at all.

Just when you think it couldn't get any colder or windier, the rugby league Gods laugh and crank it up a notch, or three, and dish up the dirtiest conditions you'll ever play in.

And to top it all off, out runs a Workies side led by Kip Maranda.

A hard prop who loved the confrontation and played his rugby league with his hand over the flame the entire time, Maranda personified Lithgow rugby league - hard, tough and unforgivable.

Captained group and divisional sides, and played Country as well.

Arguably the most naturally gifted footballer to ever run out in Group 10.

Unlocking what makes 'Macca' tick has been one of the great mysteries across the Group for as long as he's been banging out 40-20s out of nothing, or weaving his way in and out of traffic to score length of the field tries.

No one ever did it quite like McAlpine, and all people wanted was to see if every week.

Perhaps his best performance in Group 10, McAlpine put it all together on grand final day in 2013 - the biggest day in Orange rugby league history.

CYMS versus Hawks at Wade Park in front of 6000 people, the mercurial McAlpine turned it on for 80 minutes to win man of the match honours and help CYMS upset their crosstown rivals on the biggest stage there is in the Group.

Has won five premierships and multiple player of the year awards, across a couple of Groups too, to be sit in rare company.

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Was there ever a bigger competitor on the footy field?

Jono just had to win everything, and that win-at-all-costs mentality meant every Workies side Van Veen was part of was a complete nightmare to face.

The best fullback in the Group. The best five-eighth in the Group. The best centre in the Group. And one of the best backrowers in the Group. Where ever Van Veen landed, or was needed, in Lithgow colours he just excelled.

Was a genuine star as well. In the mid-2000s, was named Group 10 fullback and trialled for Western Division against Group 11's gun No.1 - former NRL player Joel Caine.

Van Veen out-played him, hands down, and won the custodian's job for Western Division.

The player everyone would love to play with, but hate to play against.

Oberon in the 60s and 70s, CYMS in the 1950s and 2010s and Mudgee in the 2000s.

There's been a number of golden runs across the decades in Group 10.

Some of them - Oberon's incredible trot of 10 titles in 11 years and CYMS post World War II - don't qualify on this list.

However, Mudgee's incredible stretch of five straight Group 10 deciders from 2000 to 2004 does, and if you ask anyone around during that time there was one bloke leading the charge.

Ben Gregory was a power of strength for the Dragons during that period of Mudgee dominance in Group 10.

Won Group 10 player of the year gong in 2001 and then captained Mudgee to grand final glory in 2002 with a great win over CYMS in the decider.

A giant of Mudgee rugby league.

The baddest ... meanest ... toughest forward to play in Group 10.

Simon Osborne is all of the above, and one of the great blokes as well, which made him one of the most sought after footballers anywhere in the bush for a long time.

Played NSW Residents in the mid-2000s and won multiple competitions for a number of clubs, having played in grand finals for three Group 10 clubs.

Played 80 minutes every week and you could bank on his last hit up being as damaging and effective as his first.

Osborne also loved the physicality, and hit just about as hard as anyone in the game.

One of the best players to play in the bush. And almost certainly the best forward to play in Group 10.

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A champion halfback who won a throng of titles in Group 10 with two clubs, but it's Colley's time in Mudgee that makes him a legend.

Won titles in 2002, 2004 and 2009 with Mudgee before linking with Orange CYMS in 2011 in a shock switch that sent the Group 10 world in to meltdown.

It landed Colley next to CYMS' star Mick Sullivan in the halves, which at the time would have been the best halves pairing anywhere in the bush. The pair helped steer CYMS to the title that season against Lithgow.

Colley represented Group 10, Western Division and NSW Country and was lauded as the best halfback in the bush for most of the 2000s decade, having spent time in Newcastle as well.

As poised a player as there was with the No.7 on his back, 'Wok' was a true champion and arguably the best to ever do it in Group 10.

Sullivan took the Orange CYMS club from the Group 10 wilderness to unrivalled force.

Captain-coached CYMS for nine straight seasons - the longest run any mentor has enjoyed at any club in Group 10.

He won five premierships and took CYMS to seven grand finals. Took the club to the finals in eight of his nine years at Wade Park.

A Group 10 player of the year winner, a Group 10 representative and Western Division coach.

Sullivan's run of success and accolades through nine years in Group 10 is unrivalled.

Sullivan consistently owned the big moments throughout that entire run, too, kicking match-defining field goals in the 2010 and 2017 grand final victories. And we won't mention that time he ran backwards to run down the clock against Oberon ...

A great short-kicking game, a brilliant pass and, when his hammies allowed it, chose to run the ball at just the right time.

But what sets Sullivan apart from the rest is his insatiable desire to win. That element of his game ensured CYMS was always in the fight, and it elevated the players around him to be at their best too.

The best player to play in Group 10 in the last 25 years.

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