Tuesday 4 October 2016 10:20, UK
Hull hooker Danny Houghton has beaten his club captain Gareth Ellis to the prestigious 2016 Steve Prescott Super League Man of Steel award.
The 28-year-old Houghton, who provided the defining moment of Hull's historic Challenge Cup triumph at Wembley in August with a last-minute try-saving tackle, received almost twice as many votes as Ellis in a poll of Super League players.
Castleford's record-breaking winger Denny Solomona came third in the poll.
For the first time, the results of the poll have been made public and reveal that Houghton voted for Warrington captain Chris Hill while Ellis' first choice was Wolves hooker Daryl Clark. Players are not allowed to vote for club-mates.
Houghton, who is the first Hull player to win an award that was first presented in 1977, received the trophy at a gala dinner in Manchester, where his club boss Lee Radford was named coach of the year after guiding the Black Whites to Wembley glory and to within 80 minutes of the Grand Final and Hull were named Super League club of the year.
Wakefield winger Tom Johnstone was named young player of the year, ahead of Widnes second rower Matt Whitley and Wigan prop Ryan Sutton, while Houghton and Hill picked up awards for the most tackles and metres made in the season respectively.
Presentations were made to retiring players Gregory Mounis, Jamie Langley, Kirk Yeaman, Luke Dorn, Luke Robinson, Pat Richards, Paul Jackson, Paul Wood, Richard Mathers, Stephen Wild, Stuart Littler and Wayne Godwin, who all made over 200 Super League appearances.
