1. Tim Mortimer - Orange CYMS (2014: 19)
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WHAT would Orange Hawks give to have this guy back?
The Orange CYMS lock has been outstanding since his move across town to begin 2015, with his positional switch from five-eighth to the forwards this year gifting the green and golds the kind of ball-playing forward no other team in the Group possesses.
He's making line breaks for fun, too, scoring three tries in five games as CYMS race towards the turn of the season entrenched in the top two.
Easily the most improved player in Group 10 this year, Mortimer's influence in turning the green and golds from finals on-lookers to minor premiership favourites in the space of 12 months can not be underestimated.
2. Team Van Veen - Lithgow Workies (new entry)
IF Chaz Michael Michaels is men's figure skating, then Jono and Brendon Van Veen, together, are Lithgow Workies.
Boom.
Arguably the best two footballers in Western Division, it's no coincidence the pair's absence last season meant Lithgow went from preliminary finalists to one of the worst teams in the competition in the blink of an eye.
But, team Van Veen is back. And so too is Lithgow in 2015.
Devastating with the ball and brutal without it, Jono and Brendon are a force to be reckoned with - and while ever the brothers are firing for Lithgow, Workies is an undeniable force on this year's premiership race.
3. Terawhiti Cooper - Blayney Bears (new entry)
WATCHING TC play last year was like watching Bruce Banner in any of the Avengers movies - all you want to see is The Hulk.
But the shackles of captain-coaching the Bears prevented any sort of Cooper unleashing, and it meant the most feared forward in Group 10 was largely kept under wraps throughout 2014.
This year, though, we're getting the whole hulk smash.
And it's a weekly show.
Cannoning the Bears back up the Group 10 ladder, Cooper is the forward key as Blayney continues to impress this season.
4. Mick Sullivan - Orange CYMS (new entry)
DIDN'T feature on this list last season, but Sullivan didn't play a lot of footy in 2014 either.
Still the best halfback in Group 10 - and probably should have picked himself for to wear the Western No.7 too - Sullivan's leadership and composure in the big moments is second to none in any code in any region throughout Country NSW.
Managing Sullivan's dodgie hammies, however, will be the biggest hurdle CYMS have to winning this year's premiership.
5. Corin Smith - Mudgee Dragons (2014: 2)
IS there a better outside back running around anywhere in the bush?
Smith's start hasn't been as scintillating as it was in 2014, but the Mudgee back has moved from the centres to fullback this year and should he own the custodian's role and Mudgee make the top three at season's end, the Dragons will be a serious hope of righting the wrongs suffered at the back end of 2014.
He's scored six tries in seven games this year - he could quadruple that figure should the Dragons seriously fire.
6. Terry Brown - Blayney Bears (new entry)
Brown is quickly living up the hype this year.
As gifted at putting players through a gap as he is slicing through one on his own, Brown's somewhat lacklustre 2014 has been obliterated from the memory banks following a scintillating start to this year.
Has scored six tries in five games - most of them at home - and is quickly becoming the King George Oval faithful's favourite bear since Humphrey B first graced Blayney's television screens way back in the 1960s.
7. Garry Reilly - Bathurst St Pat's (2014: 7)
AS highly regarded as any player in the Group, Reilly captained New Zealand at the Touch Football World Cup earlier this year and, on his day, is a mesmerising play-maker with a deft touch.
But St Pat's aren't quite the same side that won the competition in September last year.
Reilly will have to find another gear if he is to guide the Saints to back-to-back titles, a feat no Bathurst side wearing blue and white has ever achieved.
8. Benjamin John - Bathurst St Pat's (2014: 3)
HE'S not overly quick. You couldn't say he's overly big in stature either. But Benjamin John is tough.
And he is undeniably crucial to St Pat's bid for consecutive titles.
The best hooker in Group 10, John's presence around the ruck is invaluable for the defending premiers and he's staunch defence has been the bane of most sides' attack since he ventured east from Parkes a number of years ago.
9. Jack Afamasaga - Mudgee Dragons (2014: 1)
INJURY has dented the impact of Mudgee's player-coach to begin the season, with the former NRL gun battling the after-affects of a broken leg he suffered in 2014.
His big-game experience, though, is absolutely crucial to the Dragons' cause.
Has played in an NRL grand final with Manly in 2007 before heading bush, and if the Mudgee club is to press for its first premiership since its memorable triumph over a Terry Crane-inspired Lithgow in 2009 (remember that chip-and-chase, classic), Afamasaga will be at the forefront of that charge.
10. Jeremy Gordon -Bathurst Panthers (2014: 5)
IT'S no coincidence when Gordon returned from injury, Panthers won their first game of the season.
