On Tuesday night Wigan Warriors, Leeds Rhinos, Warrington Wolves, Salford Red Devils and Leigh Leopards representatives featured at the awards night as the 2023 Man of Steel was named among other awards.
One aspect of the night is a tribute to retiring stars and the likes of Jamie Shaul and Scott Taylor were among the tributes.
But the likes of Lachlan Coote, Chris McQueen and David Fifita were left out.
Fans were not happy with one saying: “Lachlan Coote must have played tennis or something.”
This was disappointing for some fans on a great night.
Bevan French, Sinead Peach and Lewis King were the headline winners as Rugby League staged its biggest and most inclusive Awards Night at Emirates Old Trafford.
French, the brilliant Australian whose successful switch to stand-off has been pivotal in Wigan Warriors’ drive to Saturday’s Betfred Super League Grand Final against Catalans Dragons, was named the 2023 Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel as the competition’s outstanding player – the first Wigan player to win the award since Sam Tomkins in 2012.
Peach, the tough and skilful hooker who lifted the Betfred Women’s Super League trophy for York Valkyrie after Sunday’s Grand Final victory, was named the 2023 Woman of Steel.
And King, a 38-year-old from Dartford in Kent who has excelled for London Roosters this season after playing a key part in England’s World Cup win last autumn, was the inaugural winner of the new Wheels of Steel as the outstanding performer in the Betfred Wheelchair Super League.
In an undoubted first for Rugby League, King was one of three Kent-born winners on a special night for both the Roosters and the London Broncos, whose surge to this Sunday’s Betfred Championship Grand Final received treble recognition.
Tom Coyd MBE, King’s coach for both London Roosters and England who is from Gillingham, was named the Wheelchair Coach of the Year.
Bill Leyland, the 20-year-old Broncos hooker from Maidstone, was the third Kent winner as the Betfred Championship Young Player of the Year – 12 months after his elder brother Oli was a runner-up in the category.
Mike Eccles was a popular winner as Betfred Championship Coach of the Year having plotted the Broncos stunning late-season run of form which leaves them 80 minutes away from a return to the Super League.
And Dean Parata, an Australia-born Italy international who joined the Broncos from Featherstone last year, was a joint winner of the Betfred Championship Player of the Year award with Lachlan Walmsley, the prolific Halifax Panthers wing who represented his Scottish heritage in last year’s World Cup.
Adrian Lam of Leigh Leopards was voted the Betfred Super League Coach of the Year by his peers, after a hugely successful return to the elite for the Leopards in which they secured a first Play-Off position and won the Betfred Challenge Cup at Wembley.
Lindsay Anfield of York Valkyrie won the equivalent award for the Betfred Women’s Super League, and Liam Finn was the League One Coach of the Year after steering Dewsbury Rams to automatic promotion.
Reiss Butterworth, who was a model of consistency at hooker for the Rams, was named Betfred League One Player of the Year.
The Warrington Wolves wing Josh Thewlis was the Betfred Super League Young Player of the Year, with Leeds Rhinos claiming a double success in the Women’s and Wheelchair competitions, with awards for Caitlin Casey and Josh Butler.
Workington Town half-back Ciaran Walker was voted Betfred League One Young Player of the Year, and there another success for Cumbria as Barrow Raiders won the Foundation of the Year award, scoring highly across 11 categories which included promotion to the BWSL for their women’s team, and an award-winning year for their Learning Disability and Able Raiders programmes.
As announced before the ceremony, the Glen’s Spirit of Super League Award was presented to the family of Rob Burrow MBE, for their inspirational support of the former Leeds Rhinos and England half-back since his diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease four years ago.
