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
6. Lindsay Smith
To some, the Panthers bench specialist's selection in the Kangaroos side came as a surprise. To be honest, it shouldn't have.
Smith's efforts, mainly off the bench, were huge for Penrith in 2024.
In 27 games, 19 of which came from the bench, saw him top 100 run metres per game and tackle at over 96%.
He'll have made his Australian debut by the time this drops and I have no doubt he'll be equally as reliable in the rep arena as he has been for the Panthers.
