THE Pride of St Helens awards are to take place this Friday night in a celebration of the borough's community heroes.

There will be prizes awarded in 11 categories on the night at Saints' stadium.

Here are the three nominees for the St Helens RFC Sportsperson of the Year award:

 

Conor Coady

HAYDOCK’S Conor Coady has enjoyed an incredible year on the football field.

Playing at centre-half, Coady skippered Wolverhampton Wanderers to promotion to the Premier League.

Wolves led from the front for most of the season and went up as champions.

Indeed, Coady scored a penalty in the 4-0 win over Bolton, which sealed the EFL Championship.

Wolves have enjoyed a solid start to life in the top flight, currently mid-table with draws at Manchester United and Arsenal, being highlights.

They also took a point off leaders Manchester City.

Coady’s form has been so good that he is being talked about as a player deserving of an England call-up.

The former Rainford Rangers player has really settled in the Black Country and is hugely popular among the Wolves supporters, who turned out in their tens of thousands on the victory parade in May.

Coady initially came through the youth academy at Liverpool.

He had spells at Sheffield United and Huddersfield Town before joining Wolves in 2015.

 

Justin Holbrook

JUSTIN Holbrook has made a massive impact since taking the coaching reins at Saints 18 months ago.

Although he will be disappointed at falling at the semi-final hurdle in both competitions, on the credit side Saints were the best team for the first seven months, winning the League Leaders' Shield and a first Good Friday triumph since 2009.

On the field, under the former NRL halfback’s stewardship, Saints played a far more entertaining brand of football than they had done for many a year.

The players have improved individually and collectively under Holbrook.

Examples are numerous, but the transformation in Dom Peyroux was clear to see.

Core skills like passing and fitness levels appear to have improved last year.

Holbrook has shown his openness to fresh ideas, as seen by last winter’s fact finding trip to America.

On top of that he gets the idea that Saints are a key part of this borough.

It is very noticeable that the players – following on from the work previously done at the club – are out in the community a lot more.

 

Matt Crehan

ATHLETE Matt Crehan has had a tremendous year racing on track and road.

He smashed the St Helens 10k course record earlier this year, knocking 32 seconds off the previous best, clocking a time of 31 minutes and 21 seconds.

And that represented another achievement in a remarkable comeback story which saw Matt return to running in 2016 after an eight-year absence from the sport.

The 26-year-old middle distance runner competes every week on the track for St Helens-Sutton in the summer – from 800m, 1500m to 5,000m – and is a regular participant in Park Run all year round, invariably finishing first over the 5k course.

He has an overall goal is to represent England at the 2020 Olympics.

In that he is seeking to emulate his mum Susan who ran at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

Matt, who is also chairman of St Helens Sutton AC, is an enthusiastic advocate for the sport in town, and encourages his teammates and helps publicise the events and achievements of the club and its members.