Ranking the 9 best players to wear number 1 in Super League history including THREE Wigan icons
From left to right: Brent Webb, Sam Tomkins and Paul Wellens - three of the best #1s Super League has seen
In sport, numbers become synonymous with certain players – Michael Jordan donning #23, THE Ronaldo wearing #9 and Patrick Mahomes having #15 on his back to name just three.
Rugby league is no different, and over the next few weeks, we’ll be ranking some of the best we’ve seen in Super League donning a certain number on their shirt.
Up first, as you might expect, it’s #1…
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9. Bevan French
French, one of the best overseas stars to ever do it in Super League, is more renowned for his star quality in the halves. But in 2022, he took on Wigan‘s #1 shirt. Strangely, the Australian ace only played full-back four times that year, featuring heavily on the wing and scoring 31 tries across all competitions.
The Warriors were beaten in the play-off semi-finals by Leeds Rhinos having lifted the Challenge Cup a few months prior with victory over Huddersfield Giants at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but the 28-year-old has now won everything there is to win and then some.
8. Robbie Hunter-Paul
30-time Kiwi international Hunter-Paul wore the #1 shirt for the duration of his time at Bradford, captaining the Bulls and featuring more than 300 times in their colours, including well over 250 games in Super League alone.
Partnering brother Henry in the halves for a spell at Odsal, while still wearing #1, the 48-year-old won everything there was to win – lifting the Challenge Cup for the first time in 1996 and then being crowned a Super League champion in 2001. Also winning the treble in 2003, and the World Club Challenge in 2004, he eventually departed for Huddersfield in 2006.
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7. Brett Hodgson
46-year-old Hodgson, who joined Huddersfield in 2009 and also played for Warrington Wolves, made exactly 100 Super League appearances. He had #1 on his back for both the Giants and the Wolves, named the competition’s Man of Steel in his first year with the former.
Scoring 55 tries across all competitions in the British game, the New South Wales native lifted the Challenge Cup with Warrington in 2012 and won the Lance Todd Trophy for a man of the match performance in their triumph against Leeds. He would go on to become Hull FC’s head coach in 2021, leaving the MKM Stadium the following year.
6. Zak Hardaker
Hardaker, an England and Great Britain international, has worn the #1 shirt for four different clubs in Super League to date – Leeds, Castleford Tigers, Wigan and Leigh Leopards. First being handed #1 by the Rhinos in 2013, the 33-year-old has now made over 263 appearances in the top flight having just joined Hull FC ahead of the upcoming 2025 campaign.
An incredibly versatile back, Hardaker has thrice made the Super League Dream Team while having #1 on his back, and was named Man of Steel in 2015. His trophy haul includes three Super League titles, a World Club Challenge triumph, three Challenge Cups and three League Leaders’ Shields.
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5. Brent Webb
Cairns-born Webb took Super League by storm when he arrived at Leeds from the New Zealand Warriors in 2007. Winning two Super League titles with the Rhinos while donning the #1 on his back, he quickly became a fans’ favourite at Headingley. By the time he departed for Catalans Dragons in 2013, he’d made 155 appearances for Leeds and scored 88 tries in the process.
Now 45, his time with the Dragons wasn’t as fruitful. Scoring two tries in ten appearances for the French outfit, he eventually hung up his boots during the 2014 campaign due to a recurring back injury. Nonetheless, the 17-time Kiwi international remains one of the best to ever wear #1 in Super League.
4. Kris Radlinski
Now one of Super League’s prominent public-facing figures as Wigan’s CEO, 48-year-old Radlinski enjoyed a phenomenal playing career with his hometown club and held their #1 shirt as the summer era dawned in 1996.
Going on to make over 250 Super League appearances, including the six he made after coming out of retirement amid an injury crisis in 2006, the England and Great Britain international won a Challenge Cup, a Super League title and a Premiership. He was also a Lance Todd Trophy winner in Wigan’s 2002 Challenge Cup final triumph against St Helens in Edinburgh.
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3. Jack Welsby
Welsby was already well on his way to superstar status when he took ownership of Saints‘ #1 shirt at the start of the 2022 season, with *that* winning try in the 2020 Grand Final against hometown club Wigan, a Challenge Cup winners’ medal and a win at Old Trafford against Catalans already on his CV.
Since donning the #1, the 23-year-old has gone on to win another Grand Final and a World Club Challenge as well as making his England bow and nailing down a spot in Shaun Wane’s side. Winning the Super League Young Player of the Year award in 2022, he’s now made over 110 appearances in Super League alone, with 60 tries to show for his efforts.
2. Paul Wellens
The man now in charge of Saints, Wellens had an incredible 18-year playing career, all spent with his boyhood club. Making a senior debut in August 1998, Wellens wore #1 for the majority of his days as a player and is the Red V’s highest-appearance maker of all-time with 495.
Now 44, the England and Great Britain international retired in 2015 having scored 231 tries across all competitions. By the time he hung up his boots, the legendary full-back had won five Super League titles, five Challenge Cups, two World Club Challenges and six League Leaders’ Shields.
Wellens was also named in the Super League Dream Team on four occasions, crowned Man of Steel in 2006, scooping the Harry Sunderland Trophy that same year with a man of the match performance in Saints’ Grand Final triumph against Hull FC.
He went on to win the Lance Todd Trophy in both 2007 and 2008, one of just two men to earn that honour in consecutive Challenge Cup finals, alongside Marc Sneyd.
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1. Sam Tomkins
Tomkins is one of the best to ever do it in Super League, there’s no question about it. Making his senior debut for boyhood club Wigan in May 2008, the Milton Keynes-born ace first donned the Warriors’ #1 shirt in 2011.
Named the Man of Steel for the first time the following year, the 35-time England international made a total of 213 appearances for the Cherry and Whites across two stints, before moving to Catalans in 2019.
The 35-year-old, who has been confirmed as going around again in 2025, has never worn #1 for the Dragons, but has continued to shine – named Man of Steel for the second time in 2021.
Having played 110 games for the Dragons to date, Tomkins’ medal haul is a very vast one. Named in the Dream Team eight times, he’s won three Super League titles, two Challenge Cups and three League Leaders’ Shields as well as a World Club Challenge.
