Austin clear Man of Steel favourite

Super League sponsors Betfred make Warrington new boy Blake Austin their 6/1 favourite to win the end of season Steve Prescott Trophy (Man of Steel ) .

Austin , as low as 3/1 in places , is the highest profile winter signing from the NRL and looks a worthy favourite given his credentials . With Wire fancied to fill one of the top 2 spots in the competition the former Canberra Raider will get plenty of opportunities to stake his claim for our domestic leagues highest individual honour .

The award will be revamped this year with the top 3 players in each game awarded points  , similar to the NRL model ,and the player with the most at the end of the season crowned the winner  . I expect Austin to shine in most games for the Wolves and he has to be hard to oppose .

The market is wide open after Austin , with Daryl Clark and James Roby both 16/1 . I’d prefer Roby here as he shines for Saints most weeks , but the Red V do have plenty of match winners who could pick up points .

My 2nd pick , after Austin , would have to be Paul McShane . Mr Consistency for Castleford and with this new  system is likely to pick up plenty of points . McShane is available at 20/1 with Betfred , but 25/1 is available . Same odds for Zak Hardaker , who is definitely the dark horse . Just back from a long ban but likely to be very influential for Wigan and could get plenty of top 3 ratings in games .

The top players in the betting are listed below

Blake Austin                   7/1
James Roby                    16/1
Daryl Clark                      16/1
Zak Hardaker                  20/1
Paul McShane                  20/1
Jake Trueman                  25/1
Jake Connor                     25/1
Danny Richardson          25/1
Alex Walmsley                 25/1
Trent Merrin                     25/1
Tui Lolohea                       25/1
Stefan Ratchford               25/1
Sam Tomkins                    25/1
George Williams               33/1
Thomas Leuluai                 33/1
Albert Kelly                         33/1
Luke Thompson                 33/1
Lachlan Coote                     33/1
Jonny Lomax                       33/1
Jason Clark                          40/1
Matt Frawley                        40/1
Ben Curri                              40/1
Chris Hill                             40/1
Danny Houghton               40/1
Jackson Hastings               40/1
Kallum Watkins                   40/1
Marc Sneyd                           40/1
Peter Matautia                      40/1
Konrad Hurrell                     40/1
Josh Drinkwater                    50/1
Theo Fages                             50/1
Stevie Ward                            50/1
Sean O’Loughlin                    50/1
Richie Myler                            50/1
Oliver Gildart                           50/1
Morgan Escare                         50/1
Michael McIlorum                   50/1
Mark Percival                            50/1
Kevin Naiqama                         50/1
Josh Charnley                           50/1
Joe Burgess                                50/1
Jack Walker                               50/1

Lots of players available on request , click here to go to Betfreds Super League odds . One interesting outsider has to be new Wakefield signing Danny Brough at 66/1 . Likely to be the main man at Trinity , should accrue plenty of points . He is a 3 time winner of the Albert Goldthorpe medal which has a similar system to this . Stefan Ratchford is the current holder .

As always please gamble responsibly .