Every Super League club’s Player of the Year: Mikey Lewis, Rhyse Martin, Matt Dufty…
From left to right: Hull KR's Mikey Lewis, Leeds Rhinos' Rhyse Martin and Warrington Wolves' Matt Dufty
The regular Super League season has now come to an end: and there have been a number of standout individuals across every club in the competition this year.
We’re at that time of year when people start debating who should and shouldn’t be in the Super League Dream Team and who should be crowned the 2024 Steve Prescott Man of Steel.
And those discussions got us thinking: who have been the best players across all 12 clubs in Super League?
Here, we’ve picked out a ‘Player of the Year’ from every club in the competition.
Castleford Tigers: Alex Mellor
It’s probably fair to say that Mellor is one of the most underrated back-rowers in the competition.
The 30-year-old has a reputation for being hard-worker, a grafter, an old school rugby league player that just has that mentality and grit that every coach wants from his players.
Mellor has been a consistent performer for a Castleford side that have not had it all their own way in 2024, playing in 24 of the Tigers’ 27 league games.
Catalans Dragons: Ben Garcia
It’s been an inconsistent season on the field for the Dragons this season, with Steve McNamara’s side looking like a far cry of the side that reached the Grand Final at Old Trafford just a year ago.
But a number of players have stood up for Catalans, with a plethora of French talent coming to the fore.
We couldn’t look past captain Garcia when we were picking out their Player of the Year, who has been one of the premier loose forwards in Super League for several years now.
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Huddersfield Giants: Esan Marsters
Centre Marsters spent a large chunk of the campaign out injured and we’d still have him down as Huddersfield’s Player of the Year, which is perhaps an indication of just how the Giants underperformed this year.
The Cook Islands and New Zealand international featured in 19 of their 27 league games in total, scoring six tries and grabbing eight assists.
Until he got injured, Marsters was among the frontrunners for metres made, too. He’s penned a three-year deal at Salford from 2025, and we think the Red Devils have played a blinder in bringing him in.
Hull FC: Herman Ese’ese
There can be no arguments about this one at all. Ese’ese has been by far and away Hull’s most consistent performer in an utterly drab campaign.
The ex-Samoa and New Zealand international missed just a couple of Hull’s Super League games this year, and has been the best example of a professional for the Airlie Birds’ young crop to look up to.
No one in the competition made more offloads than Ese’ese, and with Hull having made a plethora of signings for 2025, we think he is only going to get better from hereon.
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Hull KR: Mikey Lewis
Speaking of KR, they missed out on the League Leaders’ Shield, but the Robins have never had a better chance of reaching Old Trafford and the fact they sit just 80 minutes away is largely down to academy product Lewis.
It’s so easy to forget that the playmaker is only 23 years of age because of how he guides Willie Peters’ side around the field, a constant threat with the ball in hand.
Lewis is almost a shoo-in for the Super League Dream Team, and we’d be surprised if he’s not in the mix for this year’s Steve Prescott Man of Steel award.
Leigh Leopards: Kai O’Donnell
We keep repeating ourselves when it comes to O’Donnell, but it just has to be said – how on earth are Leigh going to replace him?
For us, he’s been the best back-rower in Super League this year, missing just a single game. We don’t think we’ve seen a poor performance from him in 2024, and we’re excited to see how he fares back in the NRL next term.
The Leopards have secured their place in the play-offs following an astonishing turnaround in the second half of the season, with O’Donnell played an important role in that.
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Leeds Rhinos: Rhyse Martin
We’ve mentioned Leigh needing to replace O’Donnell, and the task is very much just as difficult when it comes to Leeds needing to replace Martin.
Yes, his goal-kicking is insane, but that really is just the tip of the iceberg where the Papua New Guinean is concerned and we think that’s come to the fore this year.
The Rhinos will miss Martin, who has served the club with distinction over the last six seasons at Headingley.
London Broncos: Oli Leyland
It looks increasingly likely that Leyland will be a Warrington player come 2025, and we’re glad that he will still be in Super League, because the half-back has shown he’s worthy of a top-flight deal this year.
Having only turned 23 in May, the youngster has stepped up and really had a starring role for the Broncos, and we think that was evidenced at Magic Weekend particularly.
In a struggling London side, Leyland has still managed to accrue 16 assists as well as two tries of his own. Those are very good returns given the circumstances.
Salford Red Devils: Marc Sneyd
Salford had their play-off spot wrapped up by the time Round 27 came around, and that was largely thanks to playmaker Marc Sneyd, who ended the ‘regular’ campaign with a whopping 210 points to his name. They only scored 550 overall!
The half-back is an absolute menace to try and contain, dubbed the ‘best kicker’ in the game by Wigan boss Matt Peet recently, and that’s in terms of both his deadly ability from the tee as well as his in-game range.
Rested by Red Devils coach Paul Rowley in Round 27 alongside plenty of his team-mates, Sneyd missed his first league game of the year. He still ended the ‘regular’ campaign with 22 league assists!
St Helens: Matty Lees
Saints were among the most difficult clubs to pick a Player of the Year for, because so many of their usual standout stars have spent chunks of this season sidelined through injury.
Lees is our pick, with the prop having missed just three of their 27 league games in 2024. He carries the ball with vigour and is a menace in defence.
More notably, Lees made 752 tackles in Super League including 156 at marker, stopping opposition attacks before they’d even had chance to get going. A consistent performer.
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Warrington Wolves: Matt Dufty
Australian ace Dufty has missed a few weeks recently through the injury he picked up at Magic Weekend, but is now back fit in time for the play-offs, and that’s something everyone connected to Warrington will be extremely grateful for.
The full-back has been immense for the Wolves in 2024, playing a huge part in the success Sam Burgess’ side have enjoyed, and when the Man of Steel leaderboard went dark midway through the year, he was right up there.
Dufty ended the ‘regular’ Super League season with 17 tries and 19 assists to his name, and despite spending those few weeks sidelined, topped the chart for metres made with a ridiculous 4,210, too. He was the only man in the competition to surpass the 4,000 mark.
Wigan Warriors: Luke Thompson
Thompson, like most front-rowers doesn’t tend to get the glitz and glamour rewards in-game, but he has been the best prop in Super League this year.
Big things were expected of the England international when he returned from the NRL to join the Warriors, but he’s surpassed every expectation in the best possible way.
Playing huge minutes right the way through the year, the 29-year-old’s averaged over 27.5 tackles per Super League appearance in the ‘regular’ campaign, and more than 89 metres, missing just two games all season. A BIG player for the Warriors.
