David Middleton's top 5 NRL players of 2024

To celebrate the release of the 2024 Official Rugby League Annual, historian David Middleton has picked his top five NRL players of the year.

Order your copy of the 2024 Official Rugby League Annual here.

Top 5 NRL players of 2024

Angus Crichton

Foor a player who started the season in the NSW Cup, Angus Crichton took his game further than most in 2024.

Crichton spoke openly about the mental health battles that followed a relationship break-up after the World Cup in 2022 and how his life spiralled.

“Looking back to where I was last season when I came back, I’ve thought ‘how the hell was I trying to play last year in the state that I was in’?” Crichton said in a raw interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.

While team-mates were preparing for a rare opportunity to play a season-opening game in Las Vegas, Crichton’s first hit-out of the season was in a NSW Cup game against Blacktown Workers at 4 Pines Park.

He returned to the Roosters’ NRL line-up a week later and made his way back into the side via the interchange bench and with his off-field issues sorted, he soon recaptured the confidence and form that had made him one of the most formidable second-rowers in the game. But there was a gut punch to come when the Roosters made their future intentions clear by signing David Fifita from the Titans to a four-year deal.

Crichton’s contract was up at the end of the 2024 season and Fifita’s signature meant Crichton would have little option but to move on. Rugby Union was a consideration but there was no shortage of NRL suitors, with the Dragons, Rabbitohs and Panthers all expressing an interest in the Test and Origin second-rower.

Fate intervened when Fifita backflipped on his Roosters’ contract, allowing Crichton to come to terms with the Roosters on a new two-year deal. 
As these machinations were swirling, Crichton continued to play outstanding football. He starred for the Blues in their big Origin win in Melbourne and again in the decider at Suncorp where he was awarded the Wally Lewis Medal as player of the series.

Crichton’s excellence on the Roosters’ left edge was a potent weapon as the club charged into the top four with the best attacking record in the competition. Injuries and a potent Melbourne Storm ended the club’s run but Crichton’s year continued with selection for the Kangaroos at the Pacific Cup.

Crichton earned recognition in the Dally M Team of the Year and the RLPA Dream Team and carried off the Brad Fittler Medal as the Blues’ players’ player of the Origin series. 

Jahrome Hughes

Jahrome Hughes was a playmaker par excellence in 2024, showcasing an array of skills that played an instrumental role in Melbourne’s minor premiership title and a place in the grand final for the first time since 2020. 

The Storm halfback took on the head conductor’s role for much of the season after five-eighth Cameron Munster succumbed to injury, but rarely did he put a foot wrong. His kicks invariably found their mark; either landing with hang time for wingers Xavier Coates and Will Warbrick to arrive at a contest or rolling precisely into the in-goal to force the defence to scramble or to set up a scoring play.

Hughes’ kicks led to more tries (20) than by any other player in the competition and his overall tally of try assists was second in the NRL. 

Hughes was durable, playing 23 of his team’s 27 games, and consistent and rarely turned in a poor display. It was form, especially late in the season, that carried him to the Dally M Medal, becoming the first Storm player to take out the title since Cameron Smith in 2017.

Remarkably, Hughes polled 52 of his 62 Dally M points over the second half of the season and five times polled maximum points from both Dally M judges. Hughes was named in the Dally M Team of the Year, won the RLPA Players’ Champion award and the Cameron Smith Medal as Storm player of the year. 

The Storm honour was his second after a previous win in 2021, the same year he finished on the final Dally M leaderboard but there was little question that 2024 was his finest season in the game. 

Hughes’ rise to the top in 2024 is anything but an overnight success story. He spent four seasons in the Queensland Cup with Tweed Heads, Townsville and Sunshine Coast, playing a single first grade game (at fullback) with the Titans in 2013 and one with the Cowboys in 2016 before featuring in a handful of games for the Storm in 2017.

It wasn’t until 2020 that he became the Storm’s regular halfback following Brodie Croft’s departure for the Broncos. 

Munster had been the dominant voice in the Storm’s halves for years leaving Hughes content to play a supporting role but that changed in 2024 when Munster missed the early rounds and then another big slice of the season with his groin injury.

It forced Hughes to take on more responsibility but rarely, if ever, did he look under pressure. Munster at 100 percent in 2025 and Hughes at 2024 levels will only add to the Storm’s potency. 

Eliesa Katoa

Eliesa Katoa delivered tremendous value in his second season with the Storm. Far from being a head-down, workhorse second-rower, Katoa was a significant strike weapon on Melbourne’s right edge, capable of scoring tries and setting them up. 

The raw stats on his season reveal that he scored 12 tries and had seven assists, identical figures to another quality right side back-rower, Jeremiah Nanai. At 193cm and 110kg, Katoa has an edge in size over the Cowboys forward and he also features far more often in his team’s attacking game. 

Like Nanai, Katoa was a target under the high ball, with an impressive ability to take the ball cleanly and promote the play. It was a skill seen at its best in the Storm’s qualifying final win over the Sharks. Katoa twice came down with high kicks by halfback Jahrome Hughes to set up support runners to score. 

