Super League history was made at the weekend as Josh Charnley overtook Leeds Rhinos’ Ryan Hall to become the competition’s all-time leading try-scorer, writing his name into the history books where plenty of esteemed legends already sit. In light of Charnley’s achievement, we’ve looked at some of the competition’s other record-holders with some near certain to never be beaten.
For a long time, it was considered that Danny McGuire’s tally of 247 Super League tries would not be beaten, but he was surpassed by former Leeds teammate Ryan Hall and then Charnley, with Charnley now usurping Hall. That record could continue to change hands throughout the year but with age on Charnley’s side, it may well be he who claims it long-term.
As it stands, it doesn’t look like anyone currently playing can go on to rival that record with the only others beyond 200 being the 33-year-old Tommy Makinson.
We’ve looked at a number of other records including appearances, points, drop goals, titles and more to see who sits alongside Josh Charnley in the Super League record books.
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Super League record-breakers
Most appearances – James Roby (495)
This is one of the records that likely will not be broken as to play as many games as James Roby did, a player would need to play every regular season game for 18 straight seasons and they’d still fall nine games short. That’s based on a 27-game season and of course, play-off appearances could add up over that time but the ability to stay fit for that long is simply incredible. Putting into context how absurd Roby’s record is would be the fact that Kevin Sinfield, in second place, is 41 games back. That’s one and a half seasons fewer matches played.
Most points – Kevin Sinfield (3,443)
Whilst Sinfield is only second for Super League appearances, he’s well out in front for points scored with the Leeds Rhinos legend, who was recently knighted, almost 1,000 points clear of second-place Danny Brough. Sinfield’s tally of 3,443 points comprises 70 tries, 1,566 goals and 31 drop goals.
Most goals – Kevin Sinfield (1,566)
It’s therefore no surprise to see that Kevin Sinfield has the most goals in Super League history and again, it’s not really even close, with Marc Sneyd in second, almost 500 back on 1,093. Of course, Sneyd is still active but he’s in the twilight of his career, aged 35, so he won’t be breaking the record any time soon.
Most drop goals – Lee Briers (70)
One kicking record that Kevin Sinfield does not have is the most drop goals with the Leeds man only fifth on the list with 31, less than half that of the competition’s leader Lee Briers who has kicked a massive 70 in his Super League career. Incredibly, Briers kicked five in one game and still ended up on the losing side against Halifax in 2002.
Most Grand Final wins – Jamie Peacock (9)
When you consider that there have only ever been 28 Super League Grand Finals, it becomes ridiculous that Jamie Peacock has won almost a third of those with the former Bradford Bulls and Leeds Rhinos man winning nine. He’d win three with the Bulls before picking up six with the Rhinos, retiring in 2016 at Hull KR having played in 11 of the 19 to have ever been contested at that point, having won almost half of those.
Most tries in a Super League season – Denny Solomona (40)
Now this is a record that could be under threat as Leeds Rhinos’ Maika Sivo currently has 25 tries in 15 rounds of Super League, however, Solomona set his record during an extended Super League campaign. A total of 23 regular-season games were played in 2016 before the Super 8s saw teams contest another seven, meaning he set the record during what was effectively a 30-game season. Many thought he would never be caught, but there is a Fijian winger on the rampage who thinks otherwise.
Most tries in a Super League game – Bevan French (7)
Before former Man of Steel Bevan French was tying defences in knots from the halves, he was a winger with one of his standout games being when he scored a record-setting seven against Hull FC in a 60-0 rout back in 2022.
