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
AFL Coaches Association awards "best and fairest" awards, as player suspensions are disregarded. AFL Coaches Association awards The AFL Coaches Association awards are a group of awards which have been presented annually since 2003, mainly to players and coaches in the Australian Football League (AFL), voted for by all AFL coaches. Awarded annually since 2003. Each week, the senior coach of each AFL club gives five votes to the player they consider to be best on ground in the game in which their team plays, four to the second-best, and so on to one for the fifth-best. The player with the most votes at