OH, how the mighty have fallen.

They’ve been perched at the pointy end of the NRL ladder for the last three years, but there’s no denying glamour clubs South Sydney and the Roosters aren’t what they used to be in the all-important playmaking positions.

Off-field controversies, salary cap constraints and the inevitable levelling of the playing field have conspired to take a healthy dose of shine from a couple of the game’s leading creative combinations, so who replaces them at the top of the pile?

After 12 months in which almost every club’s one, six, seven and nine have seen some sort of shake up, we run the rule over the spines lining up in 2016.

Round 19

PACK RATER: New top dogs among the big men

1 — BRONCOS

Spine: Andrew McCullough, Ben Hunt, Anthony Milford, Darius Boyd

Strengths: Pound for pound, the best spine in the game. McCullough is your no-nonsense rake who knows how to use the big boppers, while the other three are current or future Origin stars. The combination of Milford and Hunt will only get better with time.

Weaknesses: Boyd hasn’t really hit his peak since returning to the club and injuring his Achilles early last year. A bit of the flash seems to have disappeared.

Broncos players (from left) Ben Hunt, Kodi Nikorima, Anthony Milford and Andrew McCullough. Source: News Corp Australia

2 — WARRIORS

Spine: Issac Luke, Shaun Johnson, Jeff Robson, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

Strengths: This is truly one of the most lethal spines in the NRL this year. The additions of RTS and Luke have put the heat right back on Andrew McFadden to do something special with this team.

We saw the combinations Johnson and Tuivasa-Sheck have already begun working on at the Auckland Nines and they have the rugby league world excited.

Luke will bring plenty of experience from South Sydney and will provide an anchor for his star halfback and fullback to work around.

Weaknesses: Jeff Robson is 33 years old and is nearing the end of his professional career. His form for Cronulla last year was solid but he’s not the quick, flashy type of player that Johnson and RTS are.

McFadden has the option of using Tuimoala Lolohea in the halves alongside Johnson if he wishes.

3 — COWBOYS

Spine: Jake Granville, Johnathan Thurston, Michael Morgan, Lachlan Coote

Strengths: Johnathan Thurston. The other three players are very good — particularly Morgan — but it’s hard to get noticed when you’re competing with the best in the business.

Granville must also take a lot of the credit for the club’s success last year, with his darting runs from dummy half a highlight of the Cowboys’ season.

Weaknesses: Paul Green needs to put faith in Granville as an 80-minute player. The team went flat during the grand final when Rory Kostjasyn was introduced for the benched Granville.

Johnathan Thurston at training. Source: News Corp Australia

4 — STORM

Spine: Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Blake Green, Billy Slater

Strengths: Experience. Even five-eighth Blake Green has played more than 150 professional games, and combined the club’s spine has racked up more than 1000.

You can’t put a price on that sort of wisdom. Three of the four are current internationals.

Weaknesses: Age. With that sort of experience comes the numbers fans don’t want to read — these four have a combined age of 125, and three of them are the wrong side of 30.

They aren’t as zippy as they once were, and Billy Slater is returning from nine months on the sidelines following shoulder surgery.

It’s a matter of using their outstanding football smarts to overcome the inevitable heavy legs that come with those extra years.

5 — EELS

Spine: Nathan Peats, Corey Norman, Kieran Foran, Michael Gordon

Strengths: The two halves hold the key to Parramatta’s fate in 2016. Norman has been a solid player for many years and is set to thrive alongside the class of Foran.

We saw in the Auckland Nines just how creative and dangerous Norman can be with ball in hand.

Foran’s role will change slightly from the player he was at Manly, but these two players have the potential to lead the Eels to a top eight berth.

Weaknesses: Four very good individual players will need to gel quickly for the Eels to get the most out of their roster.

Foran and Gordon are new to the club but with their experience, getting on the same page shouldn’t be a problem.

