Opinion
The NRL regular season is run and done with several players putting their hands up for the highest individual honour in the game – the Dally M Medal.
Last year’s winner, Manly star Tom Trbojevic, is out of the running after suffering serious shoulder damage earlier in the season and it’s a wide open field for the honour, which will be awarded later this month.
St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hunt is the favourite to take home the award after his stellar campaign for the under-performing Dragons.
Cronulla halfback Nicho Hynes, Panthers duo Isaah Yeo and Dylan Edwards, and Melbourne star Cameron Munster are also likely to be in contention when the final votes are announced.
Hunt led the way on 19 ahead of Yeo (17) with Hynes on 16 when the NRL stopped publicising the weekly voting after Round 12.
| Ben Hunt (Dragons) | 19 |
| Isaah Yeo (Panthers) | 17 |
| Nicho Hynes (Sharks) | 16 |
| Mitchell Moses (Eels) | 15 |
| Ryan Papenhuyzen (Storm) | 15 |
| James Tedesco (Roosters) | 14 |
| Daly Cherry-Evans (Sea Eagles) | 13 |
| Dylan Edwards (Panthers) | 13 |
| Cameron Munster (Storm) | 12 |
| Adam Reynolds (Broncos) | 11 |
The Roar experts have their say and if you’d like to do likewise, fire away in the comments section below.
My Dally M player of the Year is Dylan Edwards. The Panthers fullback has had an outstanding season and has been one of the team’s most consistent performers all year.
Dylan Edwards makes a break to score. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
It’s long overdue that a forward won the Dally M Medal and there’d be no more deserving winner than Isaah Yeo for his sustained excellence at Penrith.
Cameron Smith (2017 and ’06), Danny Buderus in 2004 and Jason Taumalolo (sharesies with Cooper Cronk in 2016) are the only forwards who have won the medal in the NRL era since it became the undisputed highest individual honour in the game.
Doesn’t pretty much every player and coach say “the forwards won us the game”. Well, then give the larger members in the team, the ones who do all the dirty work, due recognition.
Yeo has been a superb link between the pack and the backs at Penrith but one of dem showponies in the No.7 jersey like Nicho Hynes or Ben Hunt will win because halfbacks are deified in rugby league.
There are three clear frontrunners for this year’s Dally M:
Joe Tapine has been the best front row forward in the game in 2022 in a very competitive field. His standout performances have won him at least five best on grounds. However, in recent rounds his teammates may have taken some valuable points off him.
Nicho Hynes has been outstanding at the Sharks. Just how good is highlighted by their results during his occasional absences. Those absences may cost him – but he still may get over the line.
Ben Hunt has been a shining light in an otherwise difficult season for the Red V. The 2022 NRL season has seen him at the peak of his powers, with his kicking, passing and generalship all outstanding. The fact that he has picked up points in losing games while starring in most the Dragons have won means Ben Hunt is my favourite for the top prize.
Who will win the Dally M and who should win the Dally M are two very different questions. In my view, Ben Hunt will win the Dally M – in a season where St George Illawarra have struggled, in almost every performance where the team has won, he would have received points and deservedly so. In a team that lacks star power, Hunt will generally always stand out.
In terms of who should win it, the best players in the competition are Latrell Mitchell, James Tedesco and Cameron Munster. In my view, James Tedesco has been the most consistent out of the three and I would love to see him with the Dally M Medal.
(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
Ben Hunt has been the best and fairest player in the comp this year. His team may have disappointed – well, disappointed some, I think they performed about as well as their roster allowed – but he has been a cut above in most games.
As for suggestions this will provide the redemption that will finally see people stop bringing up his 2015 dropped ball? Wasn’t that supposed to happen after he won all those man of the match awards in Origin?
With due respect to the game’s highest individual honour, Ben needs to win the game’s actual highest honour, a premiership, to come close to wiping that away.
Ben Hunt has had an absolute blinder of a season and has carried his side for most of the year.
For other teams the points could go to anyone for a great game – I wouldn’t be surprised if Hunt earnt all the points for each Dragons game as not too many of his teammates have been worthy. And if Origin counted towards it, he would be in a league of his own.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
In my fearless predictions for the 2022 season, I picked Cameron Munster to win the Dally M. So obviously I think he should win it!
He’s definitely not the favourite, but he’s certainly in the mix, and had plenty of games where he was overwhelmingly the best player on the park. As such, he may just garner enough votes from his dominating displays to pip Ben Hunt.
Isaah Yeo and Ben Hunt will be sniffing about the top of the ladder when the results from Round 13 on are compiled, yet Nicho Hynes has been the most polished, consistent and effective player in the NRL this season and deserves the gong more than any other.
With Hunt likely to have little competition from teammates when it comes to vote getting, he could well be the main threat.
(Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Yeo will have more of a challenge in that area, yet it is hard not to see Hynes picking up points most weeks, considering the strong run towards the finals that the Sharks have enjoyed.
A drawn award is a distinct possibility but Hynes has been the standout player of the NRL season to this point in time.
It’s got to be Ben Hunt, because under the rules, he’ll have got three points in every game that the Dragons won as the rest of the team are rubbish. Nicho Hynes might edge it based on not playing Origin but I doubt it.
In terms of the actual best player: Isaah Yeo is permanently great and would be in with a shout had he not missed fixtures.
My personal MVP remains James Tedesco, who is always top three in every game that he plays. He’s so good, however, and always so good, that we take it for granted a little bit.
Who should win? Joe Tapine. An unbelievable season for a forward who was up there with the backs for metreage and who dragged his club from the toilet to the lounge room. But enough of my love of the big boppers.
Who will actually win the Dally M? Ben Hunt. He’s been good and consistent, which is the recipe for success. His team have been abysmal so he stands out even more too. Naysayers will wail and grind their teeth about a player from a loser club taking the medal, but Hunt would be a justifiable winner.
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