Man of Steel Awards
 | |
| Awarded for | Best player of the Super League season |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | Rugby Football League |
| History | |
| First award | 1977 |
| First winner |  David Ward |
| Most wins | Ellery Hanley (3)  Wigan Warriors (11) |
| Most recent |  Ben Barba |
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 football player of the year. In 2014, it was renamed after Steve Prescott.
The Steve Prescott Man of Steel award
Origins
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
The awards have often bypassed the top try scorer, winning captain or great International player. The award is club and country blind - the success of the player's club is irrelevant and winners include Australians and a New Zealander.
From 2008 onwards the awards have been voted on by Super league players.
Name change
Former England player Steve Prescott died of cancer in 2013, aged 39.[2] 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.[3] In March 2014, the RFL officially announced that the award would be called the "Steve Prescott Man of Steel" from the 2014 season onwards.[4]
Men of Steel
Multiple winners
| Player | Wins | Winning Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellery Hanley |
3 | 1985, 1987, 1989 |
| 2 | Paul Sculthorpe |
2 | 2001, 2002 |
| 3 | Andy Farrell |
2 | 1996, 2004 |
Winners by club
| Club | Wins | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wigan Warriors |
11 |
| 2 |  St. Helens |
9 |
| 3 |  Leeds Rhinos |
4 |
 Castleford Tigers
| ||
| 5 |  Widnes Vikings |
3 |
 Bradford Bulls
| ||
| 7 |  Warrington Wolves |
2 |
 Huddersfield Giants
| ||
| 9 | Carlisle | 1 |
 Featherstone Rovers
| ||
 Hull F.C.
| ||
 Hull Kingston Rovers
|
Winners by country
| Nationality | Wins | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | England |
29 |
| 2 | Australia |
5 |
| 3 |  Scotland |
2 |
| 4 |  Wales |
2 |
| 5 |  New Zealand |
2 |
| 6 |  Ireland |
1 |
Woman of Steel
In 2018 an additional category for the Woman of Steel from the Women's Super League was inaugurated.[6]
| Year | Nat | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | England
|
Georgia Roche | Castleford Tigers
|
Super League Young Player of the Year
| Year | Nat | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | England
|
Keiron Cunningham | St. Helens
|
| 1997 | Wales
|
Lee Briers | Warrington Wolves
|
| 1998 | England
|
Lee Gilmour | Wigan Warriors
|
| 1999 | England
|
Leon Pryce | Bradford Bulls
|
| 2000 | England
|
Stuart Fielden | Bradford Bulls
|
| 2001 | England
|
Rob Burrow | Leeds Rhinos
|
| 2002 | England
|
Richard Horne | Hull F.C.
|
| 2003 | England
|
Gareth Hock | Wigan Warriors
|
| 2004 | England
|
Shaun Briscoe | Hull F.C.
|
| 2005 | England
|
Richard Whiting | Hull F.C.
|
| 2006 | England
|
James Graham | St. Helens
|
| 2007 | England
|
Sam Burgess | Bradford Bulls
|
| 2008 | England
|
Joe Westerman | Castleford Tigers
|
| 2009 | England
|
Sam Tomkins | Wigan Warriors
|
| 2010 | England
|
Sam Tomkins | Wigan Warriors
|
| 2011 | England
|
Jonny Lomax | St. Helens
|
| 2012 | England
|
Zak Hardaker | Leeds Rhinos
|
| 2013 | England
|
Ben Crooks | Hull F.C.
