Revisiting our ones to watch from 10 years ago: with only ONE still in Super League

A decade ago here at Love Rugby League, we picked out six young Super League stars to watch out for ahead of the beginning of the 2015 campaign.

Ten years on, well almost, we thought we’d take a look at how we fared with our selections.

We’ll run through them in the same order as we listed them back in 2015, kicking things off with undoubtedly the best of the bunch…

George Williams

Playmaker Williams had made 23 appearances for Wigan and was already a Challenge Cup winner when we published the original article, in which we wrote he appeared to ‘have the world at his feet’.

Now 30, he’s amassed over 280 career appearances – featuring for Canberra Raiders over in the NRL and Warrington Wolves back in Super League following his exit from Wigan.

Named as Super League’s Young Player of the Year at the end of that 2015 campaign, he won two Grand Finals with the Warriors as well as a World Club Challenge. The half-back is England’s skipper, and has certainly lived up to our hype.

That’s as good as it gets for our predictions though, trust us!

Career Path: Wigan – South Wales Scorpions (loan) – Wigan – Canberra Raiders – Warrington

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Kieran Dixon

32-year-old Dixon had just made a move to Hull KR as we wrote the original article on the back of an injury-hit 2014 campaign in which injury had denied him numerous opportunities.

The utility back, who hails from Hackney, did go on to surpass a century of Super League appearances in total.

He’s still in the game with Oldham today, winning the League 1 title with the Roughyeds in the season just gone.

Career Path: London – Hemel Stags (loan) – London – Hull KR – Newcastle Thunder (loan) – Hull KR – London – York – Leigh – Widnes (loan) – Leigh – Rochdale (loan) – Leigh – Widnes – Oldham

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Will Maher

Haverthwaite-born Maher was the first player to graduate from the RFL Regional Academy programme, joining Castleford Tigers from the Cumbrian Regional Academy in December 2013.

With numerous loan spells prior, he eventually left The Jungle on a permanent basis in 2020, linking up with Hull KR. Having featured 67 times at the top level, his time in Super League came to an end in 2023 when he joined Halifax Panthers.

Though he didn’t turn out to be the star forward we expected a decade ago, Maher – now 29 – has only just hung up his boots after playing 24 games for League 1 outfit Keighley Cougars in the 2024 campaign.

Career Path: Castleford – Oxford (loan) – Castleford – Batley (loan) – Castleford – Keighley (loan) – Castleford – Halifax (loan) – Castleford – Halifax (loan) – Castleford – Hull KR – Halifax – Dewsbury (loan) – Halifax – Keighley (loan)

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Dec Hulme

St Helens-born Hulme had only played a handful of games at senior level at the time of the original article, but had recently scored a brace of tries for Widnes in a pre-season friendly against his hometown club.

The outside-back’s career saw him make just five appearances in Super League in total, and with his 32nd birthday coming up in January, he last played in the ‘professional’ section of the British game’s pyramid in 2023 with North Wales Crusaders.

Hulme spent the majority of his career in Cumbria with Barrow Raiders, featuring 68 times for them in a five-season stint between 2017 and 2021.

Career Path: Widnes – Workington (loan) – Widnes – North Wales Crusaders (loan) – Widnes – Workington (loan) – Widnes – Whitehaven (loan) – Widnes – Workington – Barrow – North Wales Crusaders

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Andre Savelio

Forward Savelio was born in the New Zealand city of Lower Hutt but moved to England at a young age and was raised in Warrington as a result of dad Lokeni’s own move to Super League.

When we published our original article, Savelio Jr was still a fresh-faced budding talent in St Helens’ academy with a handful of first-team appearances to his name. He would go on to play 29 games for the Red V in 2015, making his breakthrough in the game.

The world appeared to be at his feet when, after a short stint at Warrington, he earned himself a two-year deal with NRL side Brisbane Broncos. A season-ending injury picked up in a pre-season game brought that move to an end though, and he would eventually return to Super League with Hull FC, spending five seasons at the MKM Stadium between 2019 and 2023.

Now 29, Savelio – who represented the Combined Nations All Stars in 2021 – joined Huddersfield ahead of the season just gone and made nine appearances for the Giants to tick past the 150 mark in his career. He has had to announce a withdrawal from the game for now though, needing to deal with an ongoing brain-related issue.

Career Path: St Helens – Castleford (loan) – St Helens – Warrington – Rochdale (loan) – Warrington – Brisbane Broncos – Hull FC – Huddersfield

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Curtis Naughton

Rounding off our look back is another ex-Hull FC man in Naughton, who had just joined the Black and Whites following a stint Down Under with Sydney Roosters which had seen him make ten appearances in the NRL at the time of the original article.

Once he’d returned from Australia at 19, he managed 17 tries in 29 appearances for Hull with loan spells at both Doncaster and Leigh – then Centurions – thrown in there.

Those numbers aren’t too bad, but the Dewsbury-born ace – who is now 29 – exited the MKM Stadium to return to Australia and be back with his family midway through the 2017 season, and he’s never played at any notable level since. If you know what he is up to these days, let us know!

Career Path: Bradford – Sydney Roosters – Hull FC – Doncaster (loan) – Hull FC – Leigh (loan) – Hull FC

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