THIS is our annual series that looks back at the year just gone and selects the most significant and memorable moments, whether they are triumphs or tragedies, great matches or momentous incidents, domestic or international events.
Let us know whether you agree with our selections.
Our countdown of the top 50 moments of the year began here.
30 RL Commercial bails out Salford
Salford Red Devils is the only Super League club without a wealthy backer and inevitably that puts the club under significant financial pressure.
It all came to a head in November when the club requested an advance of monies from Rugby League’s marketing arm, RL Commercial, to avoid a short-term liquidity crisis.
RL Commercial was faced with the prospect of the Red Devils possibly going into liquidation if it refused financial support, with the prospect of Super League being reduced to eleven clubs for the 2025 season.
Salford’s problems had been exacerbated because of the delay in Salford Council’s acquisition of the full ownership of the Salford Community Stadium.
In the face of the crisis, RL Commercial agreed to advance Salford an initial £500,000 of its £1.25 million annual entitlement, which would normally be paid in twelve monthly instalments.
It said the advance was agreed “on the condition of central involvement in and scrutiny of a more sustainable long-term trading position” for the club.
The statement added: “We are working on driving the club forward to be a commercially-viable entity, achieving IMG grade A status (they are currently rated as grade B) and sitting at the heart of the community as a club the City of Salford can be proud of.
“Central to this is completion of the stadium ownership.
“We have been and continue to actively look for investment partners to support the long-term ambitions of the club.”
29 Australia win Pacific Cup and ratings boom
Australia claimed a Pacific Cup double with their men and women both winning their respective tournaments.
The Kangaroos defeated Tonga, who had upset title holders New Zealand to reach the men’s final, to gain a 20-14 victory, while Australia’s women beat New Zealand 24-14.
Manly Sea Eagles fullback Tom Trbojevic grabbed two tries as the Kangaroos won the Pacific Cup for the first time. The 28,728 crowd for the final was the biggest for a Test in Sydney since 2008.
Victory for Australia’s women avenged a 12-6 loss to the Kiwi Ferns in last year’s final.
It was only the second season of the Pacific Cup and Pacific Bowl tournaments, with their future looking assured after they recorded impressive attendances and viewing figures.
The 2024 Pacific Championships was a strong advertisement for international Rugby League, delivering a total audience of 6.2 million across all tournaments, which was a 40 per cent increase on the 2023 figures.
The Pacific Cup Final drew more than a million viewers, which represented a 79 per cent increase on the 2023 decider between the Kangaroos and Kiwis.
28 McGuire for Lingard at Castleford
Castleford Tigers sacked their head coach Craig Lingard in October after he had completed one season in charge.
The sacking happened only a week after new owner Martin Jepson had agreed a deal to take over the club.
A former Keighley and Batley Bulldogs coach, Lingard won eight of his 29 games in all competitions as the Tigers finished in tenth place in Super League.
“Craig is a really decent guy and is well liked by our fans but I felt it was time for a different direction and a new voice in the dressing room,” said Jepson.
“The search for a new head coach is under way and we hope to make an announcement soon.”
The search was completed very quickly when the club announced a few days later that it had appointed Danny McGuire as the new head coach on a three-year contract.
McGuire, 41, had been the assistant to Lingard, having joined the Tigers in 2024 from his assistant role at Hull KR.
“I have been hugely impressed with Danny’s ambition, his determination, and his technical knowledge of the game and I look forward to working alongside him,” said Jepson.
“I am also sure Danny will be able to help attract like-minded players to the club as we continue to build for next season.”
It is McGuire’s first head coach appointment.
27 Garry Schofield bows out
On the 11th of November, fittingly on Remembrance Day, Garry Schofield brought the curtain down on his long Rugby League career, during which he won the joint record number of 46 Great Britain caps and played principally with Hull FC and Leeds.
Schofield subsequently went into coaching and then into media punditry, with the last 13 years spent writing his ‘Pulling No Punches’ column in League Express.
In his column that Monday morning Schofield revealed that he would no longer have any active role in the game that he loves.
“Well, this is it!” he wrote.
“This isn’t just my final column in this great newspaper – you won’t hear or see me interviewed any more.
“No more podcasts, no more media appearances. This page is the final act of an association with the wonderful sport of Rugby League that has dominated my life.
“So, why am I going?
“I was diagnosed with brain damage in March 2023 and have kept it a closely guarded secret until now. The symptoms, which I will share with you, are horrendous. I’ve been told I will end up with dementia, so the time has come for me to walk away from the game and to concentrate on my health.”
Schofield also gave details of the condition that resulted in him losing an eye.
In response, League Express editor Martyn Sadler wrote: “I must admit that I found his column this week very moving and emotional.
“I will of course stay in touch with Garry, but I would like to send him my very best wishes for his future, which I hope is a happy and contented one.
“That is the least he deserves.”
26 St Helens appoint Lee Briers
For the last two years Lee Briers has established a strong reputation in the NRL as an assistant coach to Kevin Walters at the Brisbane Broncos.
So it was a significant coup for St Helens when they announced in early September that Briers would return home to join their first-team coaching staff on a two-year contract.
Briers, 46, came through Saints’ academy before making his debut for the club in 1997 and making six appearances before joining Warrington, for whom he played 419 games in 17 seasons.
