James Graham named RL’s Man of Steel
Last updated 13:32, Thursday, 02 October 2008
Adopted West Cumbrian James Graham has been crowned the 2008 engage Super League Man of Steel.
St Helens star Graham, whose father John hails from Maryport, picked up the most prestigious prize in the domestic game at a ceremony on Tuesday night.
Prop forward Graham, who is hoping to play a big part in this weekend’s Super League Grand Final against Leeds, also picked up a cheque for £5,000.
The award is extra special this year as it is the result of a poll of all first team players in the top flight, although you cannot vote for a team-mate. Previously the Man of Steel had been judged by a panel.
The 23-year-old, who hails from Merseyside, also won the 2008 engage Super League Metre Maker award.
This award goes to the player making most metres when carrying the ball in regular season games. Graham ran for a total of 3,935 metres this term.
Graham becomes the fourth consecutive St Helens player to win the award and joins his current club mates, James Roby (2007), Paul Wellens (2006), Sean Long (2000) and Paul Sculthorpe (2001, 2002) as previous winners. Australian centre Jamie Lyon won the award in 2005 as a Saints player.
The youngster, who is hopeful of an England call-up for the RL World Cup in Australia, recently paid tribute to his father, a former teacher at Netherhall, who introduced him to the game.
He said that his Cumbrian roots were the reason he is playing the game today and he still has relatives in the county that he visits.
Another Cumbrian Saints player was also among the award winners with Walney flier Ade Gardner picking up the top try scorer with 26 touchdowns in the regular season.