Kieran Foran during Eels training. Source: News Corp Australia

6 —SHARKS

Spine: Michael Ennis, James Maloney, Chad Townsend, Jack Bird

Strengths: All four men in Cronulla’s spine this year are genuine ball players. Bird played last season at five-eighth where he honed the skill, and will complement his lethal running with the tricks he picked up in an outstanding debut year.

Ennis was back to his best last year and will appreciate two genuine halves either side of him in 2016.

Weaknesses: Townsend and Maloney are an untried combination and are both newcomers to the club. Bird is also switching to an unfamiliar position and will need to adapt quickly.

7 — TIGERS

Spine: Robbie Farah, Luke Brooks, Mitchell Moses, James Tedesco

Strengths: The ability in this spine is phenomenal. Farah, while 32 years old, is still an Origin hooker and has plenty left to give.

Brooks and Moses have had big raps on them for many years and if they can deliver on the hype, there’s no knowing just how potent they can be together.

Tedesco was arguably the club’s best player last year and is being touted for Origin this year if he can stay fit.

Weaknesses: The defensive failings of the two young halves has been well documented. Moses and Brooks were both towards the top of the NRL’s missed tackle count last year and however you want to spin it, they need to improve for the sake of the team.

Farah was kept on a leash last year but from all reports Jason Taylor is open to playing a less structured brand of footy in 2016, which could unlock his natural attacking game.

Tigers James Tedesco and Robbie Farah. Source: News Corp Australia

8 — RAIDERS

Spine: Josh Hodgson, Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, Jack Wighton

Strengths: Two natural footballers will be thrown together in a halves partnership that could make or break Canberra’s season.

Austin showed us just how good he can be last year, and Ricky Stuart will build a team around the crafty ballrunner.

Sezer will no doubt take the No. 7 jumper despite playing as a five-eighth at Gold Coast, and will need to play a level-headed role to let Austin shine. Wighton is also a rising star and can go to another level in 2016.

Weaknesses: It’s hard to pick a weakness in this spine. The club has upgraded their halfback with Sezer replacing Sam Williams, and will otherwise enter the season with the same core of a team. It’s just a matter of Austin and Sezer figuring out who does what.

9 — BULLDOGS

Spine: Michael Lichaa, Moses Mbye, Josh Reynolds, Brett Morris

Strengths: Having an international back occupying the No. 1 jumper is a good start. Throw in a talented young halfback and an energetic five-eighth and Des Hasler has the makings of a very handy spine.

Morris is the experienced head who can lead the team from the back, while Mbye is touted as one of Queensland’s next big things.

Weaknesses: Reynolds has a bag of talent and his heart can never be questioned. It’s up to Hasler to rein in his energetic No. 6 and get the best out of him from week to week.

Reynolds’ brain snaps can cost the team at crucial stages and he needs to focus his energy on the job at hand.

He was clearly stung by being relegated to the bench late last season and will be desperate not to let it happen again.

Moses Mbye and Josh Reynolds at Belmore Oval. Source: News Corp Australia

10 — DRAGONS

Spine: Mitch Rein, Benji Marshall, Gareth Widdop, Kurt Mann

Strengths: The international experience in Marshall and Widdop served the team well last season and by all reports their partnership has gone up a gear heading into 2016.

Rein is an underrated hooker and provides some energy and pace with his runs from dummy half.

Weaknesses: Mann looks like being thrown the No. 1 jumper as Josh Dugan moves to the centres and it will be interesting to see how the side handles the switch.

Mann was good but never outstanding at Melbourne and has big shoes to fill in Wollongong.

11 — RABBITOHS

Spine: Damien Cook, Adam Reynolds, Luke Keary, Greg Inglis

Strengths: A team with Greg Inglis at the back is always dangerous. While he wasn’t at his peak during 2015, a fit Inglis is a big assets to any side.

If Damien Cook can reproduce his form with the Bulldogs last year the Bunnies’ forward pack will be served well.

Weaknesses: Three of the four players above were down on form last year. Adam Reynolds and Luke Keary haven’t lived up to the hype placed on them, and now Keary seems to be feuding with both club owners and the coach.

