Jon Wells
Rugby League Expert
Super League 2022: Jon Wells' five likely contenders for this year's Man of Steel award
Sky Sports rugby league expert Jon Wells runs the rule over who he sees as the most likely contenders for the Betfred Super League's Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel award in 2022; Catalans Dragons and England full-back Sam Tomkins won the award in 2021
Last Updated: 31/01/22 12:16pm
Sky Sports rugby league expert Jon Wells assess the five candidates he believes are most likely to be in contention for the Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel award in the 2022 Betfred Super League season...
Aidan Sezer (Leeds Rhinos)
His switch to Leeds is the perfect move for him. Many sources last season summed up the relationship between Sezer and Huddersfield Giants coach Ian Watson as a clash of personalities.
You could see the frustration in his performances last season. Watson is a details man; he is all about structure and process. Sezer is not; he appeared to be a square peg, albeit a very, very good square peg, in a round hole in terms of on-field philosophy.
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Sezer's transfer to the Rhinos will see him both reunite with his former Canberra Raiders team-mate Blake Austin, signed from Warrington Wolves in the off-season, and sit under the watchful eye of Sean Long. Richard Agar may be the head coach, but I see a meeting of minds here between Sezer and one of the very best halves to have played the game in the modern era in Long.
His playing style will suit the Rhinos, and he will see more positive outcomes for his input as he is surrounded by better quality players in the form of Harry Newman, Ash Handley and Richie Myler to name just three.
Lachlan Coote (Hull Kingston Rovers)
Sezer is an easy pick for the shortlist, as is this man. Coote is clearly one of the signings of the off-season for Hull KR and, weirdly, had he played in any other team than the all-conquering St Helens team he could arguably have won the award in either 2020 or 2021.
The truth is that it's hard to stand out week on week in any St Helens side - just ask James Roby. The consistency of quality in Saints' squads across the years has been, and continues to be, central to their team success but possibly comes at the expense of individual awards.
However, Coote will certainly be a standout for Hull KR. Indeed, he could well prove to be the missing piece of the jigsaw for the Robins and, if he picks up the gong in September, he would become only the second Robins player to do so after another outstanding Australian, Gavin Miller, who won the award back in 1986.
Sam Tomkins (Catalans Dragons)
I haven't seen a better competitor in Super League - could he be the only player since Ellery Hanley to win the award for a third time? In my opinion, if he stays fit then he makes the shortlist - it's that simple. He is in that wonderful position of enjoying a happy and settled personal life, playing in a position he knows inside out in a team with an attack mentality, at a club on a steep upward trajectory.
If you were to judge the award on an individual's ability to influence the outcome of a game, you may as well hand the Man of Steel award to him now; if he plays, he invariably contributes in a positive manner.
That's what I think I like about Sam most of all. He has polished the rough edges which were still evident in the early stages of his career - his raw talent good enough to land him consecutive Young Player of the Year awards with the Wigan Warriors in 2009 and 2010 - as well as dispensing with the jarring glimpses of petulance that divided fan opinion even as he won his first Man of Steel award in 2012.
In short, he's grown up. He remains one of our very best and I think he will force himself once again into consideration at awards time.
Mitchell Pearce (Catalans Dragons)
The outstanding overseas signing for Super League XVII. There was a big, James Maloney-shaped hole which needed filling at the Catalan Dragons and in Pearce I think they may well have found one of the few players who could replace the organisational heartbeat of the team.
For all the inevitable comparisons, I think Pearce could potentially offer a different player profile than Maloney did in his time in the south of France. For one, Pearce is a greater running threat and he is arguably a better defender - though Maloney did well in this department in his time in Perpignan - and will command the same respect as his predecessor in an increasingly confident squad comprising a pleasing blend of English, Antipodean and young French talent.
Make no mistake, the Dragons have been successful in repositioning themselves in the pecking order in Super League. They have encouraged their fanbase to dream big, and this is an organisation that is thinking big.
You don't sign Mitchell Pearce if you're not. He will be an excellent addition to Super League, and he will be mentioned at least in dispatches at the end-of-season-awards ceremony.
Jack Welsby (St Helens)
You've seen him play, right? Then don't raise your eyebrows. He may be young, and he may be relatively inexperienced, but this kid can win you a match. I think the only thing that prevented him accruing enough points to be on the shortlist in 2021 was the quality of the established starting 13 players in that title-winning Saints team.
Remember he played off the bench eight times in their 26 matches and played in four different positions last season; Man of Steel winners don't do that.
Just look at the last five winners, for example. I can tell you their names - Tomkins, Paul McShane, Jackson Hastings, Ben Barba, Luke Gale - and immediately you can tell me their on-field position.
If, as we think will be the case, Welsby get a decent tilt at full-back after inheriting the No 1 jersey following the departure of Coote, then I think we see the very best of him.
Welsby starred at full-back in the Saints academy, and whilst his versatility has been a massive plus for both St Helens and his personal development in his nascent first-team career, you get the feeling that now is the time he nails a spot.
With Jonny Lomax and Lewis Dodd forming an incredibly exciting half-back pairing of both class and creativity, the opportunities to influence the outcomes of games Welsby will get by operating at full-back behind those two makes him not just a live candidate, it makes him my favourite.
