Emotional Paul McShane targets England honours after winning Man of Steel

Drew Darbyshire

An emotional Paul McShane says he wants to earn representative honours with England after scooping the 2020 Steve Prescott Man of Steel award.

The 31-year-old beat Huddersfield captain Aidan Sezer, St Helens full-back Lachlan Coote and Wigan duo Bevan French and Liam Farrell to the big prize.

Castleford hooker McShane has yet to earn an England cap – but he has been included in Shaun Wane’s latest squad.

McShane said: “I’m pretty speechless at the minute, I’m just really honoured to get this award and to have people like Ellery (Hanley) and other legends of the game hold me in this regard – I’m honoured.

“I want to win something with Cas, I’m really desperate to do that but I also want to play for my country.

“It is something that I haven’t done just yet and it is something I’m really passionate about and something I really want to do.

“I just need to keep performing and hopefully I can push my way into his (Shaun Wane) plans.

“We’ve had a couple of conversations and from speaking with him, he buzzes me up with how he talks and with how passionate he is about England so it is just down to me. I’m looking forward to next year already, I still feel like I can improve so it is up to me to get myself in there.”

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