Dally M Awards

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The Dally M Awards are the official annual player awards for the National Rugby League competition. As well as honouring the player of the year, who received the Dally M Medal, awards are also given to the premier player in each position, the best coach, the best captain, representative player of the year and the most outstanding rookie of the season. The awards are named in honour of Australian former rugby league great Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger.

Contents

History

Johnathan Thurston, the winner of the most Dally M "Player of the Year" medals, with four Johnathan Thurston.jpg
Johnathan Thurston, the winner of the most Dally M "Player of the Year" medals, with four
James Tedesco, the winner of the Dally M "Player of the Year" Medal for 2019 97A7295.jpg
James Tedesco, the winner of the Dally M "Player of the Year" Medal for 2019

The awards were introduced in 1979 by News Limited with the ex-gratia permission of the Messenger family. As sports historian Ian Heads wrote -

In 1940, when Truth newspaper profiled his (Dally's) career and life in a 14-part series, the paper called him “the greatest player of all time ….genius of Rugby football of either code”, continuing: ”around him as the keystone in the arch, the code of rugby league in Australia was built.” Harry Sunderland, a towering, entrepreneurial figure of the game wrote: “Without Messenger’s magical appeal….there would be no league.” It is as stark as that: without Dally there may well have been no rugby league at all. [1]

News Limited journalists vote on the best performing players in each match on a 3, 2, 1 point(s) system. The scores of the voting are visible to the public and media up until Round 16 of the NRL season. In 1998, following the merger of the Super League and the Australian Rugby League (ARL), the awards became the official awards of the newly formed National Rugby League. Prior to 1998, the official award of the game was voted on by the referees and were known as the Rothmans Medal from 1968 to 1996 and the Nokia Provan-Summons Medal in 1997. Today the Provan-Summons Medal is for the fans' "people's choice" player of the year.

Between 1979 and 1996, when both the Dally M Medal and Rothmans Medal were awarded, the same player won both awards on only three occasions - Peter Sterling in 1987, Gavin Miller in 1989 and Ricky Stuart in 1993.

In 1997, when the game was split between the News Limited-organised Super League competition and the ARL, News Limited did not hold the awards.

The only other time the awards night has not been held was in 2003, following a dispute with the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA). After the players had threatened to boycott the event unless the NRL met their demands, the NRL cancelled the Dally M awards two days prior to the ceremony. Craig Gower would have been named player of the year had the awards not been cancelled.[ citation needed ] Gower was subsequently awarded the inaugural RLPA Players Player Medal in recognition of his 2003 NRL season exploits, and his central role in the dispute that saw the creation of the game's first overarching workplace agreement 8 months after the boycott.

The 2014 Dally M Medal was held on 29 September 2014 [2] and was won jointly by Jarryd Hayne and Johnathan Thurston of the North Queensland Cowboys. [3] It was the first time the medal has been won jointly since its inception.

Dally M Recent Results

See also

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The Dally M Medal is awarded each year (annually) to the player voted for as the 'Player of the year' over the National Rugby League (NRL) regular season. The awards are named in honour of Australian former rugby league great Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger. The award has existed since 1979, but has only been adopted as the official award for the Player of the Year in the NRL since 1998. Prior to that the official Player of the Year, in both the New South Wales and the Brisbane Rugby Leagues, received the Rothmans Medal whilst the Dally M Medal was awarded by the Daily Mirror newspaper.

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The 2009 Dally M Awards were presented on Tuesday 8 September 2009 at the State Theatre in Sydney and broadcast on Fox Sports.

The 2011 Dally M Awards were presented on Tuesday 6 September 2011 at the Entertainment Quarter in Sydney and broadcast on Fox Sports.

The 2014 Dally M Awards were presented on Monday 29 September 2014 at Sydney's Star Casino. Broadcast on Fox Sports, the awards ceremony was hosted by Matthew Johns. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger. The Dally M Medal was awarded to Jarryd Hayne and Johnathan Thurston in a tie of votes, making it the first time for the medal to be awarded to joint winners.

The 2015 Dally M Awards were presented on Monday 28 September 2015 at Sydney's Star Casino and was broadcast on Fox Sports. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger. Halfback Johnathan Thurston won the Dally M Medal with a record margin of 11 votes, overtaking Andrew Johns in becoming the first player to claim the award for the fourth time.

The 2016 Dally M Awards were presented on Wednesday 28 September 2016. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger. Cooper Cronk and Jason Taumalolo became just the second joint winners of the Dally M Medal after both players tied with 26 votes apiece.

The 2017 Dally M Awards was presented on Wednesday 27 September 2017. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger.

The 2018 Dally M Awards was presented on Wednesday 26 September 2018. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger.

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Nicholas Hynes is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a halfback for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League (NRL).

The 2019 Dally M Awards were presented on Wednesday 2 October 2019. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger.

The 2020 Dally M Awards were presented on Monday 19 October 2020. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger.

The 2021 Dally M Awards were presented over two nights at the Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane on the 20th and 27th September 2021. The first night highlighted the minor awards featured in the Dally M Awards as well as building anticipation for the second night which presented the major awards and the Dally M Medal. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger.

The 2022 Dally M Awards were presented on 28 September 2022. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger.

References

  1. Heads, Ian. "The Dally M Awards". Dally Messenger III. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  2. Gibbon, Ben. "Dally M 2014: When is it, contender breakdown, analysis". The Roar. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  3. Horne, Ben. "Thurston and Hayne joint Dally M winners". The Roar. Retrieved 30 September 2014.