England star Herbie Farnworth in line to make history after award nod

England centre Herbie Farnworth is in line to make history after being named to International Rugby League’s shortlist for the Golden Boot.

Dolphins centre Farnworth was one of three English players named on the initial 17-man shortlist but that has since been trimmed down to just six.

Out of George Williams, Harry Smith and Herbie Farnworth, it is just the NRL man who remains and he faces a strong contingent of fellow NRL players in the running for the award.

The Golden Boot is an award handed to the best player in international rugby league and this year’s nominations were contentious with legendary commentator Andrew Voss questioning the inclusion of players such as Esan Marsters.

Marsters, who has signed for Salford for 2025, played as part of a Cook Islands team that lost both their matches and in a comfortable fashion.

His nomination saw Vossy label the Golden Boot as a ‘participation award’, before adding: “You don’t have to put everyone in. It’s a farce.”

Herbie Farnworth in running for prestigious award

Now, those possibly nominated for ‘participation’ reasons as Vossy had claimed look to have been filtered out as just six players remain with Herbie Farnworth still one of them.

He is bidding to become the first England player to win the award since Tommy Makinson did so in 2018 but incredibly, Australia’s drought goes back further as they’ve not had a winner since Cameron Smith in 2017.

The Kangaroos are well-represented though with three of the final six hailing from Australia whilst Tonga’s Addin Fonua-Blake and Kiwi full-back Keano Kini join Herbie Farnworth to round out the list.

England’s centre was arguably the best player in the series against Samoa. News of Herbie Farnworth making the final six was reported by International Rugby League who referenced his performances against Samoa.

He was then dubbed as: “A strong contender to join the likes of Ellery Hanley, Garry Schofield, Andy Farrell and Kevin Sinfield as Englishman to win the award.”

Standing in his way are both Fonua-Blake and Kini, as well as Harry Grant, Tom Trbojevic and Isaah Yeo.

The winner will be announced in early December with a panel of Darren Lockyer, James Graham and Petero Civoniceva deciding. Last year, England’s Harry Smith made it to this stage before James Fisher-Harris earned the award.