Hull KR star Mikey Lewis moves step closer to Man of Steel award after nomination

The 23-year-old is up against Warrington Wolves full-back Matt Dufty and Salford Red Devils half-back Marc Sneyd in his bid to become the first KR player to win the prestigious individual prize since Gavin Miller in 1986.

The Man of Steel will be crowned at an awards night at the Royal Armouries in Leeds next Tuesday.

Lewis occupied a top-three position in a table formed by votes for performances throughout the regular season – awarded by the same panel of former players who selected the Super League Dream Team – after scoring 19 tries and providing 24 assists in 26 games for the second-placed Robins.

The England international was recently named in the Dream Team and heads into Friday's play-off semi-final against Warrington fresh from winning the Rugby League Writers and Broadcasters Association Player of the Year.

Speaking ahead of the Craven Park showdown, Rovers head coach Willie Peters backed Lewis to continue to shrug off the superlatives and keep playing a key role in the club’s bid to end their 39-year major trophy drought.

"It's what makes the best players the best players – how they cope with the pressure, with the individual awards and with people telling them how good they are," said Peters, who was this week named on a four-strong shortlist for the 2024 Super League Coach of the Year award, along with Wigan Warriors' Matt Peet, Salford's Paul Rowley and Mike Eccles of London Broncos.

"If you listen to people outside and don't do your work, that's where people can get ahead of themselves. I haven’t seen anything from Mikey that suggests that.

"I just see a player who loves to prepare to play a game on Friday night, who is passionate about his club and his team-mates. If he shows that on Friday then that’s all he can do."

On the plaudits Lewis has received this season, Peters added: "One hundred per cent deserved.

"In rugby league, you get what you deserve. It’s a saying that a lot of coaches go by as a team and as individuals as well.

"He’s up there leading the try assists, he’s scored 19 tries for a half but what I’m loving about him is his defence and his last plays, especially his long kicking game. He’s such an important part of what we do."