Stat Attack: Is Latrell on track for point-scoring greatness?

The praise has come thick and fast for Sydney Roosters centre Latrell Mitchell, but how does the 21-year-old compare to the NRL's top five all-time point scorers?

What got lost in Mitchell's 26-point haul against the Wests Tigers in round eight was the fact he passed 500 career points with his final conversion in the 79th minute.

He's still close to 10 years away from thinking about Cameron Smith's record (2428 points), but the early signs are overwhelmingly positive.

Mitchell joined Canberra Raiders captain Jarrod Croker as one of the youngest players to reach the milestone but required 11 games less than Croker's 90 to get there.

Andrew Johns was 23 when he reached the 500 points milestone in 1997 but needed only 66 games to do so. That makes him the fastest of the five leading point scorers in the history of the game to that figure.

Jason Taylor needed 88 games and was 23 when he reached the milestone, while Hazem El Masri was the oldest of the top five at 25.

El Masri only kicked nine goals in the first five seasons of his career with sharp-shooter Daryl Halligan, who is sixth on the list overall, ahead of him.

Halligan took just 59 games to reach 500 points after joining the code as a 25-year-old following his time in rugby union.

Cowboys great Johnathan Thurston (102 games) and Smith (116 games) both needed a lot longer to get to 500 points. The fact they weren't always the first-choice kicker played a major factor in this.

Smith, who is on track for the history-making 400 game milestone in round 17, became the highest point-scorer in April.

His achievements have been heavily boosted by an injury-free and prolonged career.

Only time will tell whether Mitchell can continue at the rapid rate at which he has started.