They've since won another too, and despite only playing the three games so far this season, it's clear for almost everyone to see while ever Gordon is on the paddock Panthers' almost flat-lining 2015 campaign will have some life breathed into it.
One of the most destructive backs in the premiership.
11. Simon Osborne - Orange CYMS (new entry)
CAN a 35-year-old multiple Group 10, Western Division and Country representative be the find of the 2015 season? Why not.
Osborne virtually plonked himself on CYMS' doorstep the week before round one after moving to Orange in April, and he's gone from not being on anyone's radar to all over everyone's as he leads the green and golds' pack towards another minor premiership.
A crucial cog in CYMS' bid for 2015 glory.
12. Hayden Tidswell - Cowra Magpies (new entry)
COWRA'S best in an otherwise bleak campaign since finishing runners-up in 2014.
Has been a mammoth on the edge of the ruck for the Magpies, giving the black and whites plenty of punch after losing a stack of their best players after last year's grand final loss to St Pat's.
13. Antonio Ale - Lithgow Workies (new entry)
THERE'S more Ales in Lithgow this year than you'll find in Berlin this Octoberfest - and Antonio is arguably the finest of the lot.
A monster of a halfback, Ant's size is only matched by his evasiveness and such a combination is causing nightmares for opposition defenders venturing to Tony Luchetti Sportsground this season.
14. Steve Lane/William Kennedy - Blayney Bears (2014: Lane was 12)
A MORE famous one-two combination than Ali's floating butterfly and stinging bee? Maybe? Probably? Definitely.
Lane and Kennedy have been braining opposition defenders since, we think, the 80s - meaning every time Lane sling-shots Kennedy through a gap the pair edge closer to forging a longer and definitely more successful tenure at the top than former day-time-TV queen Kerry-Anne Kennerley. Oh, KAK.
A late signing by the Bears, this pair continue to fire - giving Blayney highly valued experience.
15. Hamish Bryant - Mudgee Dragons (new entry)
THE ace in Mudgee's pack this season.
Currently serving a five game ban for biting, Bryant is clearly more brawn than brains and come the semi-final time - make no mistake, Mudgee will be there - that unrelenting madness should see the Dragons feature prominently.
Has the ability to ruffle feathers, the former South Sydney Rabbitohs under 20s gun is the perfect foil for the slick skills of Smith and halfback Tim Condon out wide.
16. Blake Miller - Oberon Tigers (new entry)
BOASTS the kind of acceleration anyone currently driving a Prius dreams of.
A real jack in the box, Miller has always had the ability - he won the 2011 Group 10 under 18s player of the year while at Panthers - but only now is the live-wire fullback beginning to live up to the hype.
Is the key for Oberon as Wade Judd attempts to nurse back some of the Tigers' best young talent currently warming the Oberon injury ward.
17. Brent Seager - Bathurst Panthers (2014: 11)
NOT since the original Bat Out Of Hell have we seen one man produce so many hits.
The Panthers skipper, Seager is the best exponent of a bell-ringer in Group 10 and, despite the shoulder charge going the way of the dodo, his efficiency in pulling off game-changing tackles hasn't diminished.
Will need to continue to fire up front if Panthers are to push for a top five spot.
18. Ben McAlpine - Orange CYMS (2014: 8)
ENGIMATIC - McAlpine is arguably Group 10's best player but also its most frustrating to watch.
Can be guilty of dipping in and out of games, but the signs for 2015 are already positive with the former Group 10 and Group Nine player of the year making a massive impact for both CYMS and on the representative scene, particularly with Western Rams, already this season.
Is the competition's leading point scorer after seven rounds, and if CYMS continue on their merry way he'll win that crown in a canter.
19. Michael Nixon - Blayney Bears (new entry)
Hasn't received the sort of plaudits his fellow premier league co-coach and Group 10 and Western Division gun Dane Howarth has this season, but Nixon is equally important to the Bears' bold bid in 2015.
Has been, alongside Mortimer, one of the form locks of the season, with his running game simply sublime.
Giving Blayney plenty of punch through the middle-third of the field, Nixon, a player who can be hampered by injury, must remain fully fit if the Bears are to reach their potential and threaten Lithgow and CYMS for this year's title.
20. Jedd Kennedy - Orange Hawks (new entry)
THE youngest player on this list, 17-year-old Kennedy has been Orange Hawks' get out of jail free card in 2015.
He blitzed Oberon in the two blues' first win of the season, before bagging a brace in Hawks' second win of the year - this time over defending premiers St Pat's at the Sportsground in Bathurst.
He's a seriously talented outside back with speed to burn, and if the two blues are to challenge the top five for the remainder of the season then spreading it wide to Kennedy should be option A, B and C.