Ian Watson questions Man of Steel system as he names four players more deserving than Brodie Croft in 2022

Last year Huddersfield Giants enjoyed a fantastic season.

They finished third and played in the Challenge Cup Final against Wigan Warriors and had many outstanding performers week in week out.

There best was perhaps fullback Tui Lolohea who made the second most assists in Super League with a huge 29 and was key to the Giants finishing in the top three.

He was not alone with plenty of standout performers but only one Giants player, Chris McQueen, was named in the Dream Team whilst none were nominated for the Man of Steel or Young Player of the Year.

Speaking to Serious About Rugby League, Watson questioned the system behind the Man of Steel award and claimed that Lolohea was his Man of Steel.

“Tui was phenomenal, for me he was Man of Steel. I’m probably going against the grain here because Brodie obviously won it but Jai Field for me and Tui,” Watson said.

“They were the best two all throughout the season, you can even put Bevan French in that, Jonny Lomax up there. You’re talking about a player like Jai Field who finished second in the league, Tui Lolohea who finished third and then Brodie wins it from six.”

“It’s the level of consistency of what they played for, I thought Tui’s consistency last year was phenomenal. Same with Jai Field, if Wigan won a game and it was a tight game he came up with the winning play so he deserved that recognition.

“Tui I thought was consistent all the time, it didn’t matter what game it was. He played well every week last year. I think probably there was only one game where you’d say he had an off day. Ideally we get that off him this year and he can win Man of Steel this year.”