Super League Man of Steel: Salford’s Marc Sneyd, Hull KR’s Mikey Lewis, Warrington’s Matt Dufty on shortlist

Salford’s Marc Sneyd, Hull KR’s Mikey Lewis and Warrington’s Matt Dufty have been named on the 2024 Super League Man of Steel shortlist.

The 2024 Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel will be crowned at Rugby League’s Awards Night next Tuesday (October 8) at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, with the Woman of Steel and the Wheels of Steel awards also to be confirmed.

Of the three nominees, Dufty and Lewis will go head-to-head in the first of this weekend’s Super League semi-finals, live on Sky Sports, at Craven Park on Friday night, when Hull KR host Warrington Wolves.

Half-back Sneyd, 33, was an ever-present for Salford Red Devils in the 2024 season until their last match at Wigan, and has been the competition’s top marksman with 97 goals, in addition to four drop-goals – while his tally of 22 try assists has been beaten by only Lewis and Leigh’s Lachlan Lam.

Salford have had their only two previous Man of Steel winners in the last five years, and both were Australian half-backs in Jackson Hastings (2019) and Brodie Croft (2022).

Full-back Dufty, 28, ran for some 4,234 metres in the regular season – 457m or 12 per cent more than his nearest rival – despite missing five matches through injury, giving him an average of more than 192 metres per match.

The Australian was outstanding in Warrington’s dramatic golden-point eliminator win against St Helens last Saturday, adding another 200 metres to his season’s tally – and was also fourth in the regular-season try-scoring charts with 17.

Dufty would become only the third Warrington Wolves player to be named Man of Steel, and the first since Jonathan Davies in 1994.

Half-back Lewis, 23, scored two tries more than Dufty (19), leaving him third in the final table, in addition to kicking 70 goals for a total of 216 points. Lewis also features prominently in a range of other statistical categories, including tackle busts and clean breaks.

The Rovers home-grown product could become the second Hull KR player to be named Man of Steel in the award’s 47-year history, after Gavin Miller – the Australian loose forward who was the first overseas winner in 1986.

Man of Steel roll of honour

Last year, Bevan French became the first Wigan Warriors player to win the Betfred Super League Man of Steel award since Sam Tomkins in 2012.

Salford’s Croft (2022), Catalans’ Tomkins (2021), Castleford’s Paul McShane (2020) and Salford’s Hastings (2019) make up the most recent winners.

See the exhaustive list dating all the way back to 1977 below…

What’s next?

Warrington Wolves travel to second-placed Hull KR in this weekend’s semi-finals, while Leigh Leopards will be away to League Leaders’ Shield winner Wigan Warriors. Both matches are live on Sky Sports+.

The winners from the semi-finals progress to the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford on Saturday October 12, live on Sky Sports.

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.