Surprise, surprise, no Sam Burgess on the shortlist

Give it a year...

No surprise given the judging panel:







I was in contact with Carl Doran a few years ago when I suggested Steve Prescott for the Helen Rollason award and he was aware of his story but I imagine the other have little knowledge of rugby league.

They won't know who Sam Burgess is

I'd say it's actually quite difficult for an individual member of a team sport to be nominated for spoty.

Sure Bale is on there, but he plays our national sport and even then there is no way he's winning the thing.

Sam's story is a brilliant one but something like this needs to appeal to the general public and sadly, for now at least, the general public have no idea who the hell Sam Burgess is.

There are no yawnion players either, though it has been a dull year even by the standards of that game. As had been pointed out team game sport stars are at a disadvantage (2 in the last 10 years), plus its a top nine really as there has to be the politically correct allocation of a paralympic spot these years.

Hamilton will win - his victory is fresh in everyone's mind and he doing much publicity to promote SPOY. For McIlroy should win it but he will be second.

I watch a lot of sports but I've no idea who some of them are. So it's pretty irrelevant their popularity.



Angry, but not surprised Burgess isn't in. Snobbery and ignorance on the highest level.

What has Sam achieved?

And I'm sure the people that watch the sports you don't, will never have heard of Burgess either - so swings and roundabouts!!

But if I was on the panel I wouldn't just research the sports i watch. I didn't watch much of the Winter Olympics or the commonwealth, but I would research it.



Can you really see Jason Roberts researching rugby league?

McIlroy is 1/5, Hamilton 7/2 and the rest nowhere. It's a really thin list this year. McIlroy should win it by miles.