|
| 2014 | England
|
Daryl Clark | Castleford Tigers
|
| 2015 | England
|
George Williams | Wigan Warriors
|
| 2016 | England
|
Tom Johnstone |  Wakefield Trinity
|
| 2017 | England
|
Oliver Gildart | Wigan Warriors
|
| 2018 | England
|
Jake Trueman | Castleford Tigers
|
Super League Coach of the Year
| Year | Nat | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Australia
|
Nathan Brown | Huddersfield Giants
|
| 2010 | Australia
|
Michael Maguire | Wigan Warriors
|
| 2011 | Australia
|
Trent Robinson |  Catalans Dragons
|
| 2012 | Australia
|
Mick Potter | Bradford Bulls
|
| 2013 | England
|
Paul Anderson | Huddersfield Giants
|
| 2014 | England
|
Daryl Powell | Castleford Tigers
|
| 2015 | England
|
Brian McDermott | Leeds Rhinos
|
| 2016 | England
|
Lee Radford | Hull F.C.
|
| 2017 | England
|
Daryl Powell | Castleford Tigers
|
| 2018 | England
|
Shaun Wane | Wigan Warriors
|
Super League Top Try Scorer
| Year | Winner | Club | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Paul Newlove
|
St. Helens
|
28 |
| 1997 | Nigel Vagana
|
Warrington Wolves
|
17 |
| 1998 | Anthony Sullivan
|
St. Helens
|
20 |
| 1999 |  Toa Kohe-Love
|
Warrington Wolves
|
25 |
| 2000 | Sean Long Tommy Martyn
|
St. Helens
|
22 |
| 2001 | Kris Radlinski
|
Wigan Warriors
|
27 |
| 2002 | Dennis Moran
|
 London Broncos
|
22 |
| 2003 | Dennis Moran
|
London Broncos
|
24 |
| 2004 | Lesley Vainikolo
|
Bradford Bulls
|
36 |
| 2005 | Mark Calderwood
|
Leeds Rhinos
|
27 |
| 2006 | Justin Murphy
|
Catalans Dragons
|
25 |
| 2007 |  Henry Fa'afili
|
Warrington Wolves
|
21 |
| 2008 | Ade Gardner
|
St. Helens
|
26 |
| 2009 | Ryan Hall
|
Leeds Rhinos
|
29 |
| 2010 | Pat Richards
|
Wigan Warriors
|
29 |
| 2011 | Ryan Hall
|
Leeds Rhinos
|
28 |
| 2012 | Josh Charnley
|
Wigan Warriors
|
31 |
| 2013 | Josh Charnley
|
Wigan Warriors
|
33 |
| 2014 | Joel Monaghan
|
Warrington Wolves
|
28 |
| 2015 | Jermaine McGillvary
|
Huddersfield Giants
|
27 |
| 2016 | Denny Solomona
|
Castleford Tigers
|
40 |
| 2017 | Greg Eden
|
Castleford Tigers
|
38 |
| 2018 | Ben Barba
|
St Helens
|
28 |
Top Points Scorer / Top Gun
| Year | Winner | Club | Points / Conversion Rate% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Bobbie Goulding
|
St. Helens
|
257 |
| 1997 | Andrew Farrell
|
Wigan Warriors
|
243 |
| 1998 | Iestyn Harris
|
Leeds Rhinos
|
255 |
| 1999 | Iestyn Harris
|
Leeds Rhinos
|
325 |
| 2000 | Sean Long
|
St. Helens
|
390 |
| 2001 | Andrew Farrell
|
Wigan Warriors
|
388 |
| 2002 | Paul Deacon
|
Bradford Bulls
|
301 |
| 2003 | Paul Deacon
|
Bradford Bulls
|
286 |
| 2004 | Kevin Sinfield
|
Leeds Rhinos
|
277 |
| 2005 | Paul Deacon
|
Bradford Bulls
|
322 |
| 2006 | Jamie Lyon
|
St. Helens
|
316 |
| 2007 | Pat Richards
|
Wigan Warriors
|
248 |
| 2008 | Pat Richards
|
Wigan Warriors
|
269 |
| 2009 | Pat Richards
|
Wigan Warriors
|
252 |
| 2010 | Pat Richards
|
Wigan Warriors
|
288 |
| 2011 | Jamie Foster
|
St. Helens
|
330 |
| 2012 | Scott Dureau
|
Catalans Dragons
|
281 |
| 2013 | Danny Brough
|
Huddersfield Giants
|
281 |
| 2014 | Marc Sneyd
|
Castleford Tigers
|
224 |
| 2015 |  Josh Mantellato
|
Hull Kingston Rovers
|
196 |
| 2016 | Marc Sneyd
|
Hull F.C.
