As the NRL attempts to come up with a plan to restart the 2020 NRL season, we’re attempting to come up with another instalment of our A to Z of the NRL, and this time it features the best English Rugby League Players in Australia
There have been some cracking English players in the NSWRL/ARL/NRL.
From the current crop of English NRL players driving Canberra to glory, to a band of brothers who brought Souths’ drought of premierships to an end, to the pioneers who came before them.
But who is the best English player of all time? This is not an exhaustive list of course: we list a few of our favourites – or most memorable – below and will let the punters decide.
All players stats from the bible of rugby league information – Rugby League Project.
E is for English Rugby League Players in Australia
TOMMY BISHOP
1969-1973: 60 Games for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
We’re going back a fair way for our first English import, the great Tommy Bishop.
Born in St Helens – and playing several seasons for his home club (among others) – he played with distinction in the 1960s in the UK, before making the trip to play for Cronulla from 1969-1973.
He led the Sharks to the 1973 NSWRL Grand Final, where the tough contest was eventually won by Manly-Warringah, after Cronulla had thrown a lot of physical punishment at the more fancied Sea Eagles .
He scored 21 tries in 60 games as halfback, a handy return in that era.
He was player-coach of the Sharks for four of his five seasons in the Shire (1970–73); then he coached North Sydney in 1979, before returning to coach the Sharks in 1980.
The Sharks liked him enough to make him an immortal.
MALCOLM REILLY
1971-1975: 89 Games for Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
After being part of a rare Ashes series win in Australia (that rareness wasn’t limited to rugby league), Malcolm Reilly found himself at Manly in 1971, and was a two-time premiership winner with the Sea Eagles by 1973.
Coincidentally, Reilly was part of one of the dirtiest grand finals in Australian rugby league history in 1973, playing against Cronulla (who were coached by fellow Great Britain Test teammate Tommy Bishop). Reilly only played 25 minutes of that grand final after being targeted early, but according to Wikipedia he was told to cause havoc before he left the field. Bishop admitted to targeting Reilly due to his quality.
To add to his legend, Reilly coached the Newcastle Knights to their first premiership in 1997.
ELLERY HANLEY
1988, 1996-1997: 34 Games for the Balmain Tigers
1989: 13 Games for the Western Suburbs Magpies
Dubbed the ‘Leisure Technician’ by Roy and HG in their early years of rugby league commentary – along with ‘Mr Magic’ and ‘The Black Pearl’ – Ellery Hanley is possibly the most exciting of the English players.
Whilst most English imports tend to be tough, hard-working forwards, Hanley was a five-eighth with almost unlimited skills.
It’s hard to believe that his first stint with Balmain in 1988 was only eight games long, but it featured a finals campaign where he set up the winning try to send the Tigers into the 1988 NSWRL Grand Final against Canterbury-Bankstown, and he was to be a major player in the big game’s big incident.
Hanley was the superstar heading into the decider against the Bulldogs, but he was smashed by Terry Lamb reasonably early in the game. Balmain went on to lose 24-12.
The next season he lined up for the Magpies, but no finals success came. To be honest, the second stint at Balmain is hard to recall.
He was the Golden Boot winner for being the best rugby league player in the world in 1988 and won the UK competition’s best player award three times.
MARTIN OFFIAH
1989, 1993: 13 Games for Eastern Suburbs Roosters
1991: 14 Games for the St George Dragons
Possibly not the most successful English rugby league import of all time, but he has to be one of the fastest.
Offiah’s impact on Australian rugby league was usually in foreign colours, be it for the Great Britain side or for Wigan, at the height of his powers, in the World Club Challenge games.
Whilst his stints in Australia were not world-beating, he still scored 20 tries in 27 matches. His overall record of 470 tries in 457 in club and international rugby league matches is simply sensational for try scoring and longevity.
One great tidbit from Wikipedia involves Offiah taking part in a 100-metre match race at Sydney’s Wentworth Park against Australian flyers Dale Shearer and John “Chicka” Ferguson, which Offiah won easily.
ADRIAN MORLEY
2001-2006: 114 Games for the Sydney Roosters
Adrian Morley is probably remembered for being one of the toughest modern English players in the NRL – but is even more remembered for being sent off a lot.
He was a key figure in the Roosters team that won the 2002 NRL Grand Final and made the next two.
