Super League: A young gun from every club to keep an eye out for in 2025

George Whitby, Cai Taylor-Wray and George Whitby are set for huge years.
The 2025 Super League season is fast approaching – and while there are a whole heap of world-class stars to look forward to watching, there’s also some hugely talented youngsters ready to make their mark.
As is traditional at Love Rugby League, we’ve taken a look at every club’s squad and picked out one player from every side we think are going to be worth tracking.
There will be some stars of the future on this list without question – and some who could make a real mark in Super League as early as this year.
Here’s our pick from every club.
Castleford Tigers: George Hill
The Danny McGuire era at Castleford Tigers will likely feature a good clutch of home-grown talent who have emerged amidst a difficult couple of seasons. And chief among them is forward Hill.
After formative loan spells at the likes of Whitehaven, 2024 was Hill’s breakthrough year, with 13 appearances to his name – including a few starts, too. Expect to see him in plenty more match-day squads throughout 2025 after the positivity he showed.
Catalans Dragons: Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet
The 19-year-old made his breakthrough into the Catalans team last season, featuring in five Super League games – and earning a call-up to the France squad in the process.
Huddersfield Giants: Jack Billington
Huddersfield have had a steady stream of academy players emerge in recent seasons and Billington looks likely to be the next one who could make his mark in Super League.
With a background in both rugby codes, Billington has been with Huddersfield’s academy setup for a number of years. He opted to pursue a career in league over union and has made a couple of first-team appearances already.
Hull FC: Will Kirby
One of the biggest positives out of last season’s turbulence for Hull was the emergence and exposure a number of fine youth prospects got. With that in mind, there’s a few players we could opt for here: but we’re going for Kirby.
The forward, who can play at prop or in the back-row, already has county honours with Yorkshire’s academy. He’s one the Black and Whites have seriously high hopes for.
Hull KR: Louix Gorman
For all their success in recent years, the one small criticism of Hull KR you could have is the fact their academy products haven’t had too much game-time. Again, it’s a small criticism!
Gorman is one of a handful who will be hopeful of breaking into the first-team and commanding some minutes in 2025.
Leeds Rhinos: George Brown
The half-back has a unique story, having left rugby league at the start of last year to try his hand at rugby union after leaving the Rhinos’ youth setup.
But he is back in Leeds and back with the club where he started, after impressing in the latter stages of last season for Leeds’ under-18s side. An eye-catching display marked with a try on Boxing Day has many suspecting Brown could be the next star off the Headingley production line.
If he gets a chance – Leeds do have plenty of pivot options – expect him to take it.
Leigh Leopards: Bailey Hodgson
The former Castleford Tigers academy product represented a fairly shrewd signing when he returned to England midway through last year to sign with the Leopards. And though he didn’t feature in 2024, the plan was always for him to make his mark in 2025.
Salford Red Devils: Kai Morgan
It remains to be seen what happens at Salford in the coming weeks amidst constant speculation over players being sold – and it could lead to young stars getting more of an opportunity than originally envisaged.
Salford have high hopes for Morgan, who has had a couple of loan spells away from the club to further his development. The possible departure of Marc Sneyd may accelerated his first-team exposure, too.
St Helens: George Whitby
There’s never really a shortage of Saints academy products to get excited about: take Harry Robertson last year, for example – who shone in the face of such adversity last year.
The club have two wonderful half-backs ready to make their mark if called upon, with Will Roberts and Whitby both on the brink of the first-team.
A regular in the Saints’ academy and reserve sides, Whitby will surely get a chance at some point this year.
Wakefield Trinity: Harvey Smith
Already tied down to a long-term deal until the end of 2028 season, Wakefield are acutely aware they have a real star on their hands in the shape of hooker Smith.
He made his debut in 2023 as the club were about to be relegated from Super League, and got regular exposure in the Championship last year under Daryl Powell. Expect him to become a genuine star of Super League if the noises coming out of Trinity are right.
Warrington Wolves: Cai Taylor-Wray
The game-time Taylor-Wray got last year underlined how he is a star in the making at Warrington.
He has Matt Dufty ahead of him but such is the impact he’s been making in pre-season training, the noises are that the Wire wouldn’t rule out moving Dufty into the halves to accommodate Taylor-Wray at some stage.
Wigan Warriors: Harvey Makin
Makin is into his fifth season with the Warriors and is one of a handful of players Wigan fans can expect to see get an opportunity this year.
He’s been close, featuring in 21-man squads throughout last year – but Wigan are notorious for handling their young stars right and only deploying them when they’re ready. Loan spells at a plethora of clubs have steeled the forward – and he’s the next cab off the rank at the reigning champions.
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