Evergreen St Helens hooker James Roby has been named player of the year by the Rugby League Writers and Broadcasters Association.
The 32-year-old England international is the seventh Saints winner of an award which was first presented to Apollo Perelini in 1996.
Roby polled around 40 per cent of the votes, pushing team-mate Ben Barba into second place and Wigan's John Bateman into third, to win the Raymond Fletcher Memorial Trophy.
All three players are on the short-list for the Steve Prescott Man of Steel award which will be presented on Monday while Tony Gigot, Luke Thompson, Tommy Makinson, Bill Tupou and Danny Richardson also gained votes based on performances throughout the domestic season.
"Roby beat off plenty of fierce opposition for the coveted RLWBA award," said RLWBA chairman Trevor Hunt.
"He's had a superb season, following up his magnificent World Cup in 2017, with yet another peerless set of performances for St Helens."
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