Seven interesting Lance Todd trophy statistics

Alongside the Harry Sunderland Award and the Man of Steel, the Lance Todd trophy is one of the biggest honours a single player can be awarded and has been since it was first handed out in 1946.

Named in memory of Lance Todd, A New Zealand born star who played for both Wigan and Dewsbury who sadly died at the age of 59 in 1942, it is a great award which remembers a great player.

A new winner will pick up the award today, but what about its legacy? That’s what we’re looking at with seven interesting statistics about the Lance Todd trophy.

Winners on the losing side: 11
Eleven players have sadly picked up the Lance Todd trophy whilst suffering defeat on the biggest stage. The first was Frank Whitcombe of Bradford in 1948. The most recent was of course Niall Evalds last season as he shone for Castleford in defeat against St Helens. He’s one of four Super League players to deal with this tragedy along with Leeds duo Kevin Sinfield and Gary Connolly as well as Robbie Paul of Bradford in 1996.

The team with the most winners: Wigan
A Wigan player has picked up the Lance Todd trophy on 17 different occasions. Intriguingly, no Wigan player has picked up the award since 2013 when Matty Smith won it in a 16-0 win over Hull FC. The next most successful side in the award’s history is St Helens who have won the award on 12 occasions but their most recent winner was in 2008 in the shape of Paul Wellens. Leeds are the next side with the most winners with 8. Their last winner was Richie Myler in 2020.

How many clubs have won the award: 18
18 different teams can claim to have players who have picked up the award including the likes of Barrow, Featherstone and Workington who have never played in Super League.

How many different players have won the award: 71
71 players have won the award meaning that the star man in today’s final will be the 72^nd winner as no one in the two squads has ever won the award before.

Most wins by a single player: 3
Sean Long made history in 2006 when he became the first player to win the award three times. His first came in 2001 and his second came in 2004. Never was he on the losing side when picking up the Man of the Match.

Youngest winner: Peter Ramsden
Peter Ramsden won the award on his 19^th birthday in 1953 as Huddersfield defeated St Helens. One of the Huddersfield Giants stars today will be hoping to follow in his footsteps as he was remarkably the last player from Fartown to win the honour.

Most wins by a single position: Scrum-half (15)
More often than not the Lance Todd is given to someone in the halves. On 15 occasions a scum-half has won the honour whilst on a further 12 a stand-off has been given the award. Fullback is also a prominent position for winners with 14 winners in the history of the award. Wingers have won it 7 times, centres 5, props 8, second-rowers 6 and loose-forwards 6 times. Interestingly, hookers have only won the award on three occasions.