The five-man shortlist for the early-season Super League Man of Steel frontrunners has been revealed with some huge players missing out.
A panel of five former Man of Steel winners have met to put forward the five players they believe have impressed the most through the first nine rounds of Super League, something they will do again after rounds 18 and 27, before compiling a final three-man shortlist.
Three-time winner Ellery Hanley, the only ever back-to-back winner Paul Sculthorpe, two-time winner Sam Tomkins, 1984 winner Joe Lydon and St Helens’ legendary captain and winner James Roby met to put forward their standout five players at this early stage of the season with the results now in.
Lachie Miller has been confirmed as the man to lead the shortlist with Hull KR duo Jez Litten and Tyrone May sitting in second and third after their strong starts.
Brodie Croft has been ranked fourth whilst hooker Daryl Clark sits fifth meaning that the reigning Man of Steel Jake Connor and the 2024 Man of Steel Mikey Lewis have both missed out.
Perhaps more surprising to some is that Maika Sivo, who was on the 10-man shortlist that the panel debated, has missed out despite scoring an incredible 17 tries so far in Super League.
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The five-man panel selecting contenders is a major change from the previous nomination process in which players were awarded points weekly, something that many felt hampered standout players at big clubs based on the fact a maximum of three players could earn points from each game each week.
Man of Steel – The Panel, which is exclusive to SuperLeague+ and available FREE, sees the legendary former players dissect a shortlist of ten high performers before voting on their top five.
