Rugby league is littered with prestigious awards.
There is the golden boot award for the best international player, the Harry Sunderland Award is given to the man who stands out in the Super League Grand Final, the Lance Todd trophy goes to the Man of the Match in the Challenge Cup Final.
But the Steve Prescott Man of Steel is the biggest individual honour a Super League player can pick up.
In most sports, the player of the year exclusively goes to a team from the Champions, but not in rugby league.
In 2022 the Man of Steel came from sixth, in 2020 from eighth and in 2011 the Man of Steel winner finished ninth in the league.
So, any team can have a player who wins the Man of Steel so we’re looking at every club’s biggest chance at winning the honour in 2023.
So, which Hull KR player stands out as their best chance at winning the Man of Steel?
To assess the Robins’ best chances you need to look in the halves.
Jordan Abdull wasn’t far from the accolade in 2021 and back to full fitness could be back in the mix in 2023.
Meanwhile, the exhilarating Mikey Lewis will likely win the Man of Steel at some stage in the next decade such is his potential.
New signing Tom Opacic could be in the mix if he brings the quality he showed at Parramatta Eels as could the experienced Lachlan Coote who was unfortunate not to be in the mix more during his days at St Helens.
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John Rushbrooke
January 15, 2023 at 12:43 pm
Is it possible that players from clubs which do not finish so high up the league are more likely to win the man of steel as they are the only stand out player for that club, whereas the teams at the top have a number of players in contention so the points are more evenly shared between three or four different players?
I’ve never looked at the stats, but it seems quite likely.
That being the case, if, in Cam Pattinson’s opinion, the Robins have four players in contention, none of them is likely to win.