A hot field of wonderful talent will this year contest the Penrith Panthers Rookie of the Year Award, which last year was won by Sunia Turuva.
Now while I’ll look at all the candidates in contention for this year’s honour, in my opinion, prop Liam Henry should take out the top prize just ahead of 23-year-old fan favourite Mavrik Geyer.
For those who don’t know the rules, players are eligible for the Rookie of the Year in their debut season and the subsequent two NRL seasons.
Once a player plays five NRL Premiership matches he becomes ineligible for the Rookie of the Year in any subsequent seasons.
Fortunately, all the players in contention meet the requirements to win it this year.
I’ll go through my top two picks first.
23-year-old prop Liam Henry is having a super season so far. He’s already played 18 first grade matches this year and is averaging 87 metres a game, made 21 tackle breaks, 547 tackles and scored two tries.
However, it’s not just in the stats department that Henry shines. Against the St George-Illawarra Dragons in round 13 he played his first full 80 minutes of football.
For a rookie prop to play an entire game is virtually unheard of and shows that Henry has a great motor as well a powerful physique.
The scary thing for opposition coaches and players is, he’s only going to get better the older he gets as seasoned props don’t peak until their late 20s.
The thing I notice about Henry is that you know when he’s on the field. He’ll make at least two or three punishing runs each game with his kamikaze charges into the defensive line.
If his form keeps up over the remainder of the season, I can’t see anyone beating him for the prestigious honour.
Although a close second for the Panthers Rookie of the Year would have to be second-rower Mavrik Geyer.
Geyer made his first-grade debut in round four of the 2024 season against the Sydney Roosters.
He has since amassed 10 top grade games and last week started in the second-row. Geyer has also filled in at centre on two occasions and done a great job in that position as well.
Geyer’s star is definitely on the rise. Every week he is playing more minutes and looking more and more comfortable as he gets used to the pace of the game.
The other player who deserves a mention is 18 year-old teen centre Casey McLean.
Mclean has been in fine form since he made his first-grade debut in round 17 against the North Queensland Cowboys.
Not bad for a kid who started the season in Jersey Flegg (Under 21) and last year was running around in SG Ball (Under 19).
His meteoric rise shows just how much faith the Panthers coaching staff and coach Ivan Cleary have in the youngster.
McLean is already being compared to former Panthers superstar Stephen Crichton.
The list of other potential rookies is also rather impressive. They include Casey’s older brother Jesse McLean, Luke Sommerton, Trent Toelau, Luron Patea and Jack Cole.
Now that’s quite a talented group of players there.
Ahhh what else can I say except….the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.
Peter Lang
Peter Lang is an experienced sports writer, who has been covering rugby league for several decades. He first wrote Lang on League for the Weekender in the 1990s, and worked for Panthers on its famous Panthers Magazine for several years.