Super League XXII is all done and dusted; Leeds Rhinos emerged as the Grand Final winners, Castleford Tigers were in rampant form to win the League Leaders' Shield for the first time in their history and Hull FC once more scooped up the Challenge Cup. After 23 rounds in the normal season and then seven in the "Super 8s Qualifiers", there was enough time for players signed ahead of the 2017 season to impress their new clubs. Some players find it hard to settle in their first year, whilst others take their new club like a duck to water. Here are five that did the latter.

Greg Eden

Greg was initially signed to be the Tigers' full-back replacement for the outgoing Luke Dorn. However, Zak Hardaker's arrival on a season-long loan from Leeds Rhinos edged Greg out to the wing; and he never looked back. A truly astonishing 37 tries in 24 appearances was not just down to the service inside him. With remarkable pace and an eye for a classy finish, Eden established himself as one of the game's best wingers.

Denny Solomona's record of 40 league tries and 42 season tries in 2016 looked certain to be broken until Greg suffered a shoulder injury in Castleford's thrashing of Salford in the penultimate league game before the Super 8s split. What was initially feared to be a season-ending injury miraculously sidelined Greg for only a month and he was back just four games later to register his 38th of the season (league and cup) in the historic victory over Wakefield Trinity which saw the Tigers lift the League Leaders' Shield.

Unfortunately, Greg failed to break the record of Solomona's and ended the 2017 season with 38 league tries and 41 season tries, but still, this was an outstanding achievement in his first year at the club.

Greg's season did not go unnoticed as he earned a place in the Super League Dream Team as well as a call-up to the England Elite Performance training squad, but, was surprisingly omitted from Wayne Bennett's 24-man squad for the World Cup.

If Greg takes his 2017 form into 2018, that elusive England call-up is surely just around the corner.

Jesse Sene-Lefao

Another Castleford player whom just has to be included in this list is Samoan Jesse Sene-Lefao.

From the moment Castleford fans caught a glimpse of Jesse in the Boxing Day victory over Hull FC they were besotted - he is one of the most vibrant and passionate players to ever grace the Jungle turf and boasts a smile that lights up the field. 2017 was not just a fantastic year for the Tigers, it was for Jesse too. After being only a bit-part squad member for his two previous Australian clubs - Cronulla Sharks and Manly Sea Eagles - Jesse was key in the Tigers' historic season, playing in every game of the season whether at prop or second row.

His barnstorming running style and wicked offload caused a problem for the Tigers' opponents whilst his ability to hit hard in defence and fearlessly tackle whoever charged at him endeared the Samoan to the Castleford fans and most pundits.

After settling seamlessly into the team and town of Castleford in 2017, 2018 promises to be even better for Jesse.

Matt Parcell

Parcell debuted in the NRL with Brisbane Broncos midway through the 2015 season, aged 23. After making only six appearances for the Broncos in 2015 and then 15 with Manly in 2016, Parcell made his move to England ahead of the 2017 season. With Leeds Rhinos rebuilding from their dismal 2016 season where they ended up in the Middle 8s Qualifiers, Parcell became a key figure in propelling the West Yorkshire club back up to second in the Super League table.

His dynamic running game and his quick and efficient service from dummy half played a crucial role in Leeds's successful qualification for the end-of-season play-offs and in securing that all-important Grand Final victory - the Rhinos' eighth in Super League.

Parcell's performances did not go unnoticed and he too, like Eden, earned a place in the Super League Dream Team. After linking up well with the Hull KR-bound Danny McGuire, it remains to be seen whether his relationship with incoming half-back Richie Myler will be just as positive for the Rhinos in 2018.

Jake Mamo

Mamo began his career at the Newcastle Knights, where he spent three seasons with the club between 2014 and 2016; however, he played most of his Rugby League in the Auckland Nines' competition rather than the NRL. Throughout his three years Down Under, Mamo played 29 times for the Knights across both the NRL and Auckland Nines' tournament, scoring 15 tries in the process.

Despite being only 22 years old and in the process of recovering from a broken ankle after being hit by a motorcycle whilst on holiday in Bali, Mamo signed for Huddersfield Giants in December 2016.

Knowing the Giants' head coach, Rick Stone, from his time at Newcastle, Mamo quickly settled in and when he finally made his debut in April 2017, showed why the wait to see him play was worth it. With Huddersfield in a perilous position near the bottom of the Super League table, Mamo breathed new life into the Giants' 2017 season, being heavily responsible for the Giants' mid-season revival and for catapulting the club into the top eight - a position which they would not relinquish.

As both an athletic and safe presence at the back as well as a potent attacker with undoubted flair, he burst onto the Super League scene with a remarkable 12 tries in just eight games.

In a cruel twist of fate, however, Mamo once more succumbed to injury and was sidelined for the rest of the season after damaging ligaments in his foot in late June. With his injury problems hopefully behind him once the new season begins and after being given the No.1 shirt by Stone, Mamo could well make 2018 a year to remember.

Jake Connor

After making his debut for Huddersfield Giants in September 2013, Connor went on to appear 44 times in a Giants' shirt, scoring 20 tries. Midway through the 2016 season, Hull FC announced the signature of Connor for the 2017 season. Connor is the perfect example of the well-used phrase "utility back", a fact which he demonstrated so clearly in 2017.

With an ability to play full-back, centre and even half-back, Jake was used here, there and everywhere by the Airlie Birds, making 32 appearances - six off the substitutes' bench - and scoring 11 tries and kicking 33 goals.

He became a standout for Hull FC in yet another Challenge Cup-winning year and rightly earned himself a new two-year deal with the Black-and-Whites to take his contract to the club up to 2020. Although Jake has only been given the No.14 shirt for 2018, there is no reason why, after such a good 2017, he cannot cement a place in the team at his preferred position of centre.

Despite the five mentioned above, there is no doubt that Castleford Tigers' Zak Hardaker would have been mentioned on this list if he had not been found guilty of taking a banned substance - believed to be cocaine - after the Super 8s clash with Leeds Rhinos in early September.

Zak slotted straight into the full-back gap left by Luke Dorn, forming a pivotal relationship with England half-back Luke Gale, Michael Shenton and Greg Eden down the Tigers' left-side attack. Unfortunately, his off-the-field misdemeanours have always soured his playing career and 2017 proved to be no different despite him reuniting with the now Castleford boss Daryl Powell, who nurtured Zak as a teenager whilst both were at Featherstone Rovers. No news has filtered out yet about the possible length of the ban that Zak will receive, but, from previous examples and with the ban issued to Rangi Chase recently, it will likely be a two-year suspension.
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