2022 Super League Grand Final player ratings

The 2022 Super League campaign ended on Saturday night with a familiar dominant performance from St. Helens, as they beat the Leeds Rhinos 24-12.

The Saints were ruthless in defence starving Leeds of any space, combined with an excellent level of composure. Occasionally their attack lacked ideas but that was when their star players stepped up to create something out of nothing.

The Rhinos were hearty and put in maximum effort, but in the end, they just could not cause St. Helens enough problems to ever look like they had a chance of winning. However, considering the pressure they were put under, the defence did a good job to keep the Saints to just four tries.

So, I’ve taken a look at the 34 players that graced the pitch and rated their performances on the night.

Starting with St. Helens:

Will Hopoate – 7.5/10

Hopoate started the match at full-back before switching to the wing midway through the first half. He never really got into the game going forward, with most of the attacking metres gained by the other winger. However, like the rest of the side he was strong in defence and made a fantastic try saving tackle to deny Rhyse Martin from getting the ball down over the line.

Jon Bennison – 9/10

Bennison was the player who swapped positions with Hopoate. Whilst on the wing he scored the second try of the game following Jack Welsby’s grubber kick to touch down in the corner. When the 19-year-old got switched to full-back, he really took to the floor putting in an excellent shift on and off the ball, covering the third most distance in the match. Factoring in his age, he showed a brilliant level of maturity throughout the game and is full deserving of a very high rating.

Konrad Hurrell – 8.5/10

Hurrell was a huge threat with ball in hand for the Saints, bouncing off players and making big metres and coming up with a few handy offloads too. His moment of the match came early in the second half when he scored an excellent try through nothing but brute force, getting the ball down over the line with four Leeds players clinging onto him.

Mark Percival – 7.5/10

Percival had a reasonably quiet game out on the edge. Solid in defence and some decent carries of the ball but nothing standout. Nevertheless, he did get his name on the scoresheet, wrapping up the victory for the Saints. Finding space to run into, he latched onto the end of another Welsby kick to touch down calmly.

Tommy Makinson – 8/10

Makinson was assured with the boot, converting all four of St. Helens’ tries, but missing the penalty kick held him back to 4/5 successful kicks. His input to the match came mostly through kick returns, of which he did plenty. He was a little starved of the ball in attacking areas therefore forced his way up the ratings with some excellent handling of Blake Austin’s high bombs, and that was when he wasn’t applying vigorous kick pressure himself.

Jack Welsby – 10/10

What is there to say about this young man. Welsby would have been my choice for the Harry Sunderland trophy with his outstanding performance. In a game of many star performers, he stood out the most having a huge impact. His intensity was off the charts, putting himself everywhere. Fourth in the standings for work rate and second for distance covered. Furthermore, his defensive efforts, support runs, and ball carries did not lead him astray from his creative duties, clocking two try assists from nowhere, both from very neat grubber kicks into the in-goal area.

Jonny Lomax – 9.5/10

Lomax controlled the game beautifully. Undoubtedly one of the best players in the Super League put in a typical performance, doing everything he needed to do to carry his side over the line. His variation of kicks were phenomenal, putting Leeds under all sorts of pressure. Starting the match by creating the fastest ever try in Grand Final history, his try assist came from brilliant vision and footwork to catch Leeds defenders sleeping, and he followed on by covering the fifth most distance on the night.

Agnatius Paasi – 7/10

Paasi was a little quieter in this game compared to his prop forward teammates. However, he got on with his work defensively, putting in a shift to keep the Rhinos to just the two tries. Whilst also carrying the ball hard to get his team up field.

James Roby – 9/10

Roby is 36 years old. Let that sink in as you read that he covered the most distance of anyone on the pitch, whilst being ranked second for work rate. That is an outstanding achievement. Despite his age, he looks as fit and fine as ever, with every single one of his passes from dummy half hitting the mark, allowing Lomax and Welsby the time and freedom to manipulate the ball. The complete professional just ceases to amaze at this level.

