Clive Churchill Medal

The Clive Churchill Medal is the award given to the player judged to be man-of-the-match in the National Rugby League's annual Grand Final. The award was created to honour Clive Churchill following his death in 1985. Churchill is considered one of the greatest and most decorated players in Australian rugby league history. One of the highest individual player honours in the NRL, the medal's recipient is chosen by the selectors of the Australian national team. It is announced at the post-grand final ceremony, and awarded by a previous winner. The current recipient of the award is James Tedesco of the Sydney Roosters.

The Clive Churchill Medal has been awarded since the 1986 NSWRL season when its first recipient was Peter Sterling. It was initially presented in a case until 2000 where it is presented separately with a ribbon being worn around the neck. The only three players to have won the award more than once are Bradley Clyde (1989 and 1991), Billy Slater (2009 and 2017) and Nathan Cleary (2021 and 2023) . Despite the Melbourne Storm being stripped of their 2007 and 2009 premiership titles due to salary cap breaches in 2010, the medal winners of those years remain officially recognised.

The medal has only been awarded to a member of the losing grand final team on four occasions. Clyde in 1991, Brad Mackay in 1993, Daly Cherry-Evans in 2013, and Jack Wighton in 2019.

List of recipients + Table key^Player was member of losing team

+ Table of recipients Year Recipient Team Position1986 Parramatta Eels1987 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles1988 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs1989 (1) Canberra Raiders1990 Canberra Raiders1991 ^ (2) Canberra Raiders1992 Brisbane Broncos1993 ^ St George Dragons1994 Canberra Raiders1995 Sydney Bulldogs1996 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles1997 Newcastle Knights1998 Brisbane Broncos1999 Melbourne Storm2000 Brisbane Broncos2001 Newcastle Knights2002 Sydney Roosters2003 Penrith Panthers2004 Bulldogs2005 Wests Tigers2006 Brisbane Broncos2007 Melbourne Storm2008 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 2009 (1) Melbourne Storm2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons2011 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles2012 Melbourne Storm2013 ^ Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles2014 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2015 North Queensland Cowboys2016 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks2017 (2) Melbourne Storm2018 Sydney Roosters2019 ^ Canberra Raiders2020 Melbourne Storm 2021 Penrith Panthers2022Dylan Edwards Penrith Panthers2023 (2) Penrith Panthers2024 Penrith Panthers2025 Brisbane Broncos2026 Sydney Roosters

Retrospective awards As part of the Centenary of League celebrations in 2008, the Clive Churchill Medal has been retrospectively awarded for man-of-the-match performances from season 1954, the first to feature mandatory grand finals. The first recipient from the 1954 season is the man for which the award was originally named, Clive Churchill.

Despite claims to the contrary at the time of the announcement of the retrospective medals that there had not been Man Of The Match awards for Grand Finals prior to 1986, this was not the case - there had been the Dave Brown Medal awarded at some stage, and, according to the NSWRL's official match day program, a new prize was awarded in 1971, with the winner named by reporters covering the game (the first was won by South Sydney's Ron Coote). In 1972 the award went to Manly half back Dennis Ward, and the following year, to Manly's Bob Fulton. In 1974, Arthur Beetson won the press writers award, and in 1975 it was Ian Schubert. The retrospective Clive Churchill Medals - either by coincidence or design - reflect those award winners.

In the replayed grand finals of 1977 and 1978, the award was based on efforts over the course of both games, although Manly-Warringah's Graham Eadie was a clear choice in 1978 after a dominating performance from fullback in the Grand Final replay. + Table key^Player was member of losing team

+ Table of recipients Year Recipient Team Position1954 South Sydney RabbitohsFullback1955 South Sydney RabbitohsSecond row1956 St George DragonsProp1957 (1) St George DragonsSecond row1958 (2) St George DragonsSecond row1959 St George DragonsLock1960 St George DragonsSecond row1961 St George DragonsFive-eighth1962 St George DragonsHooker1963 (3) St George DragonsSecond row1964 St George DragonsFullback1965 St George DragonsProp1966 St George DragonsLock1967 ^ Canterbury-BankstownFullback1968 South Sydney RabbitohsFullback1969 Balmain TigersFive-eighth1970 South Sydney RabbitohsHalfback1971 South Sydney RabbitohsLock1972 Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesHalfback1973 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles1974 Eastern Suburbs RoostersProp1975 Eastern Suburbs RoostersFullback1976 (1) Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesFullback1977 St George DragonsProp1978 (2) Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesFullback1979 St George DragonsHalfback1980 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs1981 Parramatta EelsProp1982 (1) Parramatta EelsFive-eighth1983 (2) Parramatta EelsFive-eighth1984 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsProp1985 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsHalfback

Multiple winners The following players have won the Clive Churchill Medal multiple times.

Medals Player Team Seasons3 Norm Provan St George 1957*, 1958*, 1963*2 Graham Eadie Manly-Warringah 1976*, 1978* Brett Kenny Parramatta 1982*, 1983* Bradley Clyde Canberra 1989, 1991Billy SlaterMelbourne2009, 2017Nathan ClearyPenrith2021, 2023 * Retrospective medals.

Clive Churchill Medal

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