Hull KR man top of the list of Super League’s 2025 incomings ranked by hype

Over 20 signings have now been confirmed by Super League clubs ahead of 2025, including eight players who will make the move over from the NRL.

Below, we’ve ranked all eight of those arrivals from the NRL by the hype which surrounds their signing…

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8. Nick Cotric (Catalans Dragons)

Off-contract at Canberra Raiders, Cotric has penned a three-year deal with Catalans from 2025.

The Dragons will get an outside-back who has almost 150 first-grade appearances to his name and someone who has featured in a Grand Final Down Under, but they will also get someone who has been consigned to playing in the New South Wales Cup for much of this season.

With plenty of other top quality arrivals at the Stade Gilbert Brutus, there seems to be considerably less hype around the 25-year-old than other signings.

7. Elliott Whitehead (Catalans Dragons)

Whitehead, who will turn 35 in September, will also make the move from Canberra to the Dragons in 2025. He has signed a one-year deal to return to the Stade Gilbert Brutus a decade after departing for the NRL and for the Raiders.

For an Englishman to last that long Down Under, especially with one team, is an achievement which should be heralded. There’s no doubt that the veteran will add a great deal of experience to the Dragons’ team in 2025, either. We just think there’s not a great deal of hype around his signing. It had looked like he might retire!

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6. Tom Burgess (Huddersfield Giants)

Burgess is another who has spent a hell of a long time Down Under, with his span in the NRL lasting over a decade with the South Sydney Rabbitohs – who he joined from Bradford Bulls back in 2013. His return to Super League comes with Huddersfield, who have handed the prop a three-year contract.

The Giants obtaining his signing came as a shock, and there was a bit of excitement around it when it was first announced back in February. But transfers confirmed since have bumped the 32-year-old down this ranking, as we’ll get on to.

5. Tevita Pangai Jr (Catalans Dragons)

28-year-old powerhouse Pangai Jr – who has signed a one-year deal with Catalans – is the most recent of these eight signings to be confirmed, and if we were ranking them based upon how interested we are to see them in Super League, he’d be top. The chances are that once the forward arrives from the Dolphins, he’ll either excel or flop rather than ending up somewhere in-between.

A divisive character, the Tonga international is an absolute unit – standing at 6’3 and weighing in at circa 120kg (19 stones in imperial figures). When he’s in the mood, he can be absolutely unstoppable with the ball in hand. The doubt over whether the Dragons can get him in that mood on a regular basis is probably why his ‘hype’ isn’t as big as it could be.

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4. Luke Keary (Catalans Dragons)

The fourth and final Catalans signing we had to slot in on this ranking was former Australia and Ireland international Keary, 32, who has put pen to paper on a two-year deal at the Stade Gilbert Brutus. As a result, 2024 is Keary’s eighth and final season with the Roosters, who he won back-to-back NRL Grand Finals with in 2018 and 2019.

At 32, the playmaker is no longer at the peak of his powers, and reports suggested he was set to hang up his boots at the end of this year. BUT because of what he’s achieved in his career, Keary is a certified superstar, and with that came a decent level of hype once Catalans announced his signing. We hope he does great things for them.

3. Tristan Sailor (St Helens)

After the player himself leaked his signing, Saints confirmed Sailor’s arrival earlier this week, with the Brisbane Broncos back penning a two-year deal at the Totally Wicked Stadium. There was a good deal of hype when a move to Super League for the 26-year-old was first rumoured a few months ago, and after his signing was announced by Saints, that hype has stirred up again.

He will arrive on Merseyside with a great deal of expectation on him to be the man to help the Red V achieve great things again, and we’ll make no apologies for increasing the anticipation around how he’ll fare. Sailor is electric when at his best.

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2. David Armstrong (Leigh Leopards)

Newcastle Knights full-back Armstrong is a player Leigh have been after for a long, long time. He got his breakthrough in the NRL and impressed as he did so, which saw the Leopards chances of recruiting him for 2025 decrease. But somehow, they have got it over the line and he will form part of Adrian Lam’s squad in 2025 having signed a three-year deal.

At 23, Armstrong has shown exactly what he can do at the highest level with how he’s performed when thrown in at first-grade by the Knights. There’s huge hype around him because of that, and there’s no doubt he will be one of the star men for Leigh – perhaps one of the biggest signings in the club’s history.

1. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Hull KR)

35-year-old Waerea-Hargreaves – who has penned a one-year deal with KR sits top of this ranking. That’s despite his age and the fact his signing was announced by the Robins back in February, which gives you an indication of just how much hype there still is about his arrival.

A 33-time Kiwi international, Waerea-Hargreaves is an absolute legend of the game Down Under having made over 300 NRL appearances. The first six of those came for Manly Sea Eagles, but the vast majority have come for Sydney Roosters, who he’s spent 14 years with!

With three NRL titles to his name having featured in Grand Final triumphs in 2013, 2018 and 2019, the veteran has played in three World Cups and four separate Four Nations tournaments on the international front. Just to see him in Super League before he retires will be immense, and that’s before we find out what he can produce in a KR shirt.

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