Man of Steel Awards
| File:Man of Steel Award logo.jpg | |
| Awarded for | Best player of the Super League season |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | Rugby Football League |
| History | |
| First award | 1977 |
| First winner | England David Ward |
| Most wins | England Ellery Hanley (3) File:Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors (11) |
| Most recent | England Jake Connor (Leeds Rhinos) (2025) |
The Steve Prescott Man of Steel Awards is an end-of-season awards dinner for the Super League rugby league competition. The event's name is taken from the main award presented, the Man of Steel award for the rugby league footballer of the year. In 2014, it was renamed after Steve Prescott.
Origins
[edit | edit source]The awards were started in 1977 when David Howes, the Rugby League's public relations officer, organised sponsorship worth £3,000 from Trumanns Steel Limited for awards in six different categories; Trumanns Man of Steel, Division One Player of the Year, Division Two Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Referee of the Year. The awards were voted on by the members of the rugby league press.[1] The first awards were made at the end of the 1976–77 season with the inaugural award winners being:[1]
- Trumanns Man of Steel - David Ward, Leeds
- Division One Player of the Year - Malcolm Reilly, Castleford
- Division Two Player of the Year - Ged Marsh, Blackpool Borough
- Young Player of the Year - David Ward, Leeds
- Coach of the Year - Eric Ashton, St Helens
- Referee of the Year - Billy Thompson
In 2008, the voting for the award was changed, with the winner being chosen by the players of the Super League instead.[2] In 2019, in response to criticism that some players were not taking the voting seriously,[3] a panel of former rugby league players was chosen to determine the winner of the award. The voting was changed to a system similar to the Australian Dally M Medal, with points being awarded to the best performing players after each game (three points for the man of the match, two points for the runner-up, and one point for the third best player).[4]
Name change
[edit | edit source]Former England player Steve Prescott died in 2013 aged just 39, clear of cancer after multi visceral transplant complications. He raised many thousands of pounds for charity,.[5] Following a short campaign, a petition with over 12,000 signatures was sent to the Rugby Football League, calling for the Man of Steel award to be renamed in Prescott's honour.[6] In March 2014, the RFL officially announced that the award would be called the "Steve Prescott Man of Steel" from the 2014 season onwards.[7]
Man of Steel
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Multiple winners
[edit | edit source]| Player | Wins | Winning years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England Ellery Hanley | 3 | 1985, 1987, 1989 |
| 2 | England Paul Sculthorpe | 2 | 2001, 2002 |
| 3 | England Andy Farrell | 2 | 1996, 2004 |
| 3 | England Sam Tomkins | 2 | 2012, 2021 |
Winners by club
[edit | edit source]Winners by country
[edit | edit source]Woman of Steel
[edit | edit source]In 2018 an additional category for the Woman of Steel from the Women's Super League was inaugurated.[9]
| Year | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | England Georgia Roche | File:Castleford colours.svg Castleford Tigers |
| 2019 | Australia Courtney Hill | File:Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds Rhinos |
| 2020 | No award | |
| 2021 | England Jodie Cunningham | File:Saintscolours.svg St. Helens |
| 2022 | England Tara-Jane Stanley | File:YorkRLFCcolours.png York Valkyrie |
| 2023 | England Sinead Peach | |
| 2024 | England Georgie Hetherington | |
| 2025 | England Eva Hunter | File:Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors |
Wheels of Steel
[edit | edit source]In 2023 a new category for Wheels of Steel from the RFL Wheelchair Super League was inaugurated.[10]
| Year | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | England Lewis King | London Roosters |
| 2024 | England Joshua Butler | Leeds Rhinos |
| 2025 | England Joe Coyd | London Roosters |
Other awards
[edit | edit source]Young Player of the Year
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Coach of the Year
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Women's Coach of the Year
[edit | edit source]| Year | Nat | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | File:Flag of England.svg England | Denis Betts | File:Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors |
Top Try Scorer
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Top Points Scorer
[edit | edit source]Top Metre Maker
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Hit Man
[edit | edit source]The player making most tackles in the regular season.
Club of the Year
[edit | edit source]- The Mike Gregory Spirit of Rugby League Award - Both players and non-players are eligible to receive the award, which will be judged by a panel from the governing body.
- Fairplay Index Award for Super League
- The Community Player of the year
Special awards
[edit | edit source]- The ‘200 Club’ - retiring players who have played in over 200 games.
See also
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References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ BBC Sport, "Rugby League star Steve Prescott dies of stomach cancer, aged 39", 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013
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