Matty Lees – 9.5/10

 

Lees was another star performer of the night, opening the scoring with some great support play to cross untouched. His forward runs off the ball allowed the backs to create space and chances. His forward runs on the ball gained some huge metres as he drove his team up field. But the most noticeable involvements came in defence where he was everywhere, putting in numerous thunderous tackles to holt Leeds’ momentum.

Joe Batchelor – 8/10

Batchelor was another that just quietly got on with his business. No massive involvements but he got himself around in defence and applied brilliant kick pressure, and kick chase pressure, to squeeze the Rhino’s into silly errors and restrict their metres.

Curtis Sironen – 7.5/10

Sironen, like Batchelor, was mostly effective in defence. His ball handling was immense, most noticeably when he cut out a kick from Kruise Leeming on his own goal line to relieve the pressure on his side. It was a professional performance by the second rower.

Morgan Knowles – 9/10

Knowles silenced the boos from the Leeds fans with a cracking performance, what we have come to expect from the loose forward. His game was very similar to that of Lees, doing largely the same things just without the reward of a try. His reward was however, being ranked as the number one player on the pitch for work rate. A deserved high ranking but was just a tad less influential than Lees in my personal opinion.

Sione Mata’utia – 7/10

Mata’utia was quiet. One of Saints’ best players all year was utilised off the subs benched but was a shadow of involvement at second row compared to Batchelor and Sironen. Not to say he didn’t do his job because he certainly did, high metres gained after initial contact and a large number of tackles made. Although, we could have seen a lot more from that man.

Joey Lussick – 6.5/10

Lussick is my lowest ranked Saints player of the night, but how hard is it to shine when you’re competing with James Roby for your favoured position. He struggled to get into the game, however, he did keep up with the ferocious intensity, and a lowest rank of 6.5, shows just how good St. Helens were.

Louie McCarthy Scarsbrook – 7.5/10

LMS is St. Helens through and through and boy did he prove that when he came on. No huge impact made on the match, but he always gives 100% for his team. He never once let his teammates down for effort, showcasing some great work in defence, combined with some solid carries up the pitch.

Jake Wingfield – 8/10

Wingfield ranked third for work rate in this match, coming off the bench and getting stuck right into the Rhinos. The 21-year-old did not let the occasion bother him and really helped his side to keep momentum when he was subbed into the game, a hard job to get right. Definitely St. Helens best substitute of the night.

Now, moving onto Leeds:

Richie Myler – 4/10

Myler is my pick for the Rhinos worst performing player on the night. A man who was in great form but went missing in attack when his team needed his leadership and quality. He was also in my opinion at fault for two of the Saints’ tries, his poor positioning left a lot of space for Welsby to kick into for Bennison’s opener and Percival’s try. However, he earned some ratings for his composed hands at full-back, and his kick returns.

Ash Handley – 5.5/10

Handley came up with a couple of big defensive plays, most noticeably when he dragged Hurrell into touch to deny his ex-teammate a try. Nevertheless, with ball in hand he was another player you could have thought wasn’t on the pitch, as his team struggled to get him the ball out wide.

Liam Sutcliffe – 5/10

Sutcliffe came close to scoring himself but didn’t quite possess the strength to drag his body over the line. What he did successively though, was slip over and concede possession when his team had a great chance to score on the wing, not a performance to remember for the Rhinos centre.

Zak Hardaker – 7/10

Hardaker was the Rhinos best of the backs on Saturday. In a side that offered little going forward he had to do a lot of work keeping his shape in defence. However, when given his chance with the ball in hand he made a fair few metres and also created Leeds’ first try of the night. What started with a tackle bust, turned into a line break, rocketing his team downfield and giving them momentum they struggled to find again.

Tom Briscoe – 5.5/10

Briscoe, like Handley, had a quiet game on the wing and didn’t make much of an impact from kick returns either. He did keep his shape in defence nicely and also came away from the match with a try assist, finding some space to use his pace down the touchline before flicking a pass back inside for Rhyse Martin to cross.

