NRL rosters are now so evenly matched, and deep, that games are often won by the team with the more impactful bench.
Injuries effected every club in 2024, as is unfortunately the way each and every year, and again we saw plenty of games won by utility players in a next man up role.
Today we celebrate those players.
This is going to be the hardest list to rank as each player below plays a different role.
Just some housekeeping, for a player to qualify they must have been used off the bench more often than not, or used in multiple roles.
Example: Connor Tracey is often referred to as a utility but played almost of all his games this season at fullback. He is therefore not considered.
Blaize Talagi, Lehi Hopoate and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck also don't qualify as they were all first choice backline players at some stage.
If you're looking for Terrell May, he was named in the top ten props so I have left him off this list.
Below are the top 10 utilities and/or bench specialists from the 2024 season:
Honourable Mention: Naufahu Whyte
9. Nathan Brown
The Manly hardhead almost single-handedly saved the kickoff in 2024.
He quickly became a cult favourite at Brookvale Oval due to his, literal, returning restarts from the back fence.
19 of his 23 appearances came from the bench in 2024. In those 23 games he ran for over 110 metres per game and tackles at almost 89%.
I was skeptical of the signing by the Sea Eagles but fair to say Brown rewarded the faith in 2024.
