Following a fan-voted poll issued by Sky Sports, the top five French players in Super League history have been revealed, and a Hull KR man has been included in the rankings.
As part of the broadcast of Catalans Dragons and Wigan Warriors’ game in Paris over the weekend, Sky revealed the results of the poll which had been running on their app and website.
Revealed by Brian Carney and guest analysts Jon Wilkin and Jerome Guisset, former players of Warrington Wolves, St Helens and Salford Red Devils were included, with all five having a significant impact on the French game and in Super League.
Originally, the list was 10-strong, but that has since been whittled down to a top five. Ben Garcia, Gregory Mounis, Julian Bousquet, Tony Gigot and Laurent Frayssenous were the five players unlucky to not reach the top five.
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Super League’s best-ever French players revealed including current Hull KR man
5th: Arthur Mourgue
Coming in at number five is the currently-injured Hull KR full-back, Mourgue, who burst onto the scene with Catalans back in 2018.
His breakthrough year would come in 2021, where he made 24 appearances for Les Dracs, featuring primarily off the bench in the full-back and halves positions.
The 27-year-old still has a fair chunk of his career ahead of him, and he could well move up this ranking by the time his career is over.
4th: Remi Casty
The former Catalans captain is one of Super League’s greatest enforcers, and with over 300 Super League appearances to his name, he undoubtedly deserves to be in the top five.
Guisset was actually surprised that the prop’s ranking saying: “I would have thought he would make at least the top two. I mean, anyone who’s on that list is good, but Remi has been a great servant for the club.
“I think that has showcased over the years, two spells, shows just how good of a player he is.”
Casty departed for NRL side Catalans Dragons in the 2014 season, playing 11 games down under.
3rd: Jerome Guisset
Perhaps the fact he was a studio guest, people voted for him, but take nothing away from what a player the ex-Warrington, Wigan and Canberra Raiders man was.
When realising he had been named in third, Guisset said: “I’m amazed… I’m quite humbled, to be honest.
“It was just a great honour for me to play for my hometown club. One of the reasons why I left France early was to play professional rugby league, I could play for it until the Dragons were formed so yeah, really honoured.”
2nd: Theo Fages
A two-time Grand Final winner with St Helens in 2019 and 2020 and a Challenge Cup winner in 2021, Fages was part of a Saints side that was incredibly successful.
Moving to Salford at 19, Fages paved his way into becoming one of the best young talents in Super League, and to do that as a half-back, whilst also adapting to a new country and learning a new language is an incredible feat.
1st: Thomas Bosc
Who else? By far the most influential, iconic and memorable French player to play in Super League, Bosc had it all.
A part of the Treize Catalans side before the merger with Saints-Esteve to become the Dragons back in 2006, Bosc played for the club up until 2017, and represented them 220 times in Super League.
Scoring 48 tries and kicking 483 goals in that time, the 42-year-old believes his best success came in 2018, when Catalans finally lifted their first trophy – the Challenge Cup against Warrington Wolves.
