Dally M Medal

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.

Voting After each game, two independent judges each separately nominate three players as the best on the field. Each judge assigns three points to the best player of the match, two points to the second-best player, and one point to the third-best player. Additionally, a player will lose six votes for each week of suspension that he incurs during the season. Any player who is suspended from two matches or more in any one season is automatically ineligible for the award. The votes for each round are made public up to Round 12 (halfway through a 26-round season), then are kept secret; this allows the final winner to be kept secret until the Dally M Awards ceremony.

History Rothmans Medal

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, Benson & Hedges Inc., 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 the same basic format as the modern day Dally M, except that the votes were determined by the referees, rather than 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 The Queensland Rothmans Medal was also last awarded in 1996, as the Queensland Cup superseded the Brisbane Rugby League as Queensland's premier rugby league competition in 1997.

Dally M Medal The Dally M Medal was named after Henry Herbert 'Dally' Messenger, who was instrumental in the establishment of rugby league football in Australia. The award was originally established by The Daily Mirror newspaper in 1979. For many years, it was the second major individual award in the New South Wales Rugby League behind the Rothmans Medal. It was awarded each year between 1979 and 1996. With the Super League schism in 1997, the medal was not awarded.

Since the National Rugby League (NRL) was formed from the merger of the Australian Rugby League and the Australian Super League in 1998, the Dally M Medal has been the single official player-of-the-year award for that league, and the highest individual honour in Australian rugby league. The medal is awarded, usually by the Australian Prime Minister, at the annual Dally M Awards night where as well as honouring the player of the year, the NRL recognises the premier player in each position, the best coach and the most outstanding rookie of the season.

The medal was notably not awarded in 2003, with the players association threatening to boycott the event during a pay dispute with the league. This backfired badly on the players, with the league responding by swiftly cancelling the event. Penrith's Craig Gower, who led by one vote entering the final round and was unofficially considered man of the match in the final round, is the player thought to have missed out on winning the award as a result.

The 'Dally' part of Messenger's name was a misspelling of 'Dalley', a nickname given to him as a boy in the mid-1880s by his father Charles A. Messenger, a boating and sailing confrère of NSW politician and barrister William Bede Dalley.

Dally M Medal winners Denotes player who is still active in the NRLInducted into the National Rugby League Hall of FameDenotes player whose team won premiership that year

NRL SeasonPlayerPositionTeam1979Steve Morris St George Dragons1980Robert Laurie South Sydney Rabbitohs1981Steve Rogers Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks1982Ray Price Parramatta Eels1983Terry Lamb Western Suburbs Magpies1984Michael Potter Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs1985Greg Alexander Penrith Panthers1986Peter Sterling Parramatta Eels (2)1987Peter Sterling (2) Parramatta Eels (3)1988Gavin Miller Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (2)1989Gavin Miller (2) Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (3)1990Cliff Lyons Manly Warringah Sea Eagles1991Michael Potter (2) St George Dragons (2)1992Gary Freeman Eastern Suburbs Roosters1993Ricky Stuart Canberra Raiders1994Cliff Lyons (2) Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (2)1995Laurie Daley Canberra Raiders (2)1996Allan Langer Brisbane Broncos1998Andrew Johns Newcastle Knights1999Andrew Johns (2) Newcastle Knights (2)2000Trent Barrett St George Illawarra Dragons2001Preston Campbell Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (4)2002Andrew Johns (3) Newcastle Knights (3)2003Not awarded due to industrial action2004Danny Buderus Newcastle Knights (4)2005Johnathan Thurston North Queensland Cowboys2006Cameron Smith Melbourne Storm2007Johnathan Thurston (2) North Queensland Cowboys (2)2008Matt Orford Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (3)2009Jarryd Hayne Parramatta Eels (4)2010Todd Carney Sydney Roosters (2)2011Billy Slater Melbourne Storm (2)2012Ben Barba Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (2)2013Cooper Cronk Melbourne Storm (3)2014Jarryd Hayne (2) Parramatta Eels (5)Johnathan Thurston (3) North Queensland Cowboys (3)2015Johnathan Thurston (4) North Queensland Cowboys (4)2016Cooper Cronk (2) Melbourne Storm (4)Jason Taumalolo North Queensland Cowboys (5)2017Cameron Smith (2) Melbourne Storm (5)2018Roger Tuivasa-Sheck New Zealand Warriors2019James Tedesco Sydney Roosters (3)2020Jack Wighton Canberra Raiders (3)2021Tom Trbojevic Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (4)2022Nicho Hynes Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (5)2023Kalyn Ponga Newcastle Knights (5)2024Jahrome HughesHalfback Melbourne Storm (6)2025James Tedesco (2) Sydney Roosters (4)2026Nathan Cleary Penrith Panthers (2)

