Man of Steel Awards

Steve Prescott Man Of Steel

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	Mikey Lewis (Hull KR) (2024)

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.

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

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

Former England player Steve Prescott died of cancer in 2013, aged 39. ^[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

Year	Nat	Winner	Club	Position
1977		David Ward	Leeds	Hooker
1978		George Nicholls	St. Helens	Prop
1979		Doug Laughton	Widnes	Loose forward
1980		George Fairbairn	Wigan	Fullback
1981		Ken Kelly	Warrington	Scrum-half
1982		Mick Morgan	Carlisle	Second-row
1983		Allan Agar	Featherstone Rovers	Coach
1984		Joe Lydon	Widnes	Wing , Fullback
1985		Ellery Hanley	Bradford Northern	Stand-off
1986		Gavin Miller	Hull Kingston Rovers	Loose forward
1987		Ellery Hanley	Wigan	Stand-off
1988		Martin Offiah	Widnes	Wing
1989		Ellery Hanley	Wigan	Loose forward
1990		Shaun Edwards	Wigan	Stand-off
1991		Garry Schofield	Leeds	Stand-off
1992		Dean Bell	Wigan	Centre
1993		Andy Platt	Wigan	Prop
1994		Jonathan Davies	Warrington	Centre
1995		Denis Betts	Wigan	Second-row
1996		Andy Farrell	Wigan	Loose forward
1997		James Lowes	Bradford	Hooker
1998		Iestyn Harris	Leeds	Fullback
1999		Adrian Vowles	Castleford	Loose forward
2000		Sean Long	St. Helens	Scrum-half
2001		Paul Sculthorpe	St. Helens	Stand-off
2002		Paul Sculthorpe	St. Helens	Loose forward
2003		Jamie Peacock	Bradford	Second-row
2004		Andy Farrell	Wigan	Prop , Second-row
2005		Jamie Lyon	St. Helens	Centre
2006		Paul Wellens	St. Helens	Fullback
2007		James Roby	St. Helens	Hooker
2008		James Graham	St. Helens	Prop
2009		Brett Hodgson [8]	Huddersfield	Fullback
2010		Pat Richards	Wigan	Wing
2011		Rangi Chase	Castleford	Stand-off
2012		Sam Tomkins	Wigan	Fullback
2013		Danny Brough	Huddersfield	Scrum-half
2014		Daryl Clark	Castleford	hooker
2015		Zak Hardaker	Leeds	Fullback
2016		Danny Houghton	Hull	Hooker
2017		Luke Gale	Castleford	Scrum-half
2018		Ben Barba	St. Helens	Fullback
2019		Jackson Hastings	Salford	scrum-half, stand-off
2020		Paul McShane	Castleford	scrum-half, hooker
2021		Sam Tomkins	Catalans	Fullback
2022		Brodie Croft	Salford	scrum-half
2023		Bevan French	Wigan	stand-off
2024		Mikey Lewis	Hull KR	scrum-half

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
3	Sam Tomkins	2	2012, 2021

Winners by club

	Club	Wins
1	Wigan Warriors	12
2	St. Helens	9
3	Castleford Tigers	5
4	Leeds Rhinos	4
5	Widnes Vikings	3
	Bradford Bulls
7	Warrington Wolves	2
	Huddersfield Giants
	Hull Kingston Rovers
	Salford Red Devils
9	Carlisle	1
	Catalans Dragons
	Featherstone Rovers
	Hull F.C.

Winners by country

	Nationality	Wins
1	England	33
2	Australia	9
3	Scotland	2
4	Wales	2
5	New Zealand	2

Woman of Steel

Main article: Woman of Steel

In 2018 an additional category for the Woman of Steel from the Women's Super League was inaugurated. ^[9]

Year	Winner	Club
2018	Georgia Roche	Castleford Tigers
2019	Courtney Hill	Leeds Rhinos
2020	No award
2021	Jodie Cunningham	St. Helens
2022	Tara-Jane Stanley	York City Knights
2023	Sinead Peach	York Valkyrie
2024	Georgie Hetherington	York Valkyrie

Wheels of Steel

In 2023 a new category for Wheels of Steel from the RFL Wheelchair Super League was inaugurated. ^[10]

