Nominations for Young Player of the Year
9 Sep 2019
Five players have been shortlisted by the England Performance Unit for the title and the winner will now be chosen by the rugby league media before being revealed at the Super League Awards evening on October 6.
Explaining their shortlisting decisions, the England Performance Unit described the nominees as below:
Jake Trueman (Castleford Tigers)
Followed up his breakthrough season in 2018 with another solid year at Castleford. His efforts have been rewarded with selection to the England Elite Performance Squad.
Matty Lees (St Helens)
Has made significant progress in 2019 and matured into a regular first team player. He has made a significant contribution to the success of the St Helens team and has made pleasing progress as an England Knights player.
Jack Walker (Leeds Rhinos)
Has become a first team regular at Leeds this season and established himself as one of Super League's most exciting attacking talents. He has cemented his place in the England Knights squad for a second year.
Harry Newman (Leeds Rhinos)
Finished 2018 as part of the England Academy team that defeated Australia 2-0. He has subsequently been selected for England Knights in 2019 and has made 20 Super League appearances for Leeds Rhinos this season.
Morgan Smithies (Wigan Warriors)
Morgan played a leading role for England Academy versus Australia at the end of 2018. He has made great progress in 2019, and as an 18-year-old he has soon established himself as a regular at Wigan Warriors. He has made 20 appearances since making his debut earlier this season.
Super League Awards:
The Man of Steel Awards has changed. The black-tie dinner has been replaced by a two-hour cinematic celebration of the most memorable moments of the Super League season.
The best players in the game – past and present - will be among the fans at the revamped Super League Awards at The Lowry Theatre on Sunday, October 6.
Hosted by Sky Sports’ Brian Carney and Jenna Brooks, the 1,500 supporters in the audience can expect a mixture of entertaining live interviews with key players and coaches, all built around stunning video footage.
Super League’s content producers, The City Talking, whose recent work includes the popular Amazon Prime documentary Leeds United: Take Us Home, have crafted the brilliant short films which tell the most engaging stories of the players and personalities who have enriched the 2019 season.
The evening’s entertainment will focus on the big screen – but the fans will also play a key role in what Super League hopes will be a loud, passionate and atmospheric affair.
At least a hundred fans from each of the 12 clubs have been invited, and they will sit among their heroes to relive some of the unforgettable moments on the pitch and honour some of the great people in the game.
Eleven awards will be presented on the night – including two new ones, Fans’ Entertainer and Spirit of Super League – and as ever, the evening will close with the most important individual awards in our game: The Woman of Steel and The Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel.
