Grading all 11 English NRL stars’ 2025: Matty Nicholson A, Lewis Dodd F..

It’s a big week for rep footy, with the Origin teams set to be named this coming weekend.

Everyone and their dog has an opinion on that in Australia, but this being Love Rugby League, we are different. 

Ten games provides a nice round number, a sufficient sample size to judge the NRL’s Pommy contingent as Shaun Wane watches from afar.

There’s been some real standouts, one or two washouts and, yes, we will be considering those who have put their hands up, even if their accents need a little work.

Herbie Farnworth: A+

Farnworth has been one of the leading players in the competition so far in 2025, dominating for the Dolphins with his yardage carries and offloads. 

Even when they weren’t good at the start, Herbie was and, were it not for Stephen Crichton, he’d undoubtedly be the best centre in the world.

Fast, strong, elusive and creative – in a season where centres are back in vogue, Herbie is right up there with them. Perhaps most tellingly, he’s entered the rare air of Tino, Nelson, Nathan and Tommy where you only need a first name. He’s like a Brazilian footballer, except from Blacko.

Matty Nicholson: A

Nobody has taken to the NRL so quickly in 2025 as former Warrington backrower Matty Nicholson. Inexplicably left out for the Vegas opener, he scored twice on home debut and is going at better than one every two games for the Raiders.

His score would be higher had he not just got injured, with a nasty lower leg issue likely to keep the Halifax-born forward out for the next 12 weeks. 

That said, it’ll probably help him with England duty: he’ll be nice and rested come Ashes time, especially if, as looks likely, the Raiders get him back for finals.

Max King: A

If we were picking an England team based on who looks the most English – read, Northern – then Bulldogs prop Max King would walk in. Even more than John Bateman’s white legs in the North Queensland sun, King looks like he was crafted out of mushy peas.

Jokes aside, he’s been one of the breakout stars of 2025 as the Doggies have charged to the top of the table – and the only thing stopping King from making Wane’s squad is that he might yet get a call for NSW. 

King is a fourth-generation NRL player, but was born in Huddersfield to a mother from Dewsbury, and the indication is that he’ll play for England. That is, of course, if Laurie Daley doesn’t come asking next weekend.

KL Iro: A-

The quirks of international eligibility rules might work in England’s favour this year, with Leeds-born, Rarotonga-raised centre KL Iro putting his hand up publicly after a long time of insisting that it was Cook Islands or bust.

It’s great timing for Wane, as he can now call on one of the NRL’s form centres. Iro, long the best in the lower grades at Newtown, has only got better since being elevated to Cronulla’s first team.

A niggling injury kept him out for a few weeks, but once returned to the side, he’s been great again.

It’s been a year of change for Iro – quite literally, as he was once Kayal, but decided to go with the abbreviation to aid pronunciation. Should he get picked for England, here’s your notice that it’s pronounced ear-o, not eye-ro, as his famous father and uncle were misnomered for years.

Victor Radley: B

What was true about Iro is also true for Victor the Inflictor as far as form and injuries go. When on the field, Radley has generally been excellent and, in a Roosters team with a fair few new faces, a proper leader.

Rads started as an edge forward but was never as effective in that role, but once Trent Robinson moved him back to the middle, he’s been superb both with his link-play with the ball and his trademark bone-crushers in defence.

As ever, his major issue is those tackles: though Radley is yet to get himself suspended this year, he has twice been concussed through his tackle technique and has now failed six HIAs in his career.

If he’s fit and healthy, Wane loves him and he’ll be a great addition to the squad. Unfortunately, that remains a big if.

Morgan Smithies: B-

Now in year two in Canberra, Morgan Smithies has consolidated himself as a key part of probably the best pack in the NRL. 

He’s done so in the traditional Aussie way, too, in reaction to an off-field scandal where he got into a scrap with teammate Hudson Young in Vegas and ended up fronting the media like an embarrassed politician.

Though he has often been named on the bench this year, Smithies is playing decent minutes, with coach Ricky Stuart looking to swap him and Josh Papali’i depending on game situation. 

His minutes have been more limited, but effectiveness has not, with the Dewsbury loose forward still worth a whole rake of tackles when he plays.

