Seven players appear for the first time in the 2020 Betfred Super League Dream Team.
Wigan Warriors magician Bevan French, top of the season statistics for tackle busts and clean breaks, and second for tries scored, is joined by Salford Red Devils winger Krisnan Inu and the Warrington Wolves pair of centre Toby King, who finished the season top of the offloads charts, and prop Mike Cooper, making his first appearance in a stellar 14-year career.
Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel nominees Aidan Sezer and Paul McShane are also in for the first time, as is Wakefield Trinity second row Kelepi Tanginoa.
Players from eight teams comprise this year’s 13.
Saints’ Morgan Knowles, Leeds Rhinos’ Ash Handley and club teammate Konrad Hurrell all backed up their 2019 selections with fine seasons. Handley finished 2020 as top try scorer and top metre-maker.
Warriors forward Liam Farrell makes his third Dream Team appearance after an impressive campaign. Farrell made the second highest number of clean breaks and carries in the competition; he was also third for tackles and metres gained, and fourth for clean breaks and tackle busts.
Saints prop Alex Walmsley makes his second appearance in Dream Team; his first was in 2015. Earlier this season Walmsley set a record for collecting Man of Steel points in six consecutive games.
Walmsley’s half-back teammate Jonny Lomax, who first appeared in 2018 before narrowly missing out last year to Blake Austin and Jackson Hastings, returns to the team in 2020. No one has more try assists than Lomax this season.
Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel panellist Jason Robinson said: “It is a credit to the players and the competition that so many different Super League teams are represented in this year’s Dream Team.
“A good barometer is to sometimes look at the strength of the list of players who have missed out, and there are some wonderful talents that are just outside this top 13.
“I have really enjoyed the emergence of some of the young players in the game who have adapted to first team life so well and there are others who are slightly older who really made their mark in Super League – I think Ash Handley and Toby King are good examples of that.
“There are also a number of players who have defended their Dream Team position since last year, proving impeccable consistency in their playing abilities.
“There were so many good performances throughout the season – but if I had to choose one player from the games I have judged I would say Liam Farrell has been a stand out player for Wigan Warriors all season.
“In both attack and defence he has been Mr Dependable, with a consistently strong work ethic as is shown through his stats, particularly tackles and carries.”
Dream Team 2020
FB – BEVAN FRENCH (Wigan)
W – KRISNAN INU (Salford)
C – TOBY KING (Warrington)
C – KONRAD HURRELL (Leeds)
W – ASH HANDLEY (Leeds)
HB – AIDAN SEZER (Huddersfield)
HB – JONNY LOMAX (Saints)
PR – ALEX WALMSLEY (Saints)
HK – PAUL MCSHANE (Castleford)
PR – MIKE COOPER (Warrington)
SR – LIAM FARRELL (Wigan)
SR – KELEPI TANGINOA (Wakefield)
LF – MORGAN KNOWLES (Saints)