Katoa was a major strike weapon with ball in hand, bursting through tackles with his power and pace or finding a support player with an offload. He also polled well in Dally M voting, a measure of his prominent place in the Storm’s game. Only spine players Jahrome Hughes, Harry Grant and Ryan Papenhuyzen polled higher among his team-mates. And on the same night that Hughes was crowned Dally M Player of the Year, Katoa won a place in the Team of the Year alongside hooker Grant and halfback Hughes. 

The 24-year-old also figured prominently for Tonga at the Pacific Championships. As the Pacific powerhouse knocked over New Zealand to make the final of a major tournament for the first time, Katoa was a standout performer. He was a tryscorer in the final after producing some of the most impressive attacking numbers of any player. 

Katoa’s game developed significantly in his second season with the Storm. He became a genuine 80-minute player, and his outputs increased accordingly. 

Born in a remote Tongan village, Katoa moved to Auckland as a 17-year-old to attend Tamaki College where he became a First XV player before he was identified and signed by the Warriors.

He played his first rugby league with the Warriors’ Jersey Flegg team in 2019 and debuted in the NRL the following season. He played 46 games in three seasons with the Warriors before the Storm came calling.

They were looking for a replacement for veteran forward Felise Kaufusi, who was on his way to the Dolphins, and recruitment officer Paul Bunn believed Katoa, a right-side forward like Kaufusi, was the ideal candidate. In his short time with the Storm, Katoa has proven the recruitment man 100 per cent correct. 

Jarome Luai

Based on his 2024 efforts, Jarome Luai might be getting better with age, a statement that will be music to the ears of Wests Tigers fans. The 26-year-old is preparing for the biggest challenge of his career, to help restore the fortunes of the Tigers after three consecutive wooden spoons and 13 years without a finals appearance. 

He will start with his new club at the peak of his powers. Luai was a key figure in the Panthers’ fourth consecutive premiership title, played a vital role in the Blues’ historic series victory in State of Origin and then showed his leadership qualities as captain of an inexperienced Samoa side in two Tests against England. 

After a Round 12 game against Cronulla in 2024, Panthers’ coach Ivan Cleary described Luai’s kicking game as “the best it’s ever been tonight”. It was a comment that could have been repeated on subsequent occasions as Luai’s kicking continued to produce results.

He held the Panthers together during Nathan Cleary’s absence and was integral to the team continuing to produce winning results. And it wasn’t just his kicking game that ranked among the best in the competition. His ball play and deceptive footwork reached elite levels.

In the grand final Luai broke eight tackles and worked in partnership with Cleary to grind down the Storm’s defensive game through their constant changes of direction. 

He was also a major figure in the Blues’ success in Origin, launching the raid that led to Bradman Best’s try which broke open the Origin decider at Suncorp. There had not been a try scored for the first 64 minutes of Game 3 until Luai spotted the barest of openings and darted through before passing to Best for the key try in the contest. The Blues went on to win a decider in Brisbane for the first time since 2005. 

And on Samoa’s historic two-Test tour of England at the end of the season, Luai’s leadership qualities came to the fore among an inexperienced squad. Although his team was well beaten in both Tests, Luai still managed to wow crowds at Wigan and Leeds with his array of skills. 

Luai may never face a bigger challenge than the one that will confront him at the Tigers in 2025. The fanbase is desperate to see improvement and the pressure to deliver results will be intense. But through his actions on and off the field, the Tigers look to have the best man to lead the fightback. 

Issah Yeo

There is every chance that in years ahead, Isaah Yeo will look back on 2024 as the greatest of his career.

We are not suggesting his game has plateaued or that great things do not lie ahead for him but there is little question that his across-the-board achievements in 2024 will take some beating. 

Yeo won a fourth consecutive premiership with the Panthers, became the club’s longest-serving player, helped the Blues to a historic series victory in State of Origin and then captained Australia for the first time in a successful Pacific Cup campaign. To cap off a dream season, he was named winner of the IRL’s Golden Boot award at the end of the year. 

Yeo produced an iron man performance through the season, appearing in 25 of the Panthers’ 27 games – the only ones he missed were through Origin selection in Round 13 and when he was rested after Origin 3.

He played all three Origin games and all three Tests for Australia. All that after starting the season with a World Club Challenge clash in the north of England. 

Yeo’s consistency and ability to produce his best football in the biggest games of the season remain among his greatest attributes as a player.

He regularly played 80 minutes (he averaged 74 minutes across the season) and averaged 165 run metres and 38 tackles. His figures for the grand final were 233 metres and 46 tackles. 

Yeo made history for the Panthers on the day that they qualified for the grand final when he eclipsed the club’s appearance record of 243 games, held by 1991 grand final five-eighth Steve Carter. The 30-year-old is expected to bring up 250 games early in the 2025 season and has plenty of time left to become the club’s first 300-game player. 

Yeo was the highest-placed Panthers in Dally M voting (he finished sixth) and was named in the Dally M Team of the Year for the fourth time. He took out the Panthers’ Merv Cartwright Medal as player of the year for the third time and became the second Panther in two years to take out the Golden Boot award, following James Fisher-Harris’ success in 2023. 

Yeo debuted in the NRL with the Panthers in 2014 after playing in the club’s Holden Cup-winning team the previous season. Over the past decade he has played 20 or more games in a season nine times. 

His highest honour came in October when he was named Australia’s 72nd Test captain.