Dally M Awards the year. Between 1979 and 1996, when both the Dally M Medal and Rothmans Medal were awarded, the same player won both awards on only three occasions - Peter Sterling in 1987, Gavin Miller in 1989 and Ricky Stuart in 1993. In 1997, when the game was split between the News Limited-organised Super League competition and the ARL, News Limited did not hold the awards. The only other time the awards night has not been held was in 2003, following a dispute with the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA). After the players had threatened to boycott the event unless the
Dally M Awards NRL met their demands, the NRL cancelled the Dally M awards two days prior to the ceremony. Craig Gower would have been named player of the year had the awards not been cancelled. Gower was subsequently awarded the inaugural RLPA Players Player Medal in recognition of his 2003 NRL season exploits, and his central role in the dispute that saw the creation of the games first overarching workplace agreement 8 months after the boycott. The 2014 Dally M Medal was held on 29 September 2014 and was won jointly by Jarryd Hayne and Johnathan Thurston of the North Queensland Cowboys.