Ranking Super League Man of Steel trio by chances of victory with huge odds-on winner likely
Mikey Lewis, Marc Sneyd and Matt Dufty are all up for the coveted Man of Steel award
Hull KR talisman Mikey Lewis, Salford Red Devils half-back Marc Sneyd and Warrington Wolves flyer Matt Dufty are all up for the coveted Man of Steel award this year, but only one will take home the title.
All three players have had stellar seasons as their teams reached the play-offs, and it’ll certainly be a tough decision to pick a winner out of them.
But, someone has to do it; and here at Love Rugby League, we’ve assessed the likely outcome of the Man of Steel voting.
Third: Matt Dufty
The Warrington fullback has enjoyed a genuinely terrific season, but he will likely finish third in the rankings this year. Dufty has been his side’s principal attacking weapon, and has developed a brilliant link with George Williams to take both players to new heights this campaign.
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In his 22 Super League appearances this year, Dufty has racked up an impressive haul of 17 tries and 19 assists. He also finished top of the charts for metres-made with 4234 to his name from 458 carries (9.2 metres per carry!).
Dufty was also sat joint-top in the leaderboard prior to it going dark.
Second: Marc Sneyd
Unfortunatley for Marc Sneyd, we have him narrowly missing out on the coveted award as he comes in second spot, despite sitting joint-top before the leaderboard went dark. Salford were largely written off before the season began, but the inspired performance of Sneyd really helped propell them to a shock top six finish, ahead of heavyweights Leeds Rhinos and Catalans Dragons too.
The half-back adds so much stabilty and calmness to the Red Devils side, but he also pulls the strings of their free-flowing attack brilliantly. He notched 22 assists in his 26 Super League appearances this season, but the biggest part of his game is his kicking ability, and he was busy in this department too with 439 in general play and 224 attacking kicks too – the most in the division for both.
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Man of Steel: Mikey Lewis
The most likely candidate to win Man of Steel this season is Hull KR man Mikey Lewis, who really came into his own in the latter half of the season. Lewis has been instrumental in KR’s journey to the Grand Final, putting in incredible performances in virtually every game.
In his 26 Super League appearances this year, Lewis racked up a staggering 19 tries (third in the league) and 24 assists (joint-top in the league); but it’s his running game which has arguably improved the most, with the England ace notching 2459 metres from 416 carries.
He has also rapidly shot up the Man of Steel leaderboard to reach the top three, as he sat four points behind Dufty and Sneyd prior to it going dark and was also underneath Nene Macdonald and Matt Moylan too in fifth place!