Kai Pearce-Paul: C

The best news of this season for KPP is that he looks increasingly likely to have sealed a move to the Wests Tigers for 2026. 

The backrower is criminally underused at Newcastle, who refuse to give him any freedom to play the barnstorming, high-offload footy that earned him such plaudits in the Super League.

Pearce-Paul has still been decent regardless, and might have that problem taken away from him should coach Adam O’Brien get sacked, which looks likelier by the week.

The biggest issue for Kai is how well Matty Nicholson has gone, and how much Junior Nsemba continues to impress in his old role at Wigan. 

Throw in Smithies, Radley and John Bateman as competition and you’re looking at a tough nut to crack to get into what should be a belting backrow.

John Bateman: C

On Bateman: this year has actually been a quiet return to form for the Bradford edge. He stands out like a sore thumb at the Cowboys, milk bottle legs and all, but has been effective in a side that has blown hot and cold.

Certainly compared to Jeremiah Nanai, his backrow partner, Bateman is a model of consistency and, actually, a semi-disciplined option that rarely lets the side down.

Like Pearce-Paul, his issue might be that he hasn’t done enough to stand out in what might be England’s deepest position, but after a couple of torrid years in a dreadful Wests Tigers, this more mature edition of Jonneh looks pretty good.

AJ Brimson: C-

AJ Brimson, a one-time Queensland rep but with a mother from England, has officially switched affiliation to the red and white ahead of the Ashes – but it’s easy to see the upside.

He’s the perfect 14 for Wane’s men: while most of his work this year for the Titans has been as a 6, Brimson has lined up at centre, fullback and halfback in his career and thus presents and all-in-one backline cover, vital in the HIA era of rugby league.

His genius, such as it is, lies in moments rather than consistency, and you can insert your own joke about the Gold Coast Titans right here. When the Titans have been good, Brimson has generally been at the heart of it – but they’re only good about once every six weeks or so. 

Wane will have a call on his hands if all of Jack Welsby, George Williams, Harry Smith and Mikey Lewis are fit, and then on top of that, he’ll probably have to decide if he wants his 14 to be a hooker anyway.

There’s a world where Brimson fits in, offers utility value and the potential for magic. Unfortunately, we probably won’t know what that looks like unless something major happens at the Titans first. 

Dom Young: D

One of England’s poster boys has endured a nightmare season at the Roosters, with poor defensive performances, occasional brain snaps and rumours of off-field ruptures have conspired to send the 2023 NRL top try scorer into NSW Cup.

He might get a respite from that sooner rather than later if the Roosters can reach a deal to return Young to Newcastle, though Trent Robinson launched into an epic rant at the Knights at a recent press conference that suggested things might be a little more complicated.

Young is absolutely good enough for week-to-week NRL and has to play – and knows it, with an Ashes coming up at the end of the year. If he can’t get back to Newy, then a link-up with the Wests Tigers would also be fascinating – they have cap space and outside back requirements.

There’s not really a world where Wane doesn’t pick him if fit and playing in the NRL, but at the moment, that seems a distance away. Thankfully, it’s in the interests of all parties to make a move happen before the end of June deadline, so you would expect that it will.

Lewis Dodd: F

Everything that could have gone wrong for Lewis Dodd has gone wrong. 

Even prior to signing, he joined Jason Demetriou’s Souths – only for the coach to get sacked and Wayne Bennett to come in. 

He injured a shoulder in pre-season, played a trial game unfit and got suspended out of the start of the year. 

Jamie Humphreys, his replacement, got a crack and took it well, and when he got hurt, Dodd managed to cop another ban in reserve grade. 

He ended up behind Jayden Sullivan – a player so lowly rated that the dreadful Dragons released him to the even-worse Tigers, who dropped him to NSW Cup.

Eventually Dodd got a few garbage time minutes off the bench, then a start at Magic Round with literally everyone else injured as Souths were thrashed to nil.

Bennett clearly doesn’t fancy the former Saint, who looks to be destined to a full year in reggies before returning to Super League. 

With the aforementioned Welsby/Williams/Smith/Lewis do-si-do to play out, it probably won’t matter anyway. Dodd is miles off the England team at this point.