Josh Charnley’s position among rugby league greats revealed after milestone try

Leigh Leopards winger Josh Charnley secured his place among the all-time greats of rugby league, let alone Super League, on Friday evening.

Charnley scored his 300th career try during the Leopards‘ one-sided victory over Salford Red Devils, moving the England great into illustrious company.

Already regarded by many as one of the finest wingers in the modern era, Charnley is now among a group of just 32 men to have played rugby league professionally and scored 300 career tries. It is an astonishing number – not least when you consider that Charnley spent several years in rugby union with Sale Sharks, too.

One of the most prolific wingers to have played the game in years, Charnley is now firmly among an elite group of players with 300 or more tries.

The list, courtesy of the Rugby League Record Keepers’ Club, underlines Charnley’s place in the best wingers of all-time:

Congratulations to @Joshuacharnley who becomes just the 32nd player in British RL’s 129-year history to score 300 first-class tries. The only other current player on the list, and the only other man to have played his entire career in the summer era is @Ryan5Hall
1/ pic.twitter.com/7hPj9Lp7pv

— Rugby League Records (@RL_RKC) May 10, 2024

Only two of those 32 players have played their entire career in the Super League era – Charnley and Hull KR winger Ryan Hall.

And having just re-signed at Leigh for another season in 2025, it remains entirely possible that Charnley will overtake several players immediately above him in the list. Charnley is now only 11 behind Danny McGuire at the top of the Super League all-time try-scoring table – though Hall, who is just one behind McGuire’s tally of 247 on 246. Charnley is on 237 Super League tries.

And come the end of his incredible playing career, Charnley will surely finish higher than 32nd on the all-time list after passing through another incredible milestone on Friday evening.