Rothmans Medal


The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in both the New South Wales Rugby League and Brisbane Rugby League competitions, and later in the Australian Rugby League, which was given to the player voted by referees as the best and fairest in those competitions for the season. The award was established in both leagues in 1968, and ran until 1997. In 1998, with the establishment of the National Rugby League, the Rothmans Medal was replaced by the Dally M Medal as the official Player of the Year award.
The Rothmans Medal was also the award for Player of the Year in the Queensland Rugby Union premier grade competition between 1976 and 1996.

History

The Rothmans Medal was the first official player-of-the-year award to be established in rugby league in Australia. The medal was sponsored by Rothmans International, a tobacco production company. There were two Rothmans Medals awarded each year: one for the best player in the New South Wales Rugby League, and one for the best player in the Brisbane Rugby League.
The voting for the Rothmans Medal was done by the match-day referee. After each match, he awarded three votes to the best player, two votes to the second-best player, and one vote to the third-best player. This is the same basic format as the modern day Dally M, except that the votes are now determined by the media.
The two Rothmans Medals were first awarded in 1968, and were awarded each year until 1996. In 1997, the Rothmans Medal in New South Wales became known as the Provan-Summons medal, because all tobacco advertising and sponsorship was prohibited in Australia in 1992, under the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992; the medal then disappeared altogether in 1998 with the merger of the Australian Rugby League and the Australian Super League. The Queensland Rothmans Medal was also last awarded in 1996, as the Queensland Cup superseded the Brisbane Rugby League as Queensland's premier rugby league competition in 1997.

Rothmans Medal winners

New South Wales

Note: includes Provan-Summons Medal winner in 1997.
YearWinnerPositionTeam
1968Terry Hughes Cronulla
1969Denis Pittard South Sydney
1970Kevin Junee Eastern Suburbs
1971Denis Pittard South Sydney
1972Tommy Raudonikis Western Suburbs
1973Ken Maddison Cronulla
1974Graham Eadie Manly-Warringah
1975Steve Rogers Cronulla
1976Ray Higgs Parramatta
1977Mick Cronin Parramatta
1978Mick Cronin Parramatta
1979Ray Price Parramatta
1980Geoff Bugden Newtown
1981Kevin Hastings Eastern Suburbs
1982Greg Brentnall Canterbury
1983Michael Eden Eastern Suburbs
1984Terry Lamb Canterbury
1985Wayne Pearce Balmain
1986Mal Cochrane Manly-Warringah
1987Peter Sterling Parramatta
1988Barry Russell Cronulla
1989Gavin Miller
Mark Sargent
 Cronulla
Newcastle
1990Peter Sterling Parramatta
1991Ewan McGrady Canterbury
1992Allan Langer Brisbane
1993Ricky Stuart Canberra
1994David Fairleigh North Sydney
1995Paul Green Cronulla
1996Jason Taylor North Sydney
1997Brad Fittler Sydney Roosters

Queensland

YearWinnerPositionTeam
1968Wayne Head Western Suburbs
1969Johnny Brown Northern Suburbs
1970Graeme Atherton Southern Suburbs
1971Len Brunner Wynnum-Manly
1972Marty Scanlan Valleys
1973John Eales Eastern Suburbs
1974Jeff Fyfe Eastern Suburbs
1975Steve Calder Northern Suburbs
1976Darryl Brohman Northern Suburbs
1977Alan Currie Eastern Suburbs
1978Ian Pearce Redcliffe
1979Neville Draper Northern Suburbs
1980Tony Obst Redcliffe
1981Chris Phelan Southern Suburbs
1982Tony Currie Western Suburbs
1983Trevor Paterson Eastern Suburbs
1984Cavill Heugh Eastern Suburbs
1985Ian French Wynnum-Manly
1986Bryan Niebling
Scott Tronc
 Redcliffe
Southern Suburbs
1987Gene Miles Wynnum-Manly
1988Kevin Langer Western Suburbs
1989Neil Tierney Wynnum-Manly
1990Trevor Benson Redcliffe
1991Darryl Duncan Northern Suburbs
1992Jason Hanrahan Southern Suburbs
1993Paul Green
Steve Mills
 Eastern Suburbs
Western Suburbs
1994Steve Bryant Brothers
1995Graham Cotter Redcliffe
1996Alan Wieland Western Suburbs