Today is the day. The wait is finally over. Super League XX is here, and I can’t bloomin’ wait!
To celebrate, here’s my last ‘best of’ which I’ll be listing my top 3 fullbacks of the upcoming season. This one was probably the hardest I’ve done, as you are probably aware of the talented fullbacks within the Super League that probably all could have been in my choice. But anyway, here it goes...
Zak Hardaker – Arguably the best performing fullback in the 2014 season, Hardaker had a sold year for the Leeds Rhinos.
Despite his few on-field problems during the 2014 season, which one of them saw him sit on the sideline for 8 weeks, Hardaker was a great player in the Super League and his strength saw him beat the opposition many, many times. Hardaker couldn’t have started off his season any better, scoring a try vs Hull KR in round 1 of 2014 and 2 in the following week vs Warrington. This was just foreshadowing what Leeds fans were in for with this player in the season.
The 2014 Dream Team Fullback made the third most amount of metres in the 2014 season, scored 8 tries, kicked 13 goals, made 11 clean breaks, had 13 try assists and also made an outstanding total of 103 tackle busts.
Hardaker was also included in the England 2014 Four Nations squad, despite being kicked out of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup squad for bad behaviour. However, he failed to make an appearance for England throughout the tournament and I think McNamara missed a real shot of making the wings even stronger by not playing him. Let’s hope Hardaker can impress McNamara next time around.
If I was a Leeds fan, I’d be more than excited to be seeing this player in the 2015 season. Lucky you.
Morgan Escaré – This player is a real talent and being only 23, he’s only going to get better.
Although handed the number two shirt for the 2014 season, Escaré spent the 2014 season at fullback, with main-man Brent Webb injured throughout the majority of the season before retiring, and didn’t Morgan impress. His sudden increase of speed is just one his many talents, which saw him out-race defenders on several occasions, including Wigan’s Matty Bowen (who isn’t exactly the slowest player in the Super League).
In 2014, Escaré scored the second-most amount of tries (27), the third-most amount of tackle busts (102), 23 clean breaks and 2623 metres. However, he did miss 45 tackles in 2014, which isn’t a good-looking stat for a position that is the last line of defence.
The French international has been handed the number 1 shirt for the upcoming season and Catalan fans should be animated to see him this year. I’m expecting another strong year from the youngster which should be full of tries and skill, and I hope he lives up to expectations!
Kevin Locke – With a full pre-season with the Salford Red Devils, this player should be electric in the 2015 Super League season.
The New Zealand international has experience, skill and ability and he’s going to be a real deadly threat in the upcoming year with the Devils. If he can get a strong partnership with Salford’s half-backs Rangi Chase and Michael Dobson, Salford’s attacking skill this year should be some of the best they’ve ever played.
Kevin Locke, the former New Zealand Warriors fullback, has already showed what he is capable of in the NRL, and now the challenge awaits him to see if he’s ready for the Super League competition. Since joining Salford mid-season in 2014, Locke has scored 3 tries, kicked 10 goals, made 31 tackle busts and made an impressive 10 clean breaks - all in 6 games!
Locke is going to be an explosion of talent not only for the Devils, but for the Super League this year and I can’t wait to see him play.
To celebrate, here’s my last ‘best of’ which I’ll be listing my top 3 fullbacks of the upcoming season. This one was probably the hardest I’ve done, as you are probably aware of the talented fullbacks within the Super League that probably all could have been in my choice. But anyway, here it goes...
Zak Hardaker – Arguably the best performing fullback in the 2014 season, Hardaker had a sold year for the Leeds Rhinos.
Despite his few on-field problems during the 2014 season, which one of them saw him sit on the sideline for 8 weeks, Hardaker was a great player in the Super League and his strength saw him beat the opposition many, many times. Hardaker couldn’t have started off his season any better, scoring a try vs Hull KR in round 1 of 2014 and 2 in the following week vs Warrington. This was just foreshadowing what Leeds fans were in for with this player in the season.
The 2014 Dream Team Fullback made the third most amount of metres in the 2014 season, scored 8 tries, kicked 13 goals, made 11 clean breaks, had 13 try assists and also made an outstanding total of 103 tackle busts.
Hardaker was also included in the England 2014 Four Nations squad, despite being kicked out of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup squad for bad behaviour. However, he failed to make an appearance for England throughout the tournament and I think McNamara missed a real shot of making the wings even stronger by not playing him. Let’s hope Hardaker can impress McNamara next time around.
If I was a Leeds fan, I’d be more than excited to be seeing this player in the 2015 season. Lucky you.
Morgan Escaré – This player is a real talent and being only 23, he’s only going to get better.
Although handed the number two shirt for the 2014 season, Escaré spent the 2014 season at fullback, with main-man Brent Webb injured throughout the majority of the season before retiring, and didn’t Morgan impress. His sudden increase of speed is just one his many talents, which saw him out-race defenders on several occasions, including Wigan’s Matty Bowen (who isn’t exactly the slowest player in the Super League).
In 2014, Escaré scored the second-most amount of tries (27), the third-most amount of tackle busts (102), 23 clean breaks and 2623 metres. However, he did miss 45 tackles in 2014, which isn’t a good-looking stat for a position that is the last line of defence.
The French international has been handed the number 1 shirt for the upcoming season and Catalan fans should be animated to see him this year. I’m expecting another strong year from the youngster which should be full of tries and skill, and I hope he lives up to expectations!
Kevin Locke – With a full pre-season with the Salford Red Devils, this player should be electric in the 2015 Super League season.
The New Zealand international has experience, skill and ability and he’s going to be a real deadly threat in the upcoming year with the Devils. If he can get a strong partnership with Salford’s half-backs Rangi Chase and Michael Dobson, Salford’s attacking skill this year should be some of the best they’ve ever played.
Kevin Locke, the former New Zealand Warriors fullback, has already showed what he is capable of in the NRL, and now the challenge awaits him to see if he’s ready for the Super League competition. Since joining Salford mid-season in 2014, Locke has scored 3 tries, kicked 10 goals, made 31 tackle busts and made an impressive 10 clean breaks - all in 6 games!
Locke is going to be an explosion of talent not only for the Devils, but for the Super League this year and I can’t wait to see him play.