Jackson Hastings is one of the best players we have seen grace Super League in recent times.
The halfback joined a struggling Salford Red Devils side in 2018 and steered them away from relegation.
Then in 2019 he led the Red Devils all the way to an unlikely Grand Final after they started the year as second favourites for relegation.
That season he picked up the Man of Steel as well as a move to Wigan Warriors where he was a big hit and helped the Warriors to the League Leaders’ Shield.
They were also a bounce of the ball away from winning the Grand Final but St Helens’ Jack Welsby had over ideas.
His final season in Super League ended with a disappointed fourth place finish and on the face of it, 2022 was not a great year for him either as he returned to the NRL with Wests Tigers who finished bottom.
However, he shone for the Tigers and if they had trusted him more at halfback they could have done better with three of their four wins coming with Hastings in his preferred position of halfback.
He now heads to Newcastle Knights for 2023 as ex-Hull KR boss and new Tigers coach Tim Sheens puts his trust in Luke Brooks.
In letting Hastings go they are losing a real talent based on the statistics he registered.
In fact he was one of the NRL’s best running halfbacks averaging a huge 128.5 metres per game which is almost unheard of in Super League with Warrington Wolves’ George Williams the only halfback who seems to get close to those kind of figures consistently.
He also averaged over one try assist per two games.
Thus, he should be a huge success in 2023.
