Dally M Medal in Australia. The award was originally established in 1979 by "The Daily Mirror" newspaper in 1979. For many years, it was the second major individual award in the New South Wales Rugby League behind the Rothmans Medal. It was awarded each year between 1979 and 1996. With the Super League schism in 1997, the medal was not awarded. Since the National Rugby League (NRL) was formed from the merger of the Australian Rugby League and the Australian Super League in 1998, the Dally M Medal has been the single official player-of-the-year award for that league, and the highest individual honour
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.