NRLW SeasonPlayerPositionTeam2018Brittany Breayley Brisbane Broncos2019Jessica Sergis St. George Illawarra Dragons2020Ali Brigginshaw Brisbane Broncos (2)2021Millie Boyle Brisbane Broncos (3)Emma Tonegato St. George Illawarra Dragons (2)2022Raecene McGregor Sydney Roosters2023Tamika Upton Newcastle Knights2024Olivia Kernick Sydney Roosters (2)2025Tamika Upton (2) Brisbane Broncos (4)2026Tamika Upton (3) Brisbane Broncos (5)

Multiple winners The following players have won the Dally M Medal multiple times.

Medals Player Team Seasons 4 Johnathan Thurston North Queensland Cowboys 2005, 2007, 2014, 2015 3 Andrew Johns Newcastle Knights 1998, 1999, 20022 Peter Sterling Parramatta Eels 1986, 1987 Gavin Miller Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 1988, 1989 Michael Potter Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, St George Dragons 1984, 1991 Cliff Lyons Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 1990, 1994 Jarryd Hayne Parramatta Eels 2009, 2014 Cooper Cronk Melbourne Storm 2013, 2016 Cameron Smith Melbourne Storm2006, 2017 James Tedesco Sydney Roosters2019, 2025

Wins by club Medals Team Seasons6 Melbourne Storm2006, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2024 5 Parramatta Eels 1982, 1986, 1987, 2009, 2014 North Queensland Cowboys 2005, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 1981, 1988, 1989, 2001, 2022 Newcastle Knights1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 20234 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1990, 1994, 2008, 2021 Sydney Roosters 1992, 2010, 2019, 2025 3 Canberra Raiders1993, 1995, 2020 2 St George Dragons 1979, 1991 Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs 1984, 2012 Penrith Panthers1985, 2026 1 South Sydney Rabbitohs 1980 Western Suburbs Magpies 1983 Brisbane Broncos 1996 St George Illawarra Dragons 2000 New Zealand Warriors 2018

No award in 1997 and 2003 Multiple winners in 2014 and 2016

Venues and broadcasters

Year Broadcaster(s) Venue 1998 Fox Sports Fox Studios Australia 1999 Fox Sports Horden Pavilion 2000 Fox Sports Sydney Town Hall 2001 Fox Sports 2002 Fox Sports 2003 No broadcaster Not held 2004 Fox Sports Sydney Town Hall 2005 Fox Sports Sydney Town Hall 2006 Fox Sports Sydney Town Hall 2007 Fox Sports Sydney Town Hall 2008 Fox Sports Hordern Pavilion 2009 Fox Sports State Theatre 2010 Fox Sports State Theatre 2011Fox Sports Royal Hall of Industries,The Entertainment Quarter 2012 Fox Sports Sydney Town Hall 2013 Fox Sports Star Casino 2014 Fox Sports Star Casino 2015 Fox Sports Star Casino 2016 Fox Sports Star Casino 2017 Fox League Star Casino 2018 Fox League Overseas Passenger Terminal 2019 Fox League Star Casino 2020 Fox League Virtual Ceremony 2021 Fox League Howard Smith Wharves, Brisbane 2022 Fox League Randwick Racecourse, Sydney2023Fox LeagueRandwick Racecourse, Sydney2024Fox LeagueRandwick Racecourse, Sydney2025Fox LeagueRandwick Racecourse, Sydney2026Fox LeagueThe Cutaway, Sydney

Dally M Medal

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