Man of Steel odds revealed with Leeds Rhinos star at the top of the betting

The Steve Prescott Man of Steel award is the most prestigious individual award in British rugby league with the trophy being given at the end of the season since 1977 and the favourites for the 2023 award have been revealed.

Across it’s illustrious history only four men have won it on multiple occasions with the great Ellery Hanley being the only man to win it a third time.

Only one man could win it a third time in 2023 and that’s England captain Sam Tomkins who has just been announced as having had knee surgery, which could cause him to miss gametime, making him a less likely candidate to add his third reflected in his 33/1 price.

Brodie Croft is the current holder but the Salford star will have history to go against if he’s to win it again as only one man has ever defended their trophy, that being Paul Sculthorpe in 2001 and 2002 however the St Helens legend has given away one of those awards, as reported here.

The betting for the award is incredibly tight with an eight way tie for favouritism that features players from six clubs all priced at 16/1.

Those eight players are: Aidan Sezer, Bevan French, Edwin Ipape, George Williams, Jack Welsby, Jai Field, Jonny Lomax and Jordan Abdull before a group of six players feature at 20/1 including holder Croft and representatives of a further three clubs.

All that adds up to an incredible 10 sides having a player that is 20/1 or shorter to win the award with Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity being the only sides not represented, instead their most fancied players are Gareth Widdop or Paul McShane at 25/1 and Lee Gaskell at 40/1.

In the betting as well as Tomkins there are some former winners, McShane being one of those, but the likes of 2007 winner James Roby (25/1), 2014s Daryl Clark (66/1), 2015s Zak Hardaker (40/1) and 2016s Danny Houghton (66/1) all make an appearance in the betting, albeit at larger odds.

Below is a list of selected names and their prices, according to Sky Bet with prices taken on the 5th January.

Aidan Sezer – 16/1
Bevan French – 16/1
Edwin Ipape – 16/1
George Williams – 16/1
Jack Welsby – 16/1
Jai Field – 16/1
Jonny Lomax – 16/1
Jordan Abdull – 16/1
Brodie Croft – 20/1
Jake Clifford – 20/1
Jake Connor – 20/1
Mitchell Pearce – 20/1
Alex Walmsley – 25/1
Arthur Mourgue – 25/1
Blake Austin – 25/1
James Roby – 25/1
Kruise Leeming – 25/1
Paul McShane – 25/1
Jacob Miller – 33/1
Lachlan Coote – 33/1
Lewis Dodd – 33/1
Sam Tomkins – 33/1
Tommy Makinson – 33/1
Richie Myler – 40/1
Marc Sneyd – 50/1
Will Pryce – 50/1
Morgan Smith – 66/1
Liam Farrell – 80/1
Theo Fages – 80/1
Ricky Leutele – 100/1
James Bentley – 125/1
Kai Pearce-Paul – 125/1
Jermain McGilvary – 150/1
Kenny Edwards – 150/1
Josh Charnley – 200/1
Ken Sio – 200/1