Now the England men’s assistant coach, he will head to the Totally Wicked Stadium as Paul Wellens’ assistant whose role will be to develop St Helens’ attacking threat.
“In sport you can be a professional, you can give your all for different clubs and you can have great relationships and bonds – but there is nothing like playing or coaching for your hometown club,” said Briers.
Wellens added: “Despite being away from the club for a long time, he has never thought of himself as anything other than being a St Helens lad.
“It’s great to welcome him back and he’s going to add knowledge, experience, enthusiasm, and a passion for the team and the club to our coaching team.”
25 Queensland win historic Women’s State of Origin
The first ever three-game series of Women’s State of Origin was played for the first time in Australia and Queensland emerged victorious, winning the series 2-1 and clinching the deciding game, which was played in Townsville in front of a crowd of 22,819 at the Country Bank Stadium.
The Women’s State of Origin had been restricted to one game per season from its inauguration in 2018 until 2022.
In 2023 it became a two-game series but such was the crowd support and strong TV viewing figures that this year it was extended to three games.
New South Wales won the first game 22-12 in Brisbane in front of 25,492 spectators in a game that was played as the first match of the Magic Weekend.
Queensland responded by winning the second game in Newcastle in front of 25,782, with Lauren Brown snatching a late winner with a field-goal to deliver an 11-10 victory and setting up the decider, with the Maroons winning their fourth Shield in five years with Queensland prop forward Shannon Mato named the player of the series.
24 Mikey Lewis is Man of Steel
Mikey Lewis was declared the 2024 Steve Prescott Man of Steel in the week leading up to the Grand Final and he dedicated his win to his parents after fulfilling his dream of taking Rugby League’s top individual award.
The Hull KR halfback beat competition from Marc Sneyd of Salford and Warrington’s Matt Dufty to claim the prize.
Lewis was emotional on stage after receiving the award, which was presented at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds.
Lewis, whose mother Sarah embraced her son when his win was announced, was asked on stage what he said to his parents after initially being rejected by the City of Hull Academy as a youngster.
He responded: “I’m done. It was the hardest thing to do. I had to be honest with myself and say I wasn’t good enough.
“The support they gave me, a kick up the backside. I had to sort myself because all I wanted to do was to be a Rugby League player.
“I’ve done that and I just want to repay them.”
23 Michael Maguire takes charge at Brisbane
At the beginning of October Brisbane Broncos announced the former Wigan coach Michael Maguire would become their head coach following his release by the NSW Rugby League from the final year of his contract to coach the Blues.
Maguire, who coached Wigan to the Super League title in 2010 and to Challenge Cup success the following year, was named as Kevin Walters’ successor following his sacking and it was revealed he had signed a three-year contract to coach the club.
The 50-year-old has 303 NRL and Super League games under his belt as a coach at Wigan, South Sydney and the Wests Tigers, having led the Rabbitohs to their first Premiership in 43 years in 2014.
He also coached the New Zealand national team for 18 Tests from 2018-23, moving them to first in the world rankings, as well as leading New South Wales to an Origin series victory earlier this year.
After the Broncos failed to make the play-offs in 2024, Maguire’s aim is to win another NRL Premiership.
“I’m not going to put a timeline (on a Premiership) but I’m in a rush,” Maguire said.
“I’ll work every single day to make sure we improve.
“Winning a Grand Final would be extremely special but I know there’s a lot of work to be done, starting today.”
22 Penrith’s fourth successive Grand Final victory
Penrith Panthers created Rugby League history on the first weekend of October by claiming a historic fourth successive NRL Premiership with a 14-6 win over Melbourne Storm at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
Penrith can now lay claim to being the greatest Australian Rugby League club side since St George won an unprecedented eleven straight titles between 1956 and 1966.
No team in the NRL era has ever won four consecutive Grand Finals and only two teams – St George (1956-66) and South Sydney (1925-29) – have won four or more Premierships in succession.
It was also the Panthers’ fifth consecutive Grand Final appearance, having gone down to Melbourne in 2020 but since then securing Grand Final wins over Souths (2021), Parramatta (2022), Brisbane (2023) and Melbourne (2024).
The Panthers’ season started in Las Vegas and ended with them making history.
“Four in a row – it’s mind-blowing,” Panthers star Nathan Cleary said, while Jarome Luai added: “No one is going to do this again.”
21 Hull KR sign Rhyse Martin
Hull KR have become a major contender for honour under their head coach Willie Peters in the last two years, suffering close defeats in the Challenge Cup Final of 2023 and the Super League Grand Final in 2024.
And their determination to go one better in 2025 was nowhere better illustrated than when in late August they announced the signing of Leeds Rhinos’ Papua New Guinea international, Rhyse Martin, on a two-year contract.
One of the Robins’ few weaknesses under Peters has been their goalkicking statistics, but with the signing of Martin they now have one of the best in the business.
Martin made his NRL debut in 2018 for Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, making 25 appearances for them before joining the Rhinos in 2019.
He heads to East Hull after six seasons with Leeds Rhinos, making 128 appearances, scoring 36 tries and 421 goals. During his time with the Rhinos he was appointed their captain and helped the side to secure the Betfred Challenge Cup in 2020.
“A lot of Papua New Guineans know who Hull KR are and hopefully at the end of the season I’ll get to represent Papua New Guinea again in the Pacific Bowl. I’m excited to be part of that story and put my stamp on the next chapter of that.”
