‘Most exciting player in years’ – Pundits agree on Super League Man of Steel

Mikey Lewis has been labelled as ‘one of the most exciting players to watch since a young Sam Tomkins’ with Tomkins himself declaring that Lewis is worthy of being crowned as the Super League Man of Steel.

Those comments came from Jon Wilkin as he and Tomkins waxed lyrical about the impact of Hull KR’s number seven in Super League this season. Lewis was on hand with two try assists last night as the Robins tied up a second-place finish, their highest-ever in the Super League era.

Lewis has registered a whopping 19 tries and 24 assists which rank third and joint-first in Super League with the KR man the only man to have 40 or more try contributions.

Assessing his performance from last night and across the season, former St Helens skipper Jon Wilkin made the comparison to a ‘young Sam Tomkins’.

Wilkin argued: “He’s been, I think, one of the most exciting players to watch in a number of years, maybe since a young Sam Tomkins, where he lights up games, he changes games, he shrugs off defenders and scores points, just when there’s nothing happening.”

Who should be crowned as Super League Man of Steel?

Those comments came as part of Sky Sports‘ coverage of Leigh Leopards vs St Helens and Wilkin noted that Lewis was exactly the sort of character that the Saints were missing.

“Just to have somebody like that on your team, we watched St Helens tonight and I just thought they were devoid of somebody who could do that,” the Hull-born pundit explained.

“When you’ve got somebody on your team who can create from nothing, it’s such a difference.”

For Sam Tomkins, there’s no denying that Lewis is among the very elite in Super League with the KR playmaker compared to reigning Man of Steel Bevan French.

The Catalans full-back explained: “That’s the reason we talk about Bevan French and Jai Field, those players that don’t need anything created around them, that can go and produce something.

“I think Mikey Lewis has been the best individual player this year. He’s Man of Steel for me this year. I think he’s been vital in the success that Hull KR have had to this point.”

When the Super League Man of Steel leaderboard went dark, Lewis was among the main contenders with the likes of Marc Sneyd and Matt Dufty. He would be the first Hull KR player to win the accolade since Gavin Miller in 1986 if he gets the nod at the end-of-season awards.