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
3. Max Plath
I wasn't 100% certain I'd include Plath here as he's a pure middle forward.
That said, his utility value in his "rookie" (NRL's words, not mine) season made him simply impossible to ignore.
21 appearances, split between lock and hooker, as well as his debut from the bench, saw him score four times, break 32 tackles, run for over 80 metres per game and tackle at over 94%.
Super impressive from a player who entered the 2024 season with just two games under his belt. He is now a huge part of the Phins moving forward.
