Has Hughes eclipsed Cleary as the best halfback in the NRL?

Melbourne Storm star Jahrome Hughes is in the midst of arguably his best season as an NRL player, as he leads his side without two of its biggest stars.

Currently sitting in top spot on the NRL ladder without Ryan Papenhuyzen and Cameron Munster, the Storm haven’t missed a step in attack and continue to mount a compelling case to be the premiership favourites, all on the back of Hughes’ season.

In just 12 appearances this year, Hughes has scored five tries and assisted 15 for an attack that ranks second in the league.

Hughes’ stellar form prompted SEN’s Jimmy Smith to ask the question if his performance this year has put him as the league’s best halfback, ahead of Penrith Panthers star Nathan Cleary.

“The point of it is this, winning comps is a team thing, especially in a game like rugby league, it’s not basketball, where you can maybe win a comp with one great player, you can’t do that in rugby league,” Smith said on SEN 1170 Afternoons.

“Did Nathan Cleary have an incredible 2023 Grand Final, the last 23 minutes, absolutely he did, have a look at the first 57 minutes, he didn’t play well.

“Did he win the Grand Final for Penrith, of course he did.

“I’m not saying he’s a bad player, it’s more of a reflection of Jahrome Hughes has been superb, everything that the Melbourne Storm did well against the Canberra Raiders, Jahrome Hughes was at the heart of it.

“This was after us talking for a couple of months about how good Jahrome Hughes is.

“That’s my way of covering it across.”

Hughes has been named to start at halfback as the Storm head to Leichhardt to face the Wests Tigers on Saturday afternoon.