Roosters five-eighth Todd Carney has survived one of the most dramatic Dally M finishes in the 30-year history of the award to be named the Telstra Premiership’s best and fairest player for 2010.
The playmaker who spent the 2009 season rebuilding his life and his career playing district football for the North Queensland town of Atherton edged out Wests Tigers skipper Robbie Farah by a single vote in a contest that came down to the last round of the year.
Fittingly it was another former Roosters five-eighth, Robert ‘Rocky’ Laurie, who won the inaugural Dally M Medal playing for the Rabbitohs in 1980, who presented Carney with his medal.
Carney was also voted the fans’ player of the year with more than 15,000 fans voting throughout the season on NRL.com to declare him the Provan-Summons Medal winner for 2010.
Heartbreakingly for Farah, it was second time the Wests Tigers hooker had been within a single vote of the game’s highest individual honour after running second to Johnathan Thurston in 2007.
Farah stormed into medal contention through the final rounds, outscoring Carney in the last match but failing to pick up the three points he needed to force a drawn result.
He walked away instead with the Dally M Award for Hooker of the Year.
For only the second time in the history of the Dally M Awards, the nine positional awards were shared among nine clubs, with eight first-time winners (Farah was also Dally M Hooker of the Year in 2007).
The Roosters walked away with the most awards overall. Carney claimed the Dally M and Provan Summons Medals as well as the Five-Eighth of the Year, while team-mate Braith Anasta was named Dally M Captain of the Year and Brian Smith Coach of the Year.
Last year’s Dally M Medal winner, Jarryd Hayne, again provided his unique touch of brilliance to the awards, winning the Peter Frilingos Headline Moment of The Year award for the spectacular fashion in which he scored a 90-metre try against Penrith.
The full list of award winners is:
Dally M Medal: Todd Carney (Sydney Roosters)
Provan Summons Medal: Todd Carney (Sydney Roosters)
Captain: Braith Anasta (Sydney Roosters)
Fullback: Darius Boyd (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Winger: Akuila Uate (Newcastle Knights)
Centre: Jamie Lyon (Manly Sea Eagles)
Five-Eighth: Todd Carney (Sydney Roosters)
Halfback: Scott Prince (Gold Coast Titans)
Lock: Luke Lewis (Penrith Panthers)
Second Row: Sam Thaiday (Brisbane Broncos)
Prop: David Shillington (Canberra Raiders)
Hooker: Robbie Farah (Wests Tigers)
Coach: Brian Smith (Sydney Roosters)
Rep Player: Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm)
Rookie: Matt Gillett (Brisbane Broncos)
Toyota Cup Player of the Year: Tariq Sims (Brisbane Broncos)
Peter Frilingos Headline Moment: Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta Eels)
Top Point Scorer: Michael Gordon (Penrith Panthers)
Top Try Scorer: Akuila Uate (Newcastle Knights)
The playmaker who spent the 2009 season rebuilding his life and his career playing district football for the North Queensland town of Atherton edged out Wests Tigers skipper Robbie Farah by a single vote in a contest that came down to the last round of the year.
Fittingly it was another former Roosters five-eighth, Robert ‘Rocky’ Laurie, who won the inaugural Dally M Medal playing for the Rabbitohs in 1980, who presented Carney with his medal.
Carney was also voted the fans’ player of the year with more than 15,000 fans voting throughout the season on NRL.com to declare him the Provan-Summons Medal winner for 2010.
Heartbreakingly for Farah, it was second time the Wests Tigers hooker had been within a single vote of the game’s highest individual honour after running second to Johnathan Thurston in 2007.
Farah stormed into medal contention through the final rounds, outscoring Carney in the last match but failing to pick up the three points he needed to force a drawn result.
He walked away instead with the Dally M Award for Hooker of the Year.
For only the second time in the history of the Dally M Awards, the nine positional awards were shared among nine clubs, with eight first-time winners (Farah was also Dally M Hooker of the Year in 2007).
The Roosters walked away with the most awards overall. Carney claimed the Dally M and Provan Summons Medals as well as the Five-Eighth of the Year, while team-mate Braith Anasta was named Dally M Captain of the Year and Brian Smith Coach of the Year.
Last year’s Dally M Medal winner, Jarryd Hayne, again provided his unique touch of brilliance to the awards, winning the Peter Frilingos Headline Moment of The Year award for the spectacular fashion in which he scored a 90-metre try against Penrith.
The full list of award winners is:
Dally M Medal: Todd Carney (Sydney Roosters)
Provan Summons Medal: Todd Carney (Sydney Roosters)
Captain: Braith Anasta (Sydney Roosters)
Fullback: Darius Boyd (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Winger: Akuila Uate (Newcastle Knights)
Centre: Jamie Lyon (Manly Sea Eagles)
Five-Eighth: Todd Carney (Sydney Roosters)
Halfback: Scott Prince (Gold Coast Titans)
Lock: Luke Lewis (Penrith Panthers)
Second Row: Sam Thaiday (Brisbane Broncos)
Prop: David Shillington (Canberra Raiders)
Hooker: Robbie Farah (Wests Tigers)
Coach: Brian Smith (Sydney Roosters)
Rep Player: Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm)
Rookie: Matt Gