Ranking every Super League club by number of academy products fielded in 2024
Hull FC fielded more academy products than any other club in the regular 2024 Super League season, with 20 having featured after 27 rounds.
One of rugby league’s strong points is the academies within the game, and the conveyer belt of talent that comes through in Super League every year.
Every club across the league has homegrown talent within their respective squads – some more, some less, in terms of the number of academy products.
Love Rugby League has taken a look at every club in Super League, and the homegrown players within their ranks in 2024. Here, we’ve ranked each club by number of academy players fielded this season, which will be updated every week throughout the campaign..
12. Leigh Leopards (1)
Frankie Halton
The Ireland international played for Leigh’s reserves at the start of his professional career before the team was discontinued at the time. Halton then went on to play for local community club Leigh Miners Rangers before getting his shot in the pro ranks with Swinton Lions. Since then, he has gone on to play for Hull KR in Super League before returning to boyhood club Leigh last year.
Leigh have kick-started their reserves team again and will also have an elite academy from 2025, so it’s likely that we’ll see more Leythers representing their hometown club over the next decade.
11. Hull KR (3)
Mikey Lewis, Sam Luckley, Connor Barley
Three academy products have played for Willie Peters’ side in 2024 in the shape of England international Mikey Lewis, Connor Barley and Scotland international Sam Luckley, with the latter having featured for KR’s academy before starting his professional career at Newcastle Thunder. Rest assured, the Robins have a plethora of promising youngsters in and around the first-team squad who will no doubt make their mark later down the line.
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10. Salford Red Devils (11)
Chris Hankinson, Marc Sneyd, Nathan Connell, Ethan Fitzgerald, Billy Glover, Josh Wagstaffe, Charlie McCurrie, Jamie Pye, Leunbou Bardyel-Wells, Charlie Glover, Jack Gatcliffe
11 homegrown products have featured for Paul Rowley’s side in 2024, with the Red Devils coach handing out debuts to eight youngsters in the final round of the regular campaign against Wigan. Salford captain Kallum Watkins also spent time in the Salford academy as a junior before moving to Leeds, where he made his first-team debut. Like Leigh, Salford will have an elite academy from 2025 so it’s likely we’ll see more homegrown talent in their first-team over the course of the next 10 years.
NEXT GEN: The Salford Red Devils youngster with the unconventional route to Super League
= Huddersfield Giants (11)
Jake Connor, Olly Russell, Sam Hewitt, Leroy Cudjoe, Matty English, Olly Wilson, Aidan McGowan, Jack Billington, Fenton Rogers, Kieran Rush, Darius Carter
The Giants have brought through several academy products in recent years, and have played 11 of them in 2024. Young prop Olly Wilson came through the Bradford setup before making the switch to Huddersfield, where he played for the Giants academy prior to making his Super League debut.
NEXT GEN: The ‘hardest training’ youngster Huddersfield Giants have high hopes for
= Castleford Tigers (11)
Jason Qareqare, Joe Westerman, Liam Watts, Sam Hall, Luis Johnson, Brad Martin, Cain Robb, George Hill, Fletcher Rooney, Jenson Windley, Akim Matvejev
Craig Lingard’s side have featured 11 academy products this season. Westerman and Watts are stalwarts of the Tigers, racking up more than 300 Cas appearances between them.
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7. Leeds Rhinos (13)
Harry Newman, Ash Handley, Mikolaj Oledzki, Cam Smith, Jarrod O’Connor, Alfie Edgell, Tom Holroyd, Ned McCormack, Tom Nicholson-Watton, Riley Lumb, Jack Sinfield, Corey Johnson, Ben Littlewood
Leeds are renowned for giving youth a chance, with the Rhinos having played 13 homegrown players this season, including Cam Smith, who is the current club captain.
NEXT GEN: Meet the Leeds Rhinos youngster who rejected a football career to become a Super League star
= Wigan Warriors (13)
Liam Marshall, Harry Smith, Brad O’Neill, Liam Byrne, Liam Farrell, Harvie Hill, Tom Forber, Zach Eckersley, Ryan Hampshire, Jack Farrimond, Junior Nsemba, Ethan Havard, Jacob Douglas
Much like Leeds and St Helens, Wigan are another club who are renowned for having a conveyer belt of youngsters waiting in the wings for their chance in the first-team. Matt Peet, formerly head of youth at his hometown club, has played 13 academy graduates in 2024.
NEXT GEN: Meet the ‘born finisher’ at Wigan Warriors tipped for bright future
5. Catalans Dragons (14)
Arthur Mourgue, Arthur Romano, Paul Seguier, Jordan Dezaria, Fouad Yaha, Alrix Da Costa, Ben Garcia, Matthieu Laguerre, Cesar Rouge, Franck Maria, Ugo Tison, Loan Castano, Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, Yacine Ben Abdeslem
The Dragons have brought through a plethora of talent during the club’s short history, but more so in recent years. Steve McNamara has fielded 14 academy graduates in 2024, with 27 rounds played.
= Warrington Wolves (14)
Arron Lindop, Toby King, Connor Wrench, Ben Currie, Joe Philbin, Josh Thewlis, Leon Hayes, Adam Holroyd, Tom Whitehead, Cai Taylor-Wray, Jake Thewlis, Lucas Green, Nolan Tupaea, Ben Hartill
The Sam Burgess era at Warrington is in full swing, and the Wire boss has played 14 academy products in 2024, one of them being 18-year-old Arron Lindop, who made his debut against Catalans in the opening round.
3. London Broncos (15)
Oli Leyland, Iliess Macani, James Meadows, Rob Butler, Sam Davis, Will Lovell, Sadiq Adebiyi, Jordan Williams, Matt Davies, Jacob Jones, Alex Walker, Gideon Boafo, Jack Hughes, Dan Hoyes, Lewis Bienek
Given their geographical location, or in other words, being so far away from the ‘heartlands’, the Broncos kind of need to bring through their own and that’s exactly what they’ve done. Mike Eccles’ side featured 15 homegrown players on their return to Super League.
RELATED: Meet the former London Broncos junior thriving in Australia with a Super League dream
2. St Helens (16)
Jack Welsby, Tommy Makinson, Mark Percival, Jonny Lomax, Lewis Dodd, Matty Lees, Jake Wingfield, George Delaney, Jon Bennison, Morgan Knowles, Noah Stephens, Sam Royle, Jonny Vaughan, Harry Robertson, George Whitby, Jake Burns
It’s no surprise to see the Saints up there as one of the teams who have played the most academy graduates given their track record of having an outstanding academy. The Red V conveyer belt continues.
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1. Hull FC (20)
Lewis Martin, Davy Litten, Cam Scott, Danny Houghton, Jordan Lane, Jack Brown, Harvey Barron, Will Gardiner, Nick Staveley, Charlie Severs, Denive Balmforth, Jack Charles, Matty Laidlaw, Logan Moy, Tom Briscoe, Zach Jebson, Brad Fash, Will Kirby, Ryan Westerman, Callum Kemp
Hull are at the top of the pile, having already played 20 homegrown players upon the conclusion of the regular campaign. It’s probably fair to say they’ve played so many given the injuries and suspensions they’ve had, but let’s take nothing away from the Black and Whites, who have plenty of promising youngsters coming through, that’s for sure.
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