According to the NRL’s official website NRL.com, the top eight sides are missing a mere 22 players with just three rounds remaining in 2016 or just two-to-three players per club. In good news for the top six, seventh-placed Penrith and eighth-placed Gold Coast are responsible for ten of those current injuries, who are missing four and six players respectively.

Extraordinarily, after 23 brutal competition rounds, as well as the squad’s well-documented representative commitments, the Storm is missing just its superstar fullback Billy Slater (whose shoulder injury has kept him out of action for almost the entire 2016 season) and 25-year-old prop and NSW Country rep Jordan McLean.

Despite the rough and tumble style of play they’re famous for, the Bulldogs are missing just backline star Chase Stanley heading into the finals, who suffered a knee injury in a NSW Cup game back in July, which followed from a hamstring strain he suffered in April.

While several other players have missed short and lengthy periods on the sidelines throughout 2016, squads in the top eight have come back together to form almost their best possible line-ups: all this despite constant reports of the brutality of State of Origin having a severe, lasting and adverse affect on the NRL competition.

In 2016, the bottom eight is faring considerable worse in the injury stakes than semi-final-bound teams, boasting a whopping 38 players on the injured list, or five players on average from each club. The Warriors are currently missing their star off-season signings Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (ACL, season) Issac Luke (knee, Round 26) among their seven players who are out of action.

The Knights - already battling away with a young and inexperienced squad in the main - have six players out of action including James McManus, who recently retired due to concussion concerns, and Kade Snowden, who is out indefinitely.

Then there’s the Eels, who are without Anthony Watmough (knee, retired), Luke Kelly (ACL, season), Mitch Cornish (hamstring, Round 26) and Kieran Foran (shoulder, released) … apart from their plethora of other squad dramas and concerns.

Other notable injuries across the bottom eight are the Tigers’ James Tedesco, Souths’ Luke Keary, retiring Dragons veteran Ben Creagh and Manly stars Dylan Walker and Brett Stewart.

NRL TOP EIGHT’S INJURED PLAYERS (elite squads)
STORM 2
SHARKS 2
RAIDERS 2
BULLDOGS 1
BRONCOS 3
COWBOYS 2
PANTHERS 4
TITANS 6
(22 players, or three players per club)

BOTTOM EIGHT
WARRIORS 7
WESTS 4
DRAGONS 4
MANLY 6
RABBITOHS 5
EELS 5
ROOSTERS 1
KNIGHTS 6
(38 PLAYERS, or five players per club)