I watched the game live on the box, and since then I have watched it 3 more times. I'm sticking with my first impression - Nightingale. We had no passengers. We owned then for 60 minutes.
Big Norm
The more I watch it on replay (just reached 3) the more I reckon Nightingale deserves the CC. He came infield plenty of times to make good metres and had some really strong one-on-one tackles on Linnett. I guess they probably thought the bomb he dropped and the try against him put a damper on his performance. Hornby was special too: a try-assist, some great runs, 2 great catches from the kickoff and a speckie from that bomb. I thought they should've made it a joint medal for Boyd and Nighty. But that's just me.