Lyon named 2005 Man Of Steel

St Helens centre Jamie Lyon has become only the fourth overseas player to win the prestigious engage Super League Man of Steel award.

The 23-year-old former Parramatta player followed in the footsteps of Gavin Miller (Hull Kingston Rovers, 1986), Dean Bell (Wigan Warriors, 1992) and Adrian Vowles (Castleford Tigers, 1999) when he became the 29th winner of the coveted award at an end-of-season gala evening in Manchester.

The award, decided by a panel of broadcasters and journalists, goes to the outstanding performer who made the greatest impact on the season.

Lyon was rewarded for a brilliant first year in Super League in which he played a dominant role in helping St Helens secure the League Leaders' Shield.

The Test three-quarter scored 194 points through 24 tries and 49 goals from 31 appearances and was responsible for many of the 28 tries scored by his wing partner Darren Albert.

Lyon was presented with the unique Man of Steel trophy plus a cheque for ?5,000 and he received another ?1,000 prize after being named the Rugby League Players Association Players' Player of the Year.

Leeds Rhinos captain Kevin Sinfield and new Great Britain skipper Jamie Peacock, who will play his last match for the Bradford Bulls in Saturday's Grand Final against Leeds Rhinos, were the other nominees for the award determined by a poll of fellow Super League players.

Tony Smith (Leeds Rhinos) was named engage Super League Coach of the Year after guiding the Rhinos to both the Challenge Cup final and the Grand Final ahead of Brian Noble (Bradford Bulls) and John Kear (Hull Kingston Rovers), while Hull Kingston Rovers centre Richard Whiting beat James Roby (St Helens) and Harrison Hansen (Wigan Warriors) to become Young Player of the Year.

Australian-born Ashley Klein was named Powergen Referee of the Year and special awards were presented to Terry O'Connor (Widnes Vikings) for making the most metres and to Malcolm Alker (Salford City Reds) for making the most tackles.

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Thanks to www.superleague.co.uk for this report.