|
110 @ 83% |
| 2017 | Marc Sneyd
|
Hull F.C.
|
103 @ 89% |
| 2018 | Luke Gale
|
Castleford Tigers
|
104 @ 87% |
Top Metre maker
| Year | Winner | Club | Metres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Craig Greenhill
|
Hull FC
|
3,594 |
| 2004 |  Michael Korkidas
|
Wakefield Trinity
|
4,084 |
| 2005 | Terry O'Connor
|
Widnes Vikings
|
4,104 |
| 2006 | Danny Nutley
|
Castleford Tigers
|
3,372 |
| 2007 | James Roby
|
St. Helens
|
3,303 |
| 2008 | James Graham
|
St. Helens
|
3,774 |
| 2009 | James Graham
|
St. Helens
|
4,752 |
| 2010 | James Graham
|
St. Helens
|
4,036 |
| 2011 | James Roby
|
St. Helens
|
5,000 |
| 2012 | James Roby
|
St. Helens
|
3,971 |
| 2013 | Jamie Peacock
|
Leeds Rhinos
|
4,040 |
| 2014 | Matty Russell
|
Warrington Wolves
|
3,546 |
| 2015 | Alex Walmsley
|
St. Helens
|
4,092 |
| 2016 | Chris Hill
|
Warrington Wolves
|
3,983 |
| 2017 | Alex Walmsley
|
St. Helens
|
4,256 |
| 2018 | Bill Tupou
|
Wakefield Trinity
|
4,114 |
Super League Hit Man
The player making most tackles in the regular season.
| Year | Winner | Club | Tackles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Malcolm Alker
|
 Salford Red Devils
|
981 |
| 2010 | Dallas Johnson
|
Catalans Dragons
|
1,106 |
| 2011 | Danny Houghton
|
Hull F.C.
|
1,060 |
| 2012 | Danny Washbrook
|
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
|
991 |
| 2013 | Danny Houghton
|
Hull F.C.
|
1,179 |
| 2015 | James Roby
|
St. Helens
|
1,054 |
| 2016 | Danny Houghton
|
Hull F.C.
|
1,359 |
| 2017 | Danny Houghton
|
Hull F.C.
|
1,123 |
| 2018 | Paul McShane
|
Castleford Tigers
|
1,160 |
- 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
Super League Club of the Year
| Year | Club |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Huddersfield Giants
|
| 2010 | Wigan Warriors
|
| 2011 | Huddersfield Giants
|
| 2012 | Wigan Warriors
|
| 2013 | St. Helens
|
| 2014 | Widnes Vikings
|
| 2015 | Leeds Rhinos
|
| 2016 | Hull F.C.
|
| 2017 | Castleford Tigers
|
| 2018 | Warrington Wolves
|
Special awards
- The ‘200 Club’ - retiring players who have played in over 200 games.
See also
References
- ^ a b "The birth of Rugby League's 'Man of Steel'". Rugby League Journal. No. 62. Spring 2018. p. 7.
- ^ BBC Sport, "Rugby League star Steve Prescott dies of stomach cancer, aged 39", 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013
- ^ Campbell, James (19 February 2014). "'Man of Steel Steve Prescott Award' petition handed into Rugby League HQ in honour of Hull FC legend". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
- ^ "Man of Steel award to be re-named in memory of the late Steve Prescott". Sky Sports. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
- ^ "Man of Steel on SLTV". Super League. 2009-10-06. Archived from the original on 2012-08-25. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Woman of Steel: Lois Forsell, Tara-Jane Stanley and Georgia Roche on shortlist". BBC Sport. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.