Dylan Edwards isn't the perfect fullback, but he's the perfect fullback for Penrith

At some point over the last two and a bit seasons, Penrith became one of the NRL's big clubs — and big clubs are supposed to have stars, especially in the spine but particularly at fullback.

Over the past two decades, fullback has slowly drawn level with halfback as rugby league's glamour position.

Take a look at the last 10 years of premiership sides and you'll see names like Tedesco, Slater, Inglis, Papenhuyzen and Barba — Dally M winners, Clive Churchill Medal claimers, Origin regulars, future Immortals, the whole deal.

You'll also see, right at the end of the line, Penrith's Dylan Edwards.

Last year, there was a bit of talk around that Penrith couldn't win a competition with Edwards at fullback and Stephen Crichton should be switched to the role permanently in the wake of some solid outings when Edwards was injured.

But speculating what the Panthers would look like if they had a James Tedesco or Tom Trbojevic type at fullback misses the point.

Real life is not a fantasy sports team. Too many cooks can spoil the broth and, while Edwards isn't the perfect fullback, he's the perfect fullback for Penrith — and that's more important.

During Penrith's run to the premiership last year, when Edwards battled through a broken foot to be one of their best in the 14-12 win over South Sydney in the decider, the 26-year-old slowly became a common pick for the club's most underrated player.

After a hot start to 2022, Edwards has fast gone from underrated to properly rated.

After five games, only Melbourne's Ryan Papenhuyzen can challenge him as the best fullback so far this season, with Cronulla's Will Kennedy in third place.

He can't pass like Papenhuyzen or Kennedy, and that was marked as his key weakness last year, but Penrith don't have