A MONTH ago, Todd Carney was ruing his omission from the NSW State of Origin team.
Now the Cronulla Sharks playmaker has surged into shock favouritism to snare his second Dally M player of the year award.
The combination of injuries to early favourites, Souths pair Greg Inglis and John Sutton, and a renewed enthusiasm following his Origin disappointment, has catapulted Carney to the top of the betting board for the prestigious medal.
Carney has been installed as the $2.75 favourite to win the award by Tabcorp's corporate betting arm, Luxbet, while surprisingly the odds on Inglis, the player many expected would break the Rabbitohs' 33-year Dally M drought this year, have blown out to $34.
Sutton is rated a $29 chance while North Queensland skipper Johnathan Thurston is second favourite at $4.
Carney was on 12 points, four points behind leader, Melbourne's Cooper Cronk, when voting went behind closed doors after Round 16.
Inglis was equal-second on 15, with Newcastle's Jarrod Mullen and Sutton.
But three, possibly four, man of the match performances from Carney in his past six matches has many believing the Sharks five-eighth has recaptured the form that saw him claim the gong in 2010 when he inspired the Roosters to the grand final.
They include former premiership winning halfback Brett Kimmorley.
"Given his form, you'd have to think Carney would be leading comfortably," Kimmorley said."He's been outstanding. The biggest strength of his game when he won the Dally M previously was his running game.
"He's running a lot straighter and on the back of the momentum that the Sharkies create, you find him posing a lot of questions.
"He looks fresh and happy, too, which at this time last year, he was probably the worst he ever felt in his career. He's not coming out of Origin deflated.
"He would've sat back and watched the series without any pressure and then he goes out and picks up points while the guys that did play Origin have come back a little flat.
"Cooper Cronk and Cam Smith weren't great in the month after Origin and now Inglis is injured."
Repaying the faith shown by Sharks coach Shane Flanagan, Carney has also stepped up in the absence of club captain Paul Gallen, who missed six weeks through injury.
"He's taken a leadership role with Gal missing and he's realised that he's a senior member there," State of Origin coach Laurie Daley said. "Like all the good players in the competition, he knows that if he can play well he can have a say in the result of the match. He's certainly done that, which has left the race wide open."
Manly's Daly Cherry-Evans and Canterbury pivot Josh Reynolds also have the potential to make a late charge for the Dally M Medal, which will be awarded in grand final week for the first time this year.
