The favourites to claim inaugural Rob Burrow Award in Super League Grand Final revealed
From left to right: Bevan French, Mikey Lewis and Junior Nsemba are all among the favourites to become the first winner of the Rob Burrow Award
Saturday’s Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford between Wigan Warriors and Hull KR will see the first-ever winner of the Rob Burrow Award named.
Since the Grand Final’s inception in 1998, the man of the match in each showpiece has been awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy. The winner is decided by a vote of the media in attendance at the event.
This year, that accolade has been renamed as the ‘Rob Burrow Award’ in honour of the late, great Leeds Rhinos legend who lost his battle with MND at the age of 41 back in June.
Of the players involved in this year’s Grand Final, Wigan trio Luke Thompson, Jake Wardle and Liam Farrelll are the only players to have earned the accolade previously.
Thompson did so as a St Helens player for his display in their 2019 triumph against Salford Red Devils, while Wardle received the honour for his performance in the Warriors’ win against Catalans last October.
Current captain Farrell meanwhile won it for his efforts in the Cherry and Whites’ Old Trafford triumph against Warrington Wolves back in 2016.
12 Warriors players have earned the honour in total over the years, with Bill Ashurst the first back in 1971 for his display in their Championship Final defeat to rivals St Helens.
Notably, Hull KR have only ever had two Harry Sunderland Trophy winners – both coming for their performances in the Premiership Final.
Len Casey scooped the accolade in 1981 for his showing in the competition’s final against rivals Hull FC, while John Dorahy earned it for his performance against Castleford three years later.
But who are the favourites and outsiders to deliver a man of the match performance on Saturday?…
LRL RECOMMENDS: 2024 Super League Grand Final – Everything you need to know ahead of showpiece including kick-off time, TV coverage and team news
2024 Super League Grand Final: The favourites and outsiders to win the Rob Burrow Award
Here, we’ve put together a list based on the bookmakers’ odds.
These are taken from SkyBet and are accurate as of the time of writing on October 9, 2024.
We’ve highlighted the ‘lowest’ ten odds, i.e. the favourites – with Wigan’s Bevan French and Hull KR’s Mikey Lewis, who was named the Super League Man of Steel, among those.
We’ve also highlighted the ‘highest’ ten odds, i.e. the absolute rank outsiders. A Robins quartet are all priced at 100/1!
The favourites
- Bevan French (Wigan) – 5/2
- Jai Field (Wigan) – 5/1
- Harry Smith (Wigan) and Mikey Lewis (Hull KR) – both 6/1
- Junior Nsemba (Wigan) – 10/1
- Kruise Leeming (Wigan) and Niall Evalds (Hull KR) – both 12/1
- Liam Marshall (Wigan) – 14/1
- Elliot Minchella (Hull KR), Jake Wardle and Liam Farrell (both Wigan) – all 16/1
The outsiders
- Jack Broadbent, James Batchelor, Kelepi Tanginoa, Oliver Gildart (all Hull KR) and Tyler Dupree (Wigan) – all 40/1
- Dean Hadley (Hull KR) and Ethan Havard (Wigan) – both 50/1
- Harvie Hill, Liam Byrne and Patrick Mago (all Wigan) – all 66/1
- George King, Jai Whitbread, Matty Storton and Sam Luckley (all Hull KR) – all 100/1
LRL RECOMMENDS: The HIDEOUS record Hull KR are aiming to end as every club’s first Super League Grand Final appearance is remembered
Harry Sunderland Trophy winners
Below is a full list of every man of the match in Super League Grand Finals over the years.
1998: Jason Robinson (WIGAN WARRIORS v Leeds)
1999: Henry Paul (BRADFORD BULLS v St Helens)
2000: Chris Joynt (ST HELENS v Wigan)
2001: Michael Withers (BRADFORD BULLS v Wigan)
2002: Paul Deacon (BRADFORD BULLS v St Helens)
2003: Stuart Reardon (BRADFORD BULLS v Wigan)
2004: Matt Diskin (LEEDS RHINOS v Bradford)
2005: Leon Pryce (BRADFORD BULLS v Leeds)
2006: Paul Wellens (ST HELENS v Hull FC)
2007: Rob Burrow (LEEDS RHINOS v St Helens)
2008: Lee Smith (LEEDS RHINOS v St Helens)
2009: Kevin Sinfield (LEEDS RHINOS v St Helens)
2010: Thomas Leuluai (WIGAN WARRIORS v St Helens)
2011: Rob Burrow (LEEDS RHINOS v St Helens)
2012: Kevin Sinfield (LEEDS RHINOS v Warrington)
2013: Blake Green (WIGAN WARRIORS v Warrington)
2014: James Roby (ST HELENS v Wigan)
2015: Danny McGuire (LEEDS RHINOS v Wigan)
2016: Liam Farrell (WIGAN WARRIORS v Warrington)
2017: Danny McGuire (LEEDS RHINOS v Castleford)
2018: Stefan Ratchford (WARRINGTON WOLVES v Wigan)
2019: Luke Thompson (ST HELENS v Salford)
2020: James Roby (ST HELENS v Wigan)
2021: Kevin Naiqama (ST HELENS v Catalans)
2022: Jonny Lomax (ST HELENS v Leeds)
2023: Jake Wardle (WIGAN WARRIORS v Catalans)
LRL RECOMMENDS: Man of Steel top 10 revealed including Leeds Rhinos pair, with Mikey Lewis’ margin of victory revealed
