QUEENSLAND great Gorden Tallis is adamant Test skipper Cameron Smith should be rugby league's next Immortal.

"I think he should be, one hundred per cent," Tallis said.

"He has to be. He is the best leader in the game and one of the greatest hookers of all time.

"There could be argument for Steve Walters, Ben Elias and Danny Buderus but I think Cam has overtaken them all.

"They talk about the next Immortal. Cam has to be in there somewhere."

Fox Sports Stats has released it Performance Stats Index (PSI), a mechanism in which players are rated on detailed performance statistics for the past season.

Players are given a weighting for a score out of 100. Smith finished first in the NRL ahead of Melbourne Storm teammate Cooper Cronk.

This season, Smith averaged 40.2 tackles a game and assisted 10 tries and forced 10 drop-outs.

"He is exceptional, amazing," former Balmain and Australian hooker Ben Elias said.

"Cameron is thorough on and off the field.

"That makes him a 10 out of 10."

Queensland secured the top four spots through Smith, Cronk, Cowboys half Johnathan Thurston and consistent Broncos forward Corey Parker.

"It doesn’t surprise me," Tallis said of the Queensland domination.

Cronk finished the season with a competition- high 30 try assists.

Thurston ended the year with 25 try assists and 23 line-break assists.

KEY STATS:

1. Cameron Smith, Hooker, PSI 76.78. Averaged 40.2 tackles per game as well as assisting 10 tries and forcing 10 drop outs in 2013.

2. Cooper Cronk, Halfback, PSI 76.22. Finished the season with a competition high 30 try assists.

3. Johnathan Thurston, Five-Eighth, PSI 76.17. Forced the most drop outs in 2013 with 31 and also finished the year with 25 try assists and 23 linebreak assists.

4. Corey Parker, Lock, PSI 75.89. Had his best season in 2013 and finished it by making the most offloads (68) as well as averaging 148 metres and 39.9 tackles per game.

5. James Maloney, Five-Eighth, PSI 74.66. Made 18 linebreaks in 2013, more than any other half and also assisted 26 tries.

6. Andrew Fifita, Prop, PSI 74.53. Made more runs (436) and metres (3767) metres than any other player in 2013 despite averaging just 52 minutes per game.

7. Daly Cherry-Evans, Halfback, PSI 74.00. Had a great 2013 finishing with career high numbers in linebreaks (12), linebreak assists (16) and try assists (21).

8. Jamie Lyon, Centre, PSI 73.60. Scored 16 tries in 2013, his best tally in a single season, to go along with his 10 linebreaks and 12 linebreaks assists.

9. Sonny Bill Williams, Second Row, PSI 73.25. Had a great return to rugby league, finishing the season with 16 linebreak assists, 13 linebreaks and averaging 109 metres per game.

10. Greg Inglis, Fullback, PSI 72.78. Busted 121 tackles in just 20 matches, the most of any player.

- Fox Sports Stats 2013

Originally published as Smith next Immortal: Tallis