We're getting to the pointy end of the best players to play in the Central West in the last 25 years and there's some serious talent on show.
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- PART ONE: Central West Rugby Union top 50 - players 50-41
Premiership winners, NSW Country Cockatoos and even a player gun secondrower who played against the might of the British and Irish Lions ... players 11 through to 20 could easily slot into the top 10, but haven't quite been able to crack it.
- PART TWO: Central West Rugby Union top 50 - players 40-31
And that says more about the guys in the top 10 than it does those who missed it.
- PART THREE: Central West Rugby Union top 50 - players 30-21
Check out our next part of the best players to play in the Central West from 1999 onwards:
20 Angus Scott - Emus
We're diving right back into the archives for this one, but Angus Scott may well be the most dominant prop to play in the Central West in the last 25 years, even if only for a brief moment.
Scott was part of Emus' scrum in the 1999 premiership winning season. A big body and super talented at scrum time, Scott's presence in the pack ensured the greens dominated.
He went on to play Super Rugby after that season, too. Earning caps with the Brumbies, Reds and then Western Force before retiring from professional footy.
An Australian under-21 representative as well.
19 Wayne Miller - City
Choo Choo!
Orange City's diminutive flanker from the tiny North Island town of Waikite in New Zealand had a year to remember in 2010.
He stormed onto the scene after being picked for the Blue Bulls that pre-season as a relative unknown in the Central West.
Twelve months earlier though, the gritty No.7 was dominating for Illawarra in the Caldwell Cup, and after doing the same for the Blue Bulls in 2010 enjoyed a great year with the Lions in the Blowes Clothing Cup too.
Helped lift the Lions from the bottom of the ladder in 2009 to contenders in the space of 12 months. His work over the ball was unrivalled, but his work around the field was also excellent, and he scored two tries in a vital win over the students as the two clubs battled it out for a top three place late in the season.
Won Central West Rugby Union Player of the Year in 2010. Unfortunately, didn't feature for the club as regularly as the Lions would have liked after that, with work and family taking priority.
Was affectionately dubbed 'The Wayne Train' and was a cult hero at Pride Park.
18 Geoff Koerstz - Roos
Ask most who came up against Geoff Koerstz and they'll tell you he was as tough as they came.
But the long-serving Roos hooker was also extremely skillful - he just never had to prove it while ever he was running straight over blokes instead.
Played bit of first grade at Manly and Warringah in the Shute Shield and donned Country colours multiple times as well.
Was a key man in Dubbo's three premiership teams from 2006 through to 2008.
17 Carter Hirini - Emus
A bolter in the top 20.
The flying Kiwi, however, has been credited with changing the way Emus played.
His speed and ability to find the line gave Emus a weapon right when the club was beginning to turn the corner and, again, dominate the Central West.
Hirini's speed and vision - he played No.10 for a season as well - ensured Emus could score tries from anywhere on the field. He was the epicentre of Emus resurgence.
Even when he started to get marked heavily he still scored try after try. Fast, balanced and very strong in contact. A guy you could rely on to create space and opportunities.
16 Ben Wright - Emus
Ben Wright, monster.
A key man in Emus' run of four straight premierships from 1999 onwards, Wright was as imposing as he was classy in a greens side that had plenty of elite talent.
Wright was the pick of the forwards, and proved too good for most across the zone, and at higher levels too. Scored five tries in a game against Rhinos.
Wright also played in the second row for the NSW Country Cockatoos in the British and Irish Lions' tour to Australia in 2001, describing his side's 46-3 loss against Test players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales as a "surreal" experience.
Captained NSW Country as well.
15 Andrew Webb - Mudgee
Phil Waugh, George Smith ... Andrew Webb?
The Mudgee gun played Australian Schoolboys alongside the two Wallabies greats in 1997, and didn't look out of place in the backrow that included the pair that'd eventually go on to great heights at the international level. (Molong boy David Lyons also played in that 1997 Aussie schoolboys side).
Captained the Batties in the mid-2000s and was the sole reason the Mudgee club was in most games the team played.
The backrower was tough over the ball and a real rock - he was basically immovable. A ball of muscle. In those Mudgee teams in the mid-2000s, he was exceptional.
14 Sam Ward - Narromine
Has been dubbed one of the best No.10s to play in the Central West in the last 25 years.
Pulled all of the strings at Narromine for a long time and had a magical 2009 campaign that eventually netted the club its maiden Blowes Clothing Cup premiership. The Gorillas' win marked just the second time in over 50 years a team outside of Bathurst, Orange or Dubbo had taken home the Central West's top flight premiership.
Ward was a terrific defender and a real unsung hero of that Goriallas' '09 side.
His direction, maturity and vision were key for every side he played in and his talk in defence was invaluable.
13 Matt Waterford - Bulldogs
Probably the best exponent of a line-out the zone has seen in the last 25 years.
Waterford owned the set piece for years as a Bulldog, and then did the same at every level he reached there after.
So much so, Waterford captained NSW Country in 2009. Waterford is also a former Cockatoos' Player of the Year award.
12 Jason Welburn - CSU, Emus
Hard-hitting, hard-running, hard-toothed... well, hardman, who spent more than half a decade terrorising opposition packs.
Debuted with Emus in 2004 despite being a colt, and after playing that year's grand final against CSU joined the students and led their pack for his entire time as a Mitchell Man.
A former Blue Bull and NSW Country Cockatoo, who also earned a Queensland Country nod after leaving the Central West.
11 Filisione Pauta - Roos
Arrived on the scene about a decade ago and was widely considered one of the best players to ever land in the zone.
A damaging ball runner but also a centre capable of reading the game brilliantly, Filisione Pauta's craft around the field is second to none.
Upon putting this list together, the Roos' premiership winner was called "the best back to play in the Central West in the last decade" by one good judge. They added Pauta "controls the game with ease".
The 2014 grand final is the best example of that. Relatively new to the Central West that season, 'Fili' rose to the challenge and was "all over Nigel in that game", said another rugby expert.
Nigel being the Emus' gun of the Staniforth class - and few got one over Nigel at any point in his career out west, let alone when he was in his prime that season.
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