Rothmans Medal

Last updated

Rothmans Medal
Awarded forThe best and fairest player in the New South Wales Rugby League and the Brisbane Rugby League
CountryAustralia
History
First award 1968 (Rothmans Medal)
1997 (Provan-Summons Medal)
Final award1997

The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in the New South Wales Rugby League and Brisbane Rugby League competitions, and later in the Australian Rugby League, which was given to the player voted by referees as the best and fairest in those competitions for the season, first awarded in 1968. With the establishment of the National Rugby League in 1998, the Rothmans Medal was replaced by the Dally M Medal as the official Player of the Year award.

Contents

History

The Rothmans Medal was the first official player-of-the-year award to be established in rugby league in Australia. The medal was sponsored by Rothmans International, a tobacco production company. There were two Rothmans Medals awarded each year: one for the best player in the New South Wales Rugby League, and one for the best player in the Brisbane Rugby League.

The voting for the Rothmans Medal was done by the match-day referee. After each match, he awarded three votes to the best player, two votes to the second-best player, and one vote to the third-best player. This is the same basic format as the modern day Dally M, except that the votes are now determined by the media.

The two Rothmans Medals were first awarded in 1968, and were awarded each year until 1996. In 1997, the Rothmans Medal in New South Wales became known as the Provan-Summons medal, because all tobacco advertising and sponsorship was prohibited in Australia in 1992, under the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992; the medal then disappeared altogether in 1998 with the merger of the Australian Rugby League and the Australian Super League. The Queensland Rothmans Medal was also last awarded in 1996, as the Queensland Cup superseded the Brisbane Rugby League as Queensland's premier rugby league competition in 1997.

Rothmans Medal winners

New South Wales

Note: includes Provan-Summons Medal winner in 1997.

YearWinnerPositionTeam
1968 Terry Hughes Halfback Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla
1969 Denis Pittard Five-eighth South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney
1970 Kevin Junee Halfback Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Eastern Suburbs
1971 Denis Pittard Five-eighth South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney
1972 Tommy Raudonikis Halfback Western Suburbs colours.svg Western Suburbs
1973 Ken Maddison Second-row Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla
1974 Graham Eadie Fullback Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah
1975 Steve Rogers Centre Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla
1976 Ray Higgs Second-row Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta
1977 Mick Cronin Centre Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta
1978 Mick Cronin Centre Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta
1979 Ray Price Lock Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta
1980 Geoff Bugden Prop Newtown colours.svg Newtown
1981 Kevin Hastings Halfback Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Eastern Suburbs
1982 Greg Brentnall Fullback Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury
1983 Michael Eden Five-eighth Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Eastern Suburbs
1984 Terry Lamb Five-eighth Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury
1985 Wayne Pearce Lock Balmain colours.svg Balmain
1986 Mal Cochrane Hooker Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah
1987 Peter Sterling Halfback Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta
1988 Barry Russell Halfback Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla
1989 Gavin Miller
Mark Sargent
Second-row
Prop
Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla
Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle
1990 Peter Sterling Halfback Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta
1991 Ewan McGrady Halfback , Fullback Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury
1992 Allan Langer Halfback Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane
1993 Ricky Stuart Halfback Canberra colours.svg Canberra
1994 David Fairleigh Second-row North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney
1995 Paul Green Halfback Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla
1996 Jason Taylor Halfback North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney
1997 Brad Fittler Five-eighth Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters

Queensland

[1]

YearWinnerPositionTeam
1968Wayne Head Fullback Wests Panthers Colours.svg Western Suburbs
1969 Johnny Brown Halfback Norths Devils colours.svg Northern Suburbs
1970Graeme Atherton Five-eighth Western Suburbs colours.svg Southern Suburbs
1971Len Brunner Second-row Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg Wynnum-Manly
1972Marty Scanlan Five-eighth Valleys colours.svg Valleys
1973John Eales Centre Balmain colours.svg Eastern Suburbs
1974Jeff Fyfe Lock Balmain colours.svg Eastern Suburbs
1975Steve Calder Lock Norths Devils colours.svg Northern Suburbs
1976 Darryl Brohman Prop Norths Devils colours.svg Northern Suburbs
1977Alan Currie Lock Balmain colours.svg Eastern Suburbs
1978 Ian Pearce Fullback Redcliffe colours.svg Redcliffe
1979Neville Draper Lock Norths Devils colours.svg Northern Suburbs
1980Peter Lehman Five-eighth Brothers Colours.svg Brothers
1981 Chris Phelan Lock Western Suburbs colours.svg Southern Suburbs
1982 Tony Currie Fullback , Centre Wests Panthers Colours.svg Western Suburbs
1983Trevor Paterson Second-row Balmain colours.svg Eastern Suburbs
1984 Cavill Heugh Prop Balmain colours.svg Eastern Suburbs
1985 Ian French Second-row Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg Wynnum-Manly
1986 Bryan Niebling
Scott Tronc
Second-row , Prop
Second-row , Prop
Redcliffe colours.svg Redcliffe
Western Suburbs colours.svg Southern Suburbs
1987 Gene Miles Centre Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg Wynnum-Manly
1988Kevin Langer Halfback Wests Panthers Colours.svg Western Suburbs
1989 Neil Tierney Prop Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg Wynnum-Manly
1990Trevor Benson Centre , Five-eighth Redcliffe colours.svg Redcliffe
1991 Darryl Duncan Five-eighth Norths Devils colours.svg Northern Suburbs
1992 Jason Hanrahan Prop Western Suburbs colours.svg Southern Suburbs
1993 Paul Green
Steve Mills
Halfback
Balmain colours.svg Eastern Suburbs
Wests Panthers Colours.svg Western Suburbs
1994Steve Bryant Prop Brothers Colours.svg Brothers
1995Graham Cotter Prop Redcliffe colours.svg Redcliffe
1996Alan Wieland Lock , Second-row Wests Panthers Colours.svg Western Suburbs

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References

  1. Pramberg, Bernie (3 November 2006). "Winding back the clock". The Courier-Mail . Retrieved 26 July 2011.