The Game 2025 Awards (club awards, Dally M, RLPA)

[Babyface O'reilly]

Is Teddy still wearing his mouth guard?

 

[mozza91]

Braith taking to hosting the Dally M’s like he took to playing fullback on that infamous night.

 

[This Year?]

Congratulations to all the Dally M winners.

 

[Dragon Slayer]

Not a Tiger, Eel, Sea Eagle, Rabbitoh or Dargon in sight.

No invitations needed.

Don’t want to stink up the awards.

 

[League Unlimited News]

Top ten vote getters​

​

Dally M Medal (NRL Player of the Year): James Tedesco (Sydney Roosters)​

1. James Tedesco (67 points) Roosters
2. Nathan Cleary (45 points) Panthers
3. Isaiya Katoa (44 points) Dolphins)
4. Payne Haas (44 points) Broncos
5. Blayke Brailey (42 points) Sharks
6. Tom Dearden (42 points) Cowboys
7. Reece Walsh (41 points) Broncos
8. Luke Metcalf (40 points) Warriors
9. Daly Cherry-Evans (39 points) Sea Eagles
10. Will Kennedy (37 points) Sharks

Dally M Medal (NRLW Player of the Year): Tamika Upton (Brisbane Broncos)​

1. Tamika Upton (35 points) Broncos
2. Julia Robinson (32 points) Broncos
3. Jesse Southwell (31 points) Knights
4. Isabelle Kelly (29 points) Roosters
5. Rachael Pearson (24 points) Eels
6. Jakiya Whitfeld (22 points) Cowboys
7. Yasmin Clydsdale (21 points) Knights
8. Emma Verran (20 points) Sharks
9. Tarryn Aiken (18 points) Roosters
10. Olivia Kernick (17 points) Roosters



Full winners:

https://leagueunlimited.com/news/43148-2025-dally-m-awards/

 

[Bazal]

Congratulations to James Tedesco on winning the 2025 Squid Games

 

[Bobby DIGital]

Lol @ Tedesco thanking his footy whisperer Joe Wehbe.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

I’m ashamed of myself for even being bothered by these stupid awards judged by known imbeciles, but…Cleary being halfback over Katoa is embarrassing, and Toia getting ROTY over Leka feels like nothing other than Origin exceptionalism.

Nominating Leka for second rower of the year (which he probably didn’t deserve honestly) and then not giving him ROTY is just nonsensical and almost seems like something they did because they were embarrassed about what they were about to do. I’m not really comfortable dumping on Toia because he had a good rookie season, but Leka was the standout. It really feels like some sort of weird mentality of ‘Toia played Origin, which is irrelevant to these awards, but it must mean he is an Elite Player so we better give him the award’.

 

[Valheru]

I’m ashamed of myself for even being bothered by these stupid awards judged by known imbeciles, but…Cleary being halfback over Katoa is embarrassing, and Toia getting ROTY over Leka feels like nothing other than Origin exceptionalism.

Nominating Leka for second rower of the year (which he probably didn’t deserve honestly) and then not giving him ROTY is just nonsensical and almost seems like something they did because they were embarrassed about what they were about to do. I’m not really comfortable dumping on Toia because he had a good rookie season, but Leka was the standout. It really feels like some sort of weird mentality of ‘Toia played Origin, which is irrelevant to these awards, but it must mean he is an Elite Player so we better give him the award’.

I wouldn't waste too much time getting upset about this. The real rookie of the year was ruled ineligible after the NRL changed the rules less than 2 months ago.

 

[Captain Apollo]

I’m ashamed of myself for even being bothered by these stupid awards judged by known imbeciles, but…Cleary being halfback over Katoa is embarrassing, and Toia getting ROTY over Leka feels like nothing other than Origin exceptionalism.

Nominating Leka for second rower of the year (which he probably didn’t deserve honestly) and then not giving him ROTY is just nonsensical and almost seems like something they did because they were embarrassed about what they were about to do. I’m not really comfortable dumping on Toia because he had a good rookie season, but Leka was the standout. It really feels like some sort of weird mentality of ‘Toia played Origin, which is irrelevant to these awards, but it must mean he is an Elite Player so we better give him the award’.

I think Katoa suffered due to the Dolphins form slumping over the last 4-5 weeks of the season and missing out on the finals, whereas Penrith were surging on the field. With Cleary finishing higher in the Dally M points count (I mean he did finish second in the overall medal count), he was always going to be named Halfback of the Year as a consequence.

 

[dogslife]

I wouldn't waste too much time getting upset about this. The real rookie of the year was ruled ineligible after the NRL changed the rules less than 2 months ago.

A 25 year old with international rugby experience winning rookie of the year would have been the icing on an extremely shitty cake

 

[Timmah]

I think Katoa suffered due to the Dolphins form slumping over the last 4-5 weeks of the season and missing out on the finals, whereas Penrith were surging on the field. With Cleary finishing higher in the Dally M points count (I mean he did finish second in the overall medal count), he was always going to be named Halfback of the Year as a consequence.

Notably, the broadcast made it clear last night that Team of the Year is not decided off the vote count at all, and that the judges convene after Round 27 to make the choices for it.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

I think Katoa suffered due to the Dolphins form slumping over the last 4-5 weeks of the season and missing out on the finals, whereas Penrith were surging on the field. With Cleary finishing higher in the Dally M points count (I mean he did finish second in the overall medal count), he was always going to be named Halfback of the Year as a consequence.

Which really underlines one of the issues with the system, it’s massively influenced by whether or not your team is winning - which 100% is a factor but sometimes doesn’t tell you much about individual performance. There’s no real logic in Katoa being punished while he’s still setting up tries but the losers around him are conceding 50 every week.