Towards the end of what would be his final season (2006), Morley was sent off after attempting to knee Bulldogs player Corey Hughes in the face as he attempted to play the ball.
He returned to England and played nearly 200 more games in the UK Super League.
Morley may well be remembered most for being sent off in a Test after 12 seconds, but he was also a trailblazer for the modern English player in Australia.
SAM BURGESS
2010-2014, 2016-2019: 182 Games for the South Sydney Rabbitohs
In 2009, Sam Burgess – one of the best English players at the time – visited Souths co-owner Russell Crowe on the set of his move Robin Hood; Crowe convinced him to join the Rabbitohs: one of the benefits of having a Hollywood star as a co-owner. The move paid dividends for both.
His recruitment was one of the final pieces of the puzzle that South Sydney needed to break through for a long-overdue premiership.
Burgess’ influence on Souths’ 2014 NRL Grand Final win could hardly have been bigger. He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for best on ground, despite breaking his cheekbone in the first tackle of the game.
After the final there was a stint in English rugby union to try and make the 2015 Rugby World Cup, before he returned to the Rabbitohs to play with the same fire as ever.
Sam retired in 2019, and not a bad time to do so before his powers disappeared, and he did look quite angry at times. He was always close to the edge throughout his career and had the occasional enforced stint on the sideline courtesy of the judiciary, but that fire was part of the reason he was so good.
His trailblazing eventually led to three other brothers joining South Sydney: George, Tom, and Joe.
THE BURGESS TWINS
GEORGE BURGESS
2012-2019: 150 Games for the South Sydney Rabbitohs
TOM BURGESS
2013-current: 142 Games for the South Sydney Rabbitohs
These twins were awfully hard to tell apart, until George grew his hair anyway, but had they had similar styles on the field with their hard charging up the middle.
George initially had more impact of the twins; he scored a try and was immense in the Rabbitohs’ grand final win, and was arguably the better of the two by the time he left to return to England.
Both were great imports, and together they did provide double trouble at their best, even if occasionally it felt a little like Roulette whether the ball would be held onto.
JAMES GRAHAM
2012 – 2017: 135 Games for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
2018 – Current: 45 Games for the St George-Illawarra Dragons
He arrived in Australia and had an immediate impact on the Bulldogs; he was part of the side that made the 2012 NRL Grand Final, which they lost to Melbourne. He also made the headlines in that final when he was found guilty of biting Billy Slater’s ear and received a 12-week ban.
Two years later he led the Bulldogs to another grand final; this they time they lost to the Rabbitohs, where he played against his fellow UK recruits above.
Seen more as a ‘no frills’ recruit than the Burgess boys, he was a solid performer and a hard-working player for the Bulldogs, and it was a little surprising when he was surplus to requirements after the 2017 season. The Dragons picked him up, and he has powered on since.
Graham passed 400 games in total in 2019, which is some achievement for someone up the middle in rugby league in the modern era.
THE CANBERRA FAB FIVE
JOSH HODGSON
2015-current: 110 Games for the Canberra Raiders
ELLIOTT WHITEHEAD
2016-current: 103 Games for the Canberra Raiders
JOHN BATEMAN
2019-current: 23 Games for the Canberra Raiders
RYAN SUTTON
2019-current: 20 Games for the Canberra Raiders
GEORGE WILLIAMS
2020-current: 2 Games for Canberra Raiders
Much like Earl’s Court or Fulham in London for Australians, the Canberra Raiders appear to be the new haven for visiting English rugby league players.
It may be a little unfair to group all these quality players together, but this article is already long enough.
Josh Hodgson is the longest serving player, and his influence is so great that he is co-captain in the nation’s capital.
Elliott Whitehead followed a year later and has been a Fantasy Supercoach favourite ever since.
Both John Bateman and Ryan Sutton had very good first seasons with the Raiders, and it is a little too early to decide on George Williams, however the quality of these preceding imports indicate more gold from the UK.
These English recruits have helped the Raiders improve each year, culminating in last year’s controversial grand final loss to the Roosters.
POLL – English Rugby League Players in Australia
SELECTED OTHERS (NOT QUITE AS GOOD)
ST JOHN ELLIS
ZAC HARDAKER
SAM TOMKINS
JOE BURGESS
THE A TO Z OF RUGBY LEAGUE SO FAR
D is Defunct Clubs and Disused Grounds
E is for English Rugby League Players in Australia
F is for Best Rugby League Facial Hair
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