#rlchampionships

Mitchell Stringer is the Premier Sports Player of the Week following his performance in Sheffield Eagles’ 26-18 win over Featherstone Rovers.

Stringer has been a key figure for Sheffield in the opening rounds of the Kingstone Press Championship, and has been named in the Premier Sports Team of the Week for a third time.

Stringer also now leads the cumulative Player of the Year table after collecting five points this week.

Each week every coach in the Kingstone Press Championship - and Championship One once it begins - is consulted to help select both a Premier Sports Team of the Week and Player of the Week

A top five will then be formed for the individual award, with the points awarded counting towards the Championships’ Player of the Year accolade.

The weekly awards will also see a team performance and try of the round selected, while inclusion in the Premier Sports Team of the Week will count towards the end of season selections for the two competitions.

Premier Sports Player of the Week – Mitchell Stringer (Sheffield Eagles)

Sheffield Eagles prop Mitchell Stringer has continued his strong start to the season by being named Premier Sports Player of the Week.

The front rower caught the eye in Sheffield’s televised 26-18 win over Featherstone on Thursday night, and earned selected in the Team of the Week for the third time this year.

“Mitch has been outstanding the whole season so far,” Aston said.

“He’s been doing the hard yards, but what I would also say about him is that he’s the smartest prop in the competition.

“He can pass a ball and put the ball in the right area, and he’s playing big minutes as well.

“He’s certainly at the top of his game at the moment.”

Premier Sports Performance of the Week – Keighley Cougars

Keighley Cougars recorded their first win of the season and climbed off the foot of the Kingstone Press Championship by beating York City Knights 34-0.

“It’s a monkey off our back,” Cougars player coach Paul March said.

“We’ve been playing well even though the scorelines hadn’t suggested that in recent weeks.

“We targeted the York game to get off to winning ways and kick start our season, and that’s how it worked out.

“From one to 16 – I leave myself out because I got a rib injury after 25 minutes – I thought we were excellent.

“Our forwards dominated the game, and things that had been going wrong for us recently went right and everything clicked.”

Premier Sports Try of the Week – Jon Pownall (Leigh Centurions)

Leigh Centurions turned defence into attack in thrilling style to record the Premier Sports Try of the Week in their 36-6 win at Dewsbury Rams.

The Centurions were defending a Rams attack when a loose ball sparked a long range attack.

“We came up with some good ‘D’ on the edge with Martyn Ridyard getting up to force an error,” Centurions coach Paul Rowley said.

“He picked up the loose ball and went 40 metres upfield.

“He then put in an overhead pass to Jonny Pownall, who went the remaining 50 metres for the try.”

Premier Sports Team of the Week

1 Brett Carter (Workington Town)

2 Richie Barnett (Keighley Cougars)

3 Menzie Yere (Sheffield Eagles)

4 Elliot Cosgrove (Keighley Cougars)

5 Tom Saxton (Featherstone Rovers)

6 Danny Jones (Keighley Cougars)

7 Liam Finn (Featherstone Rovers)

8 Tyrone McCarthy (Swinton Lions)

9 Sean Penkywicz (Leigh Centurions)

10 Mitchell Stringer (Sheffield Eagles)

11 Alex Bretherton (Batley Bulldogs)

12 Liam Harrison (Barrow Raiders)

13 Lee Doran (Whitehaven)

Championship Player of the Year

Mitchell Stringer has taken over from Dewsbury’s Aaron Brown at the top of the table after collecting points for the third time this season.

Stringer was given the edge over Leigh’s Sean Penkywicz and Barrow’s Liam Harrison, who both collected their first points of the campaign.

Week Six Player of the Week points

5 points – Mitchell Stringer (Sheffield Eagles)

4 points – Sean Penkywicz (Leigh Centurions)

3 points – Liam Harrison (Barrow Raiders)

2 points – Danny Jones (Keighley Cougars)

1 point – Alex Bretherton (Batley Bulldogs)

Player of the Year Table

1 Mitchell Stringer (10 points)

2 Aaron Brown (9 points)

3 Miles Greenwood (8 points)

4 Peter Green (7 points)

  Kyle Briggs (7 points)

6 Dave Houghton (6 points)

7 Simon Finnigan (5 points)

  Luke Helliwell (5 points)

  Kurt Haggerty (5 points)

10 Lee Waterman (4 points)

  Jack Lee (4 points)

  Sean Penkywicz (4 points)

13 Steve Crossley (3 points)

  Jack Bussey (3 points)

  Liam Finn (3 points)

  Dominic Brambani (3 points)

  Liam Harrison (3 points)

18 Callum Phillips (2 points)

  Gregg McNally (2 points)

  Stuart Littler (2 points)

 James Lockwood (2 points)

  Danny Jones (2 points)

23 Steve Tyrer (1 point)

  Ryan Fieldhouse (1 point)

  Paul Handforth (1 point)

  Jarrad Stack (1 point)

  Johnny Campbell (1 point)

  Alex Bretherton (1 point)