Year	Winner	Club
2023	Lewis King	London Roosters
2024	Joshua Butler	Leeds Rhinos

Other awards

Young Player of the Year

Year	Winner	Club
1996	Keiron Cunningham	St. Helens
1997	Lee Briers	Warrington Wolves
1998	Lee Gilmour	Wigan Warriors
1999	Leon Pryce	Bradford Bulls
2000	Stuart Fielden	Bradford Bulls
2001	Rob Burrow	Leeds Rhinos
2002	Richard Horne	Hull F.C.
2003	Gareth Hock	Wigan Warriors
2004	Shaun Briscoe	Hull F.C.
2005	Richard Whiting	Hull F.C.
2006	James Graham	St. Helens
2007	Sam Burgess	Bradford Bulls
2008	Joe Westerman	Castleford Tigers
2009	Sam Tomkins	Wigan Warriors
2010	Sam Tomkins	Wigan Warriors
2011	Jonny Lomax	St. Helens
2012	Zak Hardaker	Leeds Rhinos
2013	Ben Crooks	Hull F.C.
2014	Daryl Clark	Castleford Tigers
2015	George Williams	Wigan Warriors
2016	Tom Johnstone	Wakefield Trinity
2017	Oliver Gildart	Wigan Warriors
2018	Jake Trueman	Castleford Tigers
2019	Matty Lees	St. Helens
2020	Harry Newman	Leeds Rhinos
2021	Jack Welsby	St. Helens
2022	Jack Welsby	St. Helens
2023	Josh Thewlis	Warrington Wolves
2024	/ Junior Nsemba	Wigan Warriors

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
2019	Australia	Justin Holbrook	St. Helens
2020	Papua New Guinea	Adrian Lam	Wigan Warriors
2021	England	Steve McNamara	Catalans Dragons
2022	England	Matt Peet	Wigan Warriors
2023	Papua New Guinea	Adrian Lam	Leigh Leopards
2024	Australia	Willie Peters	Hull KR

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 Sam Tomkins	Leeds Rhinos Wigan Warriors	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
2019	Tommy Makinson	St. Helens	23
2020	Ash Handley	Leeds Rhinos	14
2021	Ken Sio	Salford Red Devils	19
2022	Bevan French	Wigan Warriors	31
2023	Tom Johnstone Abbas Miski	Catalans Dragons Wigan Warriors	27
2024	Liam Marshall	Wigan Warriors	27

Top Points Scorer

Year	Winner	Club	Points
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	208
2014	Marc Sneyd	Castleford Tigers	224
2015	Luke Gale	Castleford Tigers	247
2016	Luke Gale	Castleford Tigers	262
2017	Luke Gale	Castleford Tigers	317
2018	Danny Richardson	St Helens	296
2019	Lachlan Coote	St Helens	259
2020	Lachlan Coote	St Helens	152
2021	James Maloney	Catalans Dragons	221
2022	Tommy Makinson & Mark Sneyd	St Helens / Salford	242
2023	Stefan Ratchford	Warrington Wolves	200
2024	Mikey Lewis	Hull KR	216

Top Metre Maker

Year	Winner	Club	Metres
2003	Craig Greenhill	Hull F.C.	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
2019	Tommy Makinson	St. Helens	3,803
2020	Ash Handley	Leeds Rhinos	2,541
2021	Tom Davies	Catalans Dragons	3,332
2022	Ash Handley	Leeds Rhinos	3,646
2023	Tom Amone	Leigh Leopards	3,467
2024	Matthew Dufty	Warrington Wolves	4,234

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
2019	Danny Houghton	Hull F.C.	1,259
2020	Michael Lawrence	Huddersfield Giants	749
2021	Joe Shorrocks	Wigan Warriors	833
2022	Danny Houghton	Hull F.C.	1,031
2023	Luke Yates	Huddersfield Giants	1,027
2024	Cameron Smith	Leeds Rhinos	992

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

• 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

• The ‘200 Club’ - retiring players who have played in over 200 games.

See also

• Sports portal

• Dally M Medal
• Lance Todd Trophy
• Harry Sunderland Trophy
• Albert Goldthorpe Medal
• Woman of Steel

References

1. "The birth of Rugby League's 'Man of Steel'". Rugby League Journal. No. 62. Spring 2018. p. 7.
2. Wilson, Andy (8 August 2008). "Players not necessarily best judge of Steel". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
3. "Some players mock of Man of Steel voting with bizarre votes". Total Rugby League. League Publications. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
4. "Man of Steel Panel Announced". Rugby Football League. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
5. BBC Sport, "Rugby League star Steve Prescott dies of stomach cancer, aged 39", 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013
6. 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. Archived from the original on 29 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
7. "Man of Steel award to be re-named in memory of the late Steve Prescott". Sky Sports. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
8. "Man of Steel on SLTV". Super League. 2009-10-06. Archived from the original on 2012-08-25. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
9. "Woman of Steel: Lois Forsell, Tara-Jane Stanley and Georgia Roche on shortlist". BBC Sport . 27 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
10. "Bevan French: Wigan Warriors stand-off wins 2023 Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel award". BBC Sport. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.

External links

• Man of Steel Award at rlhalloffame.org.uk
• Man of Steel Award at superleague.co.uk