Bateman and O'Loughlin in Super League Dream Team

St Helens provided seven of the 13 players, including Man of Steel nominees Ben Barba and James Roby, in the line-up selected by a panel of media.

The team was unveiled at a press conference at Old Trafford, where the Super League play-off semi-finals were launched.

There are no players from two of the semi-finalists, Castleford and Warrington, while Wakefield provide three Dream Team debutants in second-rower Matty Ashurst, winger Tom Johnstone and centre Bill Tupou and Catalans Dragons captain Remi Casty is named for the second time.

Tupou played every minute of every game for Trinity in 2018 and finished the season as the top metre-maker with 4,114, the only man to go above 4,000m.

Johnstone, who is hoping to be named in the England squad on Tuesday, finished second only to Barba in the tryscoring list with 24.

Bateman, the third Man of Steel candidate, is among seven newcomers while team-mate O’Loughlin’s consistency over the years is recognised by his inclusion for the seventh time and Roby was chosen for the sixth time in 12 years.

2018 Dream Team: Ben Barba (St Helens); Tommy Makinson (St Helens), Mark Percival (St Helens), Bill Tupou (Wakefield), Tom Johnstone (Wakefield); Jonny Lomax (St Helens), Danny Richardson (St Helens); Luke Thompson (St Helens), James Roby (St Helens), Remi Casty (Catalans Dragons), John Bateman (Wigan), Matty Ashurst (Wakefield), Sean O’Loughlin (Wigan).