Another example of this is RTS getting Warriors player of the year but not featuring at all in the awards. It’s because Clark was our dominant player when we were winning and RTS was our dominant player in the second half of the season when we were losing. For Dally M purposes RTS might as well’ve not been there.

 

[Billythekid]

I’ll insane that Teddy won by that much and it’s wild that Cleary came second as well. These awards are a joke with how they hand out points.

The problem is certain players are already pencilled in as getting the 3 points automatically at the start of the game and it’s clearly biased towards certain positions.

 

[League Unlimited News]

NSWRL
Brad Fittler Medal: Brian To'o (Penrith Panthers)
NSW Blues Women's State of Origin Player of the Year: Olivia Kernick (Sydney Roosters)
The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Player of the Year: Kalani Going (Warriors)
Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership Player of the Year: Monique Donovan (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks)

North Queensland
Paul Bowman Medal: Tom Dearden
NRLW Player of the Year: Bree Chester

Manly
NRL Roy Bull Best and Fairest: Tolu Koula

Canterbury
2025 Dr George Peponis Player of the Year & 2025 NRL Players' Player of the Year: Stephen Crichton
2025 NRLW Player of the Year: Andie Robinson

Penrith
Merv Cartwright Medal - Nathan Cleary

Parramatta
Ken Thornett NRL Player of the Year: Jack Williams
NRLW Player of the Year Award: Abbi Church

Newcastle
Player of the Year (Danny Buderus Medal) - Jacob Saifiti
NRLW Player of the Year - Yasmin Clydsdale

South Sydney
George Piggins Medal (NRL Player of the Year) - Jai Arrow

Canberra
Meninga Medal (NRL) - Joe Tapine
Meninga Medal (NRLW) - Simaima Taufa

Warriors
Simon Mannering Medal | Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
Harvey Norman NRLW Player of the Year | Apii Nicholls

St George Illawarra
Dragons Medal (NRL) - Clint Gutherson
Dragons Medal (NRLW) - Madi Mulhall

Gold Coast
Paul Broughton Medal (NRL Player of the Year): AJ Brimson
NRLW Player of the Year: Jess Elliston

Sydney
Jack Gibson Medal - James Tedesco
Kari Australia NRLW Player of the Year: Olivia Kernick

Dolphins
Arthur Beetson Medal Player of the Year - Herbie Farnworth

QRL
Steph Hancock Medal (BMD POTY): Evelyn Roberts - Brisbane Tigers
Petero Civoniceva Medal (HPC POTY): Oliver Pascoe - Ipswich Jets
Annie Banks Medal (Women's Origin POTS): Julia Robinson
Ron McAuliffe Medal (Men's Origin POTS): Tom Dearden

Rugby League Players' Assocation
Men's Dream Team
Fullback: James Tedesco
Wingers: Mark Nawaqanitawase, Xavier Coates
Centres: Stephen Crichton, Herbie Farnworth
Five-Eighth: Ethan Strange
Halfback: Isaiya Katoa
Props: Payne Haas, Joseph Tapine
Hooker: Harry Grant
Second Rowers: Eliesa Katoa, Hudson Young
Lock: Erin Clark
Impact: Kurt Mann
Women's Dream Team
Fullback: Tamika Upton
Wingers: Taina Naividi, Payton Takimoana
Centres: Isabelle Kelly, Julia Robinson
Five-Eighth: Patricia Maliepo
Halfback: Tarryn Aiken
Props: Rima Butler, Otesa Pule
Hooker: Emma Manzelmann
Second Rowers: Yasmin Clydsdale, Kezie Apps
Lock: Olivia Kernick
Impact: Shalom Sauaso
NRL Players Champion: James Tedesco (Sydney)
NRLW Players' Champion: Tamika Upton (Brisbane)

Dally M Awards
NRL
Dally M Medal (NRL Player of the Year): James Tedesco (Sydney)
Team of the Year
Fullback: James Tedesco (Sydney)
Wingers: Mark Nawaqanitawase (Sydney), Xavier Coates (Melbourne)
Centres: Stephen Crichton (Canterbury), Kotoni Staggs (Brisbane)
Five-eighth: Ethan Strange (Canberra)
Halfback: Nathan Cleary (Penrith)
Hooker: Blayke Brailey (Cronulla)
Props: Addin Fonua-Blake (Cronulla), Payne Haas (Brisbane)
Second Rowers: Eli Katoa (Melbourne), Hudson Young (Canberra)
Lock: Erin Clark (Warriors)
NRLW
Dally M Medal (NRLW Player of the Year): Tamika Upton (Brisbane)
Team of the Year
Fullback: Tamika Upton (Brisbane)
Wingers: Payton Takimoana (Warriors), Sheridan Gallagher (Newcastle)
Centres: Isabelle Kelly (Sydney), Julia Robinson (Brisbane)
Five-eighth: Gayle Broughton (Brisbane)
Halfback: Jesse Southwell (Newcastle)
Hooker: Emma Manzelmann (North Qld)
Props: Ellie Johnston (Cronulla), Jessika Elliston (Gold Coast)
Second Rowers: Romy Teitzel (Brisbane), Yasmin Clydsdale (Newcastle)
Lock: Olivia Kernick (Sydney)

Cronulla
Porter Gallen Medal and Pontifex Jewellers Player of the Year - Addin Fonua-Blake
NRLW Player of the Year - Emma Verran

Melbourne
Cameron Smith Player of the Year Award: Xavier Coates

Brisbane
Paul Morgan Medal - Player of the Year: Payne Haas
NRLW Player of the Year: Tamika Upton

Wests Tigers
Kelly-Barnes Medal: Terrell May
NRLW Player of the Year: Sarah Togatuki

Full winners for all clubs:

https://leagueunlimited.com/news/43002-2025-honour-roll-nrl-and-nrlw-award-winners/