Dally M Awards
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The Dally M Awards were introduced in 1980 by News Limited. The awards are named in honour of former Australian rugby league great Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger. The most prestigious award on the night is the Dally M Medal which is awarded to the Player Of The Year as well as honouring the player of the year the awards night also recognises 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.
News Limited journalists vote on the best performing players in each match on a 3, 2, 1 points system. The scores of the voting are visible to the public and media up until Round 16 of the NRL Season. In 1998 with the merge of the Super League and the Australian Rugby League (ARL) the awards were re-introduced as 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 the awards were the Rothmans Medal from 1968-1996 and the Nokia Provan-Summons Medal in 1997.
Between 1980 and 1996 when both the Dally M Medal and Rothmans Medal were awarded, the same player won both awards on only 3 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 organized 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. Due to a dispute with the Rugby League Players Association, the NRL cancelled the Dally M awards 2 days prior to the ceremony. Previously the players had threatened to boycott the event unless the NRL met their demands.
