BEFORE the beginning of the season young St Helens star Harry Robertson had played nine Super League games for his club, which on our definition (fewer than 10 first-grade games to his name) made him eligible to be described as a rookie.
He made his debut for St Helens at fullback in the toughest way possible, being selected for their team to face Wigan away on 12th July last year in round 17 of Super League. Although Saints lost that game 16-12, he played well enough to retain his place for the rest of the season.
So he was always likely to be a strong contender for the Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year title.
There were plenty of other contenders, such as George Flanagan of Huddersfield, Bailey Hodgson of Leigh, Harvey Smith of Wakefield Trinity and George Whitby, also of St Helens.
But Harry was the clear choice this year and we will surely remember his season for two outstanding incidents.
One was a sensational cover tackle on Leeds winger Ryan Hall when Saints hosted the Rhinos on 20th June. Saints were 4-0 ahead at that point and they went on to win 18-4 after Robertson somehow managed to haul the much bigger Hall into touch after the winger had intercepted a Saints pass in his own half and charged down the field looking certain to score.
It was possibly the best cover tackle we saw all season and I should add that another Saints rookie, Owen Dagnall, helped roll the Leeds star into touch.
The second sensational piece of play was in the opening round of the Super League play-offs, when St Helens went to Headingley and somehow managed to score the try of the season right on the final hooter by keeping the ball alive through 17 pairs of hands. Robertson played a major role in that move, beating several defenders before passing the ball to Tristan Sailor to keep the ball alive as Sailor gave an audacious backflip pass to Matt Whitley.
Clearly Harry Robertson has great talent in both aspects of Rugby League – attack and defence – and I would be amazed if we don’t see him being selected for England for next year’s World Cup.
Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year winners
2008 Luke Burgess (Leeds Rhinos)
2009 Sam Tomkins (Wigan Warriors)
2010 Liam Watts (Hull Kingston Rovers)
2011 Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants)
2012 John Bateman (Bradford Bulls)
2013 Tom Lineham (Hull FC)
2014 Joe Burgess (Wigan Warriors)
2015 Andre Savelio (St Helens)
2016 Max Jowitt (Wakefield Trinity)
2017 Liam Marshall (Wigan Warriors)
2018 Jake Trueman (Castleford Tigers)
2019 Morgan Smithies (Wigan Warriors)
2020 Matty Ashton (Warrington Wolves)
2021 Arthur Mourgue (Catalans Dragons)
2022 Lewis Murphy (Wakefield Trinity)
2023 Edwin Ipape (Leigh Leopards)
2024 Josh Rourke (London Broncos)
2025 Harry Robertson (St Helens)