Inglis was also uninspiring and needs to lift as the leader in what can be a formidable spine.

Adam Reynolds during South Sydney training. Source: News Corp Australia

12 —PANTHERS

Spine: James Segeyaro, Peter Wallace, Jamie Soward, Matt Moylan

Strengths: Anthony Griffin will essentially mix and match whatever spine he believes will get the job done for the Panthers.

In the halves he can drop both the senior playmakers and promote young gun Te Maire Martin, while moving Moylan from fullback into the No. 6 is also an option.

Martin gave a glimpse of his ability at the Nines and wouldn’t look out of place in the NRL. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is a more than handy replacement for Moylan at the back if a switch is made.

Weaknesses: The form of the above spine is questionable. Apart from Segeyaro, these players have struggled for fitness over the past 12 months.

Moylan’s 2015 was cut short with an ankle injury and he has only just returned to the paddock. Soward is in danger of missing the cut if he can’t improve on last year’s performances, and it’s no secret Wallace isn’t the coach’s favourite.

On their day they will be one of the best in the competition, but on recent form this is a lacklustre spine.

13 — SEA EAGLES

Spine: Apisai Korosiau, Daly Cherry-Evans, Dylan Walker, Brett Stewart

Strengths: The old head at the back Stewart never lets Manly down. He’s one of the club’s remaining veterans and still provides so much in both attack and defence.

DCE has his future settled now and can crack on with playing some footy without the added distractions.

Once touted as Australia’s future long-term halfback, Cherry-Evans can climb back up the ranks with a big 2016 season.

Weaknesses: Dylan Walker is an experiment in the halves, having played most of his professional football at centre for South Sydney.

Barrett is short on five-eighth options, and has the option of throwing young Tom Trbojevic the No. 6 and leaving Walker in the backline. It won’t be easy filling the hole left by Kieran Foran.

Brett Stewart talks to Daly Cherry-Evans. Source: News Corp Australia

14 — ROOSTERS

Spine: Jake Friend, Jayden Nikorima, Jackson Hastings, Blake Ferguson

Strengths: Youth. That’s about as much as you can take out of the Roosters’ spine at this stage. Until we see them play a game together we won’t really know how good or bad they will be.

Weaknesses: Inexperience. Yes, it’s very similar to “youth”, but age can be a double-sided sword.

A few months ago it was Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney manning the halves, now it’s Hastings and Nikorima.

They are both talented young players, but untested at this stage and the partnership could just as easily fire or fizzle.

Ferguson is also moving from the centres to fullback and the move could be as equally rewarding or disastrous.

15 — KNIGHTS

Spine: Tyler Randell, Trent Hodkinson, Jarrod Mullen, Jake Mamo

Strengths: The recruitment of Trent Hodkinson could finally allow Mullen to get back to playing his best footy.

Hodkinson will become the dominant playmaker and Mullen can concentrate on his own game, running the ball and kicking.

Weaknesses: Randell and Mamo have played a handful of NRL games between them and must now occupy two key positions in Newcastle’s line-up.

They have both showed glimpses of talent but must step up to take charge of a team that finished at the bottom of the ladder last year.

The other options for the fullback spot include Australian international Sione Mata’utia and also Jaelene Feeney. All Nathan Brown has to do is take his pick.

Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown withTrent Hodkinson. Source: Getty Images

16 — TITANS

Spine: Nathan Friend, Tyrone Roberts, Ashley Taylor, Josh Hoffman

Strengths: With the turmoil the club has endured in recent times, perhaps the recruitment of Nathan Friend was a masterstroke.

Friend is the experienced man in a fairly inexperienced team, and can drag this spine with him as the club strives to turn adversity into success.

Weaknesses: The knee injury to Kane Elgey was exactly what the club didn’t need.

Neil Henry was already facing an uphill battle and now he’s down a star playmaker.

Ashley Taylor has talent but is untried and inexperienced at NRL level. There’s a lack of star power in this spine.