Some of these players were fortunate enough to play interstate football this year, and some weren’t due to their international loyalties. But that’s okay – you just might see more of these five rising superstars at Rugby League World Cup 2017.

The daunting State of Origin stage can chew up and spit out even the most talented rugby league debutant. Not so for Jake Trbojevic, who proved a source of inspiration for New South Wales throughout another heartbreaking series loss.

The 23-year-old backrower/prop blitzed the Maroons in his debut Origin at a packed Suncorp Stadium, contributing rampaging runs with the ball and proving tireless in defence. Throw all the criticism you want at the Blues for their latest series failure, but none of it should be aimed Trbojevic’s way, who was arguably their most effective forward, even in their losses in games two and three. He kept trucking the ball up with enthusiasm and tackled with passion and commitment even when it became clear NSW’s campaign for its first series win since 2014 was over.

A former Australian Schoolboys rep who was named in the 2013 NYC Team of the Year, his arrival onto the NRL scene was expected long before his 2013 NRL debut. Since then though he’s clocked up a tick over 60 games for the Sea Eagles and has even worn the green and gold of his country in two hit-outs. Trbojevic’s reputation proceeded him before his NRL debut; his commitment and maturity since have well and truly satisfied all expectations placed upon him.

In the background of the cyclone of excitement and devastation surrounding New South Wales forward Andrew Fifita’s rampaging performance in Origin I this year was a Maroons pack apparently facing a decade of doom. Among those young men was Dylan Napa, the Roosters’ hardman on his road to redemption via an Origin debut which delayed a year because of a curfew breach in a Maroons development camp.

By the end of the 2017 Origin series however, all the excitement had switched from Blue to Maroon, with 24-year-old Napa and fellow young guns the like of Jarrod Wallace being heralded as the men to lead Queensland through a new era of dominance post the aging Matt Scott.

Arguably the hardest tackler in rugby league, Napa hid underneath all the talk and knuckled down for two superb performances in the Maroons’ engine room across games two and three.

Having re-signed with the Sydney Roosters pre-season until 2019, Napa certainly entered 2017 from a lot better place than the previous summer. If he does earn selection for Australia to top off a stellar calendar year, he’ll go into the tournament with World Cup experience already under his belt from three matches for the Cook Islands back in 2013.

As covered off in the intro to this article, not everything about the Origin/NRL mid-year relationship is negative. Take that Round 15 Melbourne Storm vs North Queensland Cowboys match-up for instance. With both teams missing a host of the best players to have ever laced on a boot, it was left to each squad’s young up and comers to carry the flame. In Melbourne’s case in particular, there was a four-point competition lead to protect.

In Brandon Smith, Storm coach Craig Bellamy ultimately made the right choice across Origin as far a fill-in for veteran Cameron Smith was concerned. The 21-year-old Kiwi had a superb night out for the Storm against the Cowboys. He scored a try and set another one up. Halfback Brodie Croft stole the show in extra time when he kicked the winning field goal, but the Storm’s victory came on the back of Brandon’s workrate and commitment to the cause throughout the match.

No, Brandon isn’t the next Cameron Smith; their approaches to the game are a world apart. Cameron’s roll as playmaker contrasts dramatically with Brandon’s nuggetty, driving running style. Brandon, in fact, is more in the tradition of Warriors hooker Issac Luke, which is fantastic news for the Kiwis’ depth, especially on the doorstep of international rugby league’s showcase tournament.

While superstar Dane Gagai was away on State of Origin duty earning plaudits for another outstanding showing for the Maroons, his Newcastle team-mates carried on in clubland doing what they do best: turning up and playing their hearts out the best they can with limited experience and resources.

Leading the way for the battling Knights on their sojourn to Belmore Sports Ground during the Origin period was their centre Peter Mata'utia, who was full of running all night. Rated among the most unfair losses of the season, the Knights’ heartbreaking defeat in extra-time to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs that night came after a brilliant all-round effort from the 26-year-old, which included two well-deserved tries for the former Dragon. One was a cheeky quick tap metres from the Bulldogs’ line in the shadows of the halftime break, while the other came via a superb chase of a Trent Hodkinson grubber into the Dogs’ in-goal.

Mata'utia’s international experience will prove crucial for Samoa at Rugby League World Cup 2017, with the older brother of fellow first-graders Chanel, Pat and Sione Mata'utia appearing on the world stage for his home country since 2009.

Having already tried her hand at union and Aussie rules, Jessica Sergis finally seems to have found her home in rugby league, judging by her debut performance for NSW in the 2017 Women’s Interstate Challenge at Wollongong.

With an athletic build, Sergis is an asset in both attack and defence for whatever squad she is part of. Her outright enthusiasm for competing is also there for all to see. In the Interstate Challenge, she not only passionately celebrated her own brace of tries, but those of her team-mates’ as NSW retained the Nellie Doherty Cup.

The high-flying Cronulla-Caringbah winger crossed for a hat-trick of tries in NSW’s 22-6 victory, a dream debut for a player appearing in just her sixth game of rugby league.

The 19-year-old opened the scoring for the Blues when she ran on beautifully to a cut-out pass by fullback Samantha Bremner. Five minutes later she was over again after catching a pin-point cross-field kick from halfback Maddie Studdon. Her third try later in the game sealed the win for the Blues, but her efforts in defence couldn’t be ignored either. In particular, a ball and all tackle Sergis executed across the sideline stopped centre Amelia Kuk from opening Queensland’s account in the opening half.

By James Smith | @JamesSmith1001
Contributer, RLWC2017