Houghton named Championship Player of the Week

Whitehaven prop Dave Houghton has been named Premier Sports Player of the Week after a strong performance in his club’s 16-12 Kingstone Press Championship win at Keighley Cougars.

Every week each coach in the Kingstone Press Championship (and Championship One once it kicks off) will be consulted to help choose 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 Championship’s player of the year accolade later this year.

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 – Dave Houghton (Whitehaven)

Dave Houghton produced a second strong performance in the space of eight days to land the Premier Sports Player of the Week award.

Houghton made the Premier Sports Team of the Week after Round One following a big display against York, and became the only player to maintain his place in the team.

The former Widnes front row was picked out by his coach coach Dave Woods for his performance off the bench in the 16-12 win at Keighley Cougars, along with fellow prop Paul Jackson and full-back Neil Thorman.

“Dave was outstanding last week off the bench and he came on against Keighley and had a real big impact again,” said Woods.

“His carries have been tremendous for us – he’s worked really hard in the off season and that’s showing now.”

Championship Player of the Year

At a meeting of Kingstone Press Championship clubs last week, it was decided that the cumulative Player of the Week points counting towards the end-of-season Player of the Year award would move to a top-five for each round. As such, Week One has been adapted to the following, and added to a new table.

Week One Player of the Week points:

5 points – Aaron Brown (Dewsbury Rams)
4 points – Miles Greenwood (Oldham)
3 points – Steve Crossley (Featherstone Rovers)
2 points – Callum Phillips (Workington Town)
1 point – Dave Houghton (Swinton Lions)

Week Two Player of the Week points:

5 points – Dave Houghton (Whitehaven)
4 points – Lee Waterman (Doncaster)
3 points – Jack Bussey (Featherstone Rovers)
2 points – Peter Green (Sheffield Eagles)
1 point – Steve Tyrer (Halifax)

Current Player of the Year table

1 Dave Houghton (6 points)
2 Aaron Brown (5 points
3 Miles Greenwood (4 points)
  Lee Waterman (4 points)
5 Steve Crossley (3 points)
  Jack Bussey (3 points)
7 Callum Phillips (2 points)
  Peter Green (2 points)
9 Steve Tyrer (1 point)