South Sydney superstar Greg Inglis will head to Tuesday’s Dally M Medal ceremony at Sydney’s Star City a firm favourite to claim the NRL’s highest individual honour.
Inglis trailed his Queensland teammate Cooper Cronk by a single point before the voting went behind closed door after round 16, but his outstanding form for the Rabbitohs in the latter stages of the season could see him take out the game’s highest individual honour.
The fullback struggled at times with a knee injury sustained in the State of Origin decider but his value to Souths was made even more apparent when he wasn’t there – the Rabbitohs losing three of four games at the back end of the regular season when he was out.
Despite missing those matches the 26-year-old is expected to go close to succeeding last year’s recipient Ben Barba.
Cronk’s early season form was superb for the Storm and he had 16 votes after round 16 – one ahead of Inglis.
Should the halfback take out the prize he would emulate the achievement of Melbourne teammates Billy Slater and Cameron Smith who came out on top in 2011 and 2006 respectively.
Inglis’ teammate John Sutton and Newcastle’s Jarrod Mullen were on the same number of points as Inglis before voting went blind.
The Newcastle halfback’s strong form at the back end of the year to help his side climb into the finals make him a serious contender to become the first Knights player since Danny Buderus in 2004 to scoop the prize.
There was only one representative from Sunday’s grand finalists Manly on the leaderboard after round 16, with Sea Eagles’ Daly Cherry-Evans sitting in fourth spot on 13 points.
Cherry-Evans has enjoyed a memorable 2013 that saw him make his Queensland debut and help his side to a second grand final in three years.
One of the key factors for their place in the decider was the form of their halfback, but the 23-year-old doesn’t expect to be following in the footsteps of close mate Barba.
“I’m a dark horse, I’m not expecting to win that award,” Cherry-Evans said.
“If I do walk out with it I’ll be very honoured. When all is said and done I’m not really too fussed about the whole occasion.
“It’ll just be a good night to have a nice feed and take my partner out.”
“It’s definitely an honour to be mentioned in the candidates, but I’m not expected to win it, I won’t be placing any expectations on myself for tomorrow night.”
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