Rugby League Top 10: Imports

The signing of overseas players hasn't always meant adding quality to the competition, but this list of the very best certainly did. Although it's fair to say some made much more of an impact than others. For instance, the 'greatest player of all-time', Andrew Johns, made just three appearances for Warrington at the end of the 2005 season, and couldn't lead them to silverware. In the 1980s it was common practice for legendary NRL players to sign short-term contracts in England during the off-season 'Down Under'. More recently, imports have actually made their name in Super League, winning Grand Finals, Challenge Cups and earning recognition as the Man of Steel. Widely regarded as one of the games' finest players, Australian international player and coach, Mal Meninga, joined St Helens for the 1984/85 season and helped them win the Lancashire Cup and Premiership title. While Kiwi centre, Dean Bell, won seven successive Challenge Cup Finals with Wigan, including three as captain, and made such an impact he was the subject of 'This is Your Life' in 1993. Robbie Paul followed his brother Henry to Bradford and lit up the game making rugby league 'cool'. He was named 'Super League Player of the Season' aged just 20, whilst loose-forward Adrian Vowles with Castleford, centre Jamie Lyon at St Helens, full-back Brett Hodgson with Huddersfield and winger and goal-kicking machine Pat Richards at Wigan were all crowned the 'Man of Steel' between 1999 and 2010. Joining Robbie at the Bulls was 'The Volcano', Lesley Vainikolo. The huge New Zealand winger won two Super League titles and three Challenge Cup finals with Bradford scoring 149 tries in 152 games. And more recently, Wigan's Bevan French has really shone in Super League, not only winning silverware, but incredibly being named as 'Player of the Match' in three finals during 2024. So, who will take the accolade as the greatest import of all?

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Rugby League Top 10: Imports is an episode from 5 live Rugby League by BBC.

This episode is 47:03 long.

This episode was published on Sep 4, 2025.

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