Blake Austin – 5/10

Austin had to really step up for Leeds in this game and he just couldn’t quite manage it. With his usual halves partner out, he had to provide the leadership and the creativity for his team. Unfortunately, besides a brilliant 40/20, his kicking game was off, he needed a larger variation of kicks. Furthermore, he came up with a few poor errors and was quite a let down on the night. Despite that, he covered the fourth most distance on the night and put in a huge shift defensively when the Saints threw their big guns at him.

Cameron Smith – 5.5/10

Smith was very similar to Austin on the night, got himself around in defence but poor with ball in hand. He did grab a try assist however, through a neat little pass to an onrushing Kruise Leeming. Smith was also playing out of position as well, so credit to him for taking up the roll for just the third time this season on such a big occasion.

Mikolaj Oledski – 7/10

Oledski worked his socks off for the Rhinos during his stints on the pitch, if he could have had the energy to play longer minutes at the same intensity, then I believe Leeds would have had a much better chance in the game. His post contact metres rolled them up the pitch and he was also a stone wall in defence. A great performance to be on the losing side.

Jarrod O’Connor – 5/10

O’Connor looked very out of position when playing at hooker, his passes were flying off the mark and he didn’t threaten from dummy half. When Kruise Leeming entered the frame, he showed up how poor O’Connor’s performance was. Although, when the 21-year-old moved further into the forward pack he became more effective in defence, and offered some strong carries.

Matt Prior – 6/10

Prior was also a strong player defensively, with a high work rate and number of tackles. For a big man he kept his shape nicely, but in my opinion, was a shadow of Oledski going forward, he offered a smaller amount of threat and needed to put himself forward more to help relieve the pressure on his side.

Rhyse Martin – 7/10

Martin was very lucky given recent decisions across the season, to not have been shown a yellow card in this game after a strong challenge on Lomax. Nevertheless, he took full advantage of being on the pitch despite a few errors. He scored Leeds’ second try after pretty much finding the space to create it himself, before showing great commitment to support his teammate and follow the ball, crossing the line untouched. His brilliant offload in the build up to the first try was also a standout moment. Furthermore, he may not have been on the winning side, but he did break a personal record with a conversion rate of 2/2 on the night. That means he has now successfully kicked 38 goals in a row, passing the previous Super League record of 37.

James Bentley – 5/10

Leeds’ star man in the semi-final sunk back down to earth against his former club. There are not many positives about the night for Bentley, bar the fact he did work extremely hard for his team. However, that was often showcased the wrong way when he gave away needless penalties, one of which led to St. Helens’ first try.

Zane Tetevano – 5.5/10

Tetevano was again, important for Leeds defensively. Coming up with numerous big tackles to see out the Saints. A rating of 5.5 may actually be generous though, as the loose forward made near to no impact going forward, and in the modern game it is so important that your number 13 can have a big impact on the game.

Bodene Thompson – 5/10

Thompson is the first of four substitutes, and the first of three of those players that had no impact on the game whatsoever when they were brought on. Thompson did at least make a couple of thunderous runs on the ball, but never really threatened a solid St. Helens defence.

Kruise Leeming – 7.5/10

Leeming was the substitute that did make an impact, and not just a small one. My choice for Leeds’ player of the match was probably the only player that looked like he could cross the line for Leeds when in St. Helens territory. When he came on, he sparked the Rhinos into life, crossing first for them after Hardaker’s excellent break allowed him the space to make a dart for the line. His effort levels were right up there with the best as he tried to create for his side, and it showed as he was ranked fifth on the night for work rate. Another brilliant performance that did not deserve to be on the losing side.

Sam Walters – 4.5/10

Walters looked way out of his depth when he came onto the pitch, and you could be forgiven for not knowing that he was ever on the pitch. Players aren’t usually recognised for just making tackles, he had to offer so much more with ball in hand.

James Donaldson – 4.5/10

Donaldson was another let down off the bench. Putting in a shift defensively like the rest of his team, but just wasting chances in the opposite half. He suffered from poor decision making whilst on the pitch and again, looked out of his depth on the biggest occasion.

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