Leeds Rhinos news: Jake Connor on Man of Steel shortlist as Wigan Warriors & Hull KR players also nominated
Leeds Rhinos scrum-half Jake Connor is on a three-man shortlist for European rugby league’s most prestigious individual honour.
Connor is vying with last year’s winner Mikey Lewis - the Hull KR stand-off - and Wigan Warriors full-back Jai Field to be named Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel. The award recognises the outstanding player in Betfred Super League.
All three nominees are included in this season’s Super League Dream Team. Connor was last week named Rhinos’ Rob Burrow CBE player of the year and came second to Leigh Leopards’ Lachlan Lam in voting for the Rugby League Writers and Broadcasters Association honour.
The former Hull FC and Huddersfield Giants play-maker could become only the fifth Leeds player to be crowned Man of Steel, after David Ward (1977), Garry Schofield (1991), Iestyn Harris (1998) and Zak Hardaker (2015). The shortlist and winner have been determined by a panel of former players who awarded points to the top three performers in each of the 161 fixtures during the regular season.
The 2025 Man of Steel will be announced at rugby league’s awards night in Manchester on Tuesday, October 7, four days before the Grand Final at Old Trafford. The Man of Steel title was introduced in the 1976-77 season and renamed 11 years ago in tribute to former St Helens, Hull, Wakefield, England and Ireland full-back Steve Prescott who raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity before his death from cancer, aged 39, November 2013.