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.
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 The Queensland Rothmans Medal was also last awarded in 1996, as the Queensland Cup superseded the Brisbane Rugby League as Queensland's premier rugby league competition in 1997.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.
Year Winner Position Team1968Terry Hughes Cronulla1969Denis Pittard South Sydney1970Kevin Junee Eastern Suburbs1971Denis Pittard South Sydney1972Tommy Raudonikis Western Suburbs1973Ken Maddison Cronulla1974Graham Eadie Manly-Warringah1975Steve Rogers Cronulla1976Ray Higgs Parramatta1977Mick Cronin Parramatta1978Mick Cronin Parramatta1979Ray Price Parramatta1980Geoff Bugden Newtown1981 Kevin Hastings Eastern Suburbs1982Greg Brentnall Canterbury1983Michael Eden Eastern Suburbs1984Terry Lamb Canterbury1985Wayne Pearce Balmain1986Mal Cochrane Manly-Warringah1987Peter Sterling Parramatta1988Barry Russell Cronulla1989Gavin MillerMark Sargent Cronulla Newcastle1990Peter Sterling Parramatta1991Ewan McGrady Canterbury1992Allan Langer Brisbane1993Ricky Stuart Canberra1994David Fairleigh North Sydney1995Paul Green Cronulla1996Jason Taylor North Sydney1997Brad Fittler Sydney Roosters
Queensland
Year Winner Position Team1968Wayne Head Western Suburbs1969Johnny Brown Northern Suburbs1970Graeme Atherton Southern Suburbs1971Len Brunner Wynnum-Manly1972Marty Scanlan Valleys1973John Eales Eastern Suburbs1974Jeff Fyfe Eastern Suburbs1975Steve Calder Northern Suburbs1976Darryl Brohman Northern Suburbs1977Alan Currie Eastern Suburbs1978Ian Pearce Redcliffe1979Neville Draper Northern Suburbs1980Tony ObstLock Redcliffe1981Chris Phelan Southern Suburbs1982Tony Currie Western Suburbs1983Trevor Paterson Eastern Suburbs1984Cavill Heugh Eastern Suburbs1985Ian French Wynnum-Manly1986Bryan Niebling RedcliffeScott Tronc Southern Suburbs1987Gene Miles Wynnum-Manly1988Kevin Langer Western Suburbs1989Neil Tierney Wynnum-Manly1990Trevor Benson Redcliffe1991Darryl Duncan Northern Suburbs1992Jason Hanrahan Southern Suburbs1993Paul Green Eastern SuburbsSteve Mills Western Suburbs1994Steve Bryant Brothers1995Graham Cotter Redcliffe1996Alan Wieland Western Suburbs
References
External links Rothmans Medal at qrl.com.au