The NRL‘s night of nights is nearly upon us, with Manly’s Tom Trbojevic a short-priced favourite to take home the Dally M Medal.
If he does win at the ceremony in Brisbane, Trbojevic will become just the third Sea Eagle behind Cliff Lyons and Matt Orford to claim the honour, and Wide World of Sports will have all the reaction from the ceremony.
What is the Dally M Medal?
The Dally M Medal is awarded to the Best and Fairest player in the NRL competition.
Where is the Dally M Medal ceremony held?
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the competition to relocate to Queensland, the Dally M will take place in Brisbane at the Howard Smith Wharves.
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What day is the Dally M Medal ceremony?
The 2021 Dally M Medal will be on Monday, September 27.
How is the Dally M Medal decided?
Judges vote 3-2-1 after every match and the player with the most votes at the end of the regular season is crowned the Dally M medallist.
Players who are suspended lose three points for each week they are sidelined.
Points given after for each game and the Dally M Leaderboard is made public until round 12, and after this point voting occurs behind closed doors.
Who are the favourites?
Since 1990, only one Dally M medallist has come from a position other than fullback, five-eighth, halfback or hooker (when Jason Taumalolo won in 2016), and that trend will continue this year, with all five finalists being spine players.
The top five vote getters were announced at night one of the award ceremony, and Sea Eagles fullback Tom Trbojevic is the short-priced favourite with the bookmakers. It’s a remarkable feat considering he only returned to footy after injury in round six, and helped lift Manly from just one win to being Premiership contenders.
Trbojevic’s teammate Daly Cherry-Evans, Penrith’s Nathan Cleary, Roosters star James Tedesco, and South Sydney’s Cody Walker rounding out the top five.
The other awards on offer on the night include Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Female Player of the Year and the Dally M Team of the Year.
Who has won the award previously?
2020 – Jack Wighton (Canberra Raiders)
2019 – James Tedesco (Sydney Roosters)
2018 – Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (NZ Warriors))
2017 – Cameron Smith (Melbourne Storm)
2016 – Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm) & Jason Taumalolo (North Queensland Cowboys)
The Dally M Medal has been won by most of the game’s greats. Johnathan Thurston took home the award on a record four occasions, while Andrew Johns won three times.
Other multiple winners include Cameron Smith, Jarryd Hayne and Cooper Cronk.
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