Super League’s top 10 drop goal scorers of all-time after Marc Sneyd milestone

Drop goals. A work of art. One of your players knocking over a one-pointer late on is quite possibly the best way to win a game of rugby league and the worst way to lose one.

There have been so many memorable ones over the years, including Lachlan Lam‘s under the Wembley arch last August to win the Challenge Cup for Leigh Leopards at the expense of Hull KR.

But in terms of Super League, who are the players that have kicked the most one-pointers? Look no further than this ranking of the top 10…

Note: These tallies are for Super League games alone. Any drop goals scored in play-off fixtures are included, but not any that have been scored in cups etc.

10. Graham Holroyd – 18

Had Super League started sooner than 1996, the likelihood is that Holroyd would have been higher up on this list. In the colours of Leeds Rhinos and Halifax, he kicked 18 one-pointers in the league, not managing any in 2003 – his final year in the top flight with Huddersfield Giants.

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9. Sean Long – 20

Unsurprisingly, every one of the 20 drop goals Long scored in Super League came in a St Helens shirt. Memorably, he earned the winning point with his boot at Old Trafford in the last minute of the 2002 Grand Final against Bradford Bulls. As well as his one-pointers for Saints, Long also kicked a one-pointer for Widnes Vikings during his short stint there in the second tier.

8. Jamie Rooney – 21

May 2003 saw Rooney score two drop goals in one game to help Wakefield Trinity get the better of St Helens, with that just his seventh Super League appearance. By the time he departed Belle Vue – and Super League – six years later, he’d slotted over a further 20 single-pointers in the league to take his tally out to 21.

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7. Paul Deacon – 23

Deacon – who made his Super League debut for Oldham in 1997 – scored the first of 23 Super League drop goals while playing for Bradford Bulls just over two years later, on target with the boot at Odsal against Wigan. Having scored a one-pointer in the 2003 Grand Final against the Warriors, he eventually departed Bradford for Wigan at the end of the 2009 season.

6. Luke Gale – 28

One of two men on this list still playing today, Gale has a few memorable drop goals to his name – the one which clinched the Challenge Cup for Leeds in 2020 and the one which sent Castleford Tigers to Old Trafford in 2017 to name just two. The latter of those was the 19th of 28 he scored in Super League games, now in the Championship with Wakefield Trinity.

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5. Kevin Sinfield – 31

The midway mark on this list is reached with the legend that is Sinfield, who scored at least one goal of some description in the last 89 Super League appearances of his career from June 2012 right through to the 2015 Grand Final, that the longest streak of anyone by far. Sinfield scored 31 Super League one-pointers in his career, the last against Warrington Wolves in August 2015.

4. Matty Smith – 32

Smith scored drop goals in Super League for St Helens, Celtic Crusaders, Salford – then City Reds -, Wigan and Catalans Dragons, the first in June 2007 for Saints against Salford and the last in February 2019 for Catalans against Huddersfield Giants. Prior to hanging up his boots, the Red V’s current assistant coach also slotted over three one-pointers for Widnes in the Championship.

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= Danny Brough – 32

2013 Man of Steel Brough ended his career with 48 drop goals. 32 of those came in Super League, with the Scotland & England international scoring the first of those on his eighth top-flight appearance for Hull FC against Wakefield in May 2005. Further drops followed for Castleford, Wakefield & Huddersfield, with Brough’s last coming for the Giants in June 2013 against St Helens.

2. Marc Sneyd – 47

Sneyd is the second – and last – man on this list still playing. His one-pointer for Salford Red Devils as they beat Hull KR in March was the 45th he’s scored in the top flight in his career to date. He’s kicked two more since then, both against Warrington Wolves including one in Friday night’s game at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Sneyd’s first was also for Salford – back in March 2013 to help earn a 23-23 draw away against Wakefield. In all competitions, the drop goal Sneyd kicked on Friday night was the 50th of his incredible career.

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1. Lee Briers – 70

By far and away the man with the most drop goals in Super League history is Warrington legend Briers, the only player in the competition to ever kick four one-pointers in single game and the only player in the competition to ever kick five one-pointers in a single game for good measure! The former came in a win at Wigan in March 2006 & the latter in a defeat at Halifax in May 2002.

Having played three Super League games for St Helens at the very start of his career, every one of Briers’ 70 top-flight one-pointers came in a Warrington shirt, the first in April 1997 against Paris Saint-Germain and the last in a win at Saints in August 2013, the same year that he hung his boots up. On the international front, the playmaker also slotted six one-pointers for Wales.

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