Two of Super League’s greatest ever wingers are currently serving up one of the biggest and best try-scoring battles the sport has ever seen.
Ryan Hall and Josh Charnley are currently numbers one and two on the all-time Super League try charts, and as it stands just two tries separate them.
Hall leads the way with 271, whilst Charnley is closely behind on 269 – in fact, it’s the closest the race has ever been. With both players already going over the whitewash a fair few times this season, the race for who finishes their career in top spot is set to be brilliant, entertaining and a true reflection of just how good both these players are, and have been for well over 15 years.
There may only be two in it now, but at times in their careers the gap was as big as 66!
Here, we go through the years to see how both players stack up when it comes to tries scored, and how we have ended up with such a close and enthralling battle between two of England’s greatest finishers.
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Ryan Hall v Josh Charnley: Super League’s long-serving try battle
Starting off in 2007, Hall had a three-year headstart on Charnley in Leeds’ three-peat seasons.
The Leeds winger, 38, had actually scored 58 tries before Charnley, 34, crossed for his first, highlighting just how much work Charnley has had to put in to even be in contention for top spot.
After select appearances and tries for Charnley in 2010, his breakthrough season came with Wigan in 2011, and that year he scored 23 tries to take his total to 29. At this point, Hall had made it to 95 after a 28-try campaign in Leeds’ Grand Final-winning season.
The 2012 season was the first of three consecutive campaigns that Charnley would outscore Hall, meaning that gap closed year-on-year. With an exceptional 87 tries from 2012-2014, compared to Hall’s 58, it meant that the then-Wigan winger would now be just 37 tries behind (153-116)
Leeds’ treble-winning campaign in 2015 saw Hall cross 20 times, compared to Charnley’s 10, but injury to Hall in 2016 allowed Charnley to make up further ground, and his 20 tries that year would take him to a total of 146.
The following year, 2017, would see the Wigan man leave Super League to join rugby union side Sale Sharks. He would only last one season in the 15-man code, and before long he was back in the top flight, only this time in the primrose and blue of Warrington Wolves. He scored 16 tries under Steve Price that season (2018), whilst Hall crossed for nine – in what would be his final season before he departed for the NRL.
With Hall playing for Sydney Roosters in 2019 and 2020, it gave Charnley a chance to catch up. At the start of 2019, he was 34 behind (196-162), and by the time Hall had returned to Super League with Hull KR, that gap had narrowed to just 13 (196-183).
With Charnley at Wire and Hall at Hull KR, 2021 and 2022 saw the Rhinos legend score more tries, and after 30 touchdowns across those two years, compared to Charnley’s 20, it meant that they headed into 2023 with a gap of 23 (226-203)
By this time, Charnley had moved to Adrian Lam’s Leigh, where he still is to this day. In his time at the Leopards, he has again shown that incredible try-scoring form, and 2023 saw him touch down 27 times in Super League compared to Hall’s 14.
Hall would notch up the same tally in 2024, whilst he would again be outscored with the Leigh man dotting down 18 times (254-248). The end of 2024 was the closest the race has been, until now, with just six tries separating both players.
Last season, 2025, saw Hall return to the Rhinos, and since going home to Headingley, he has crossed for 17 tries (*As of R12 2026). In that time, Charnley has crossed for 21 tries, meaning we are left with their current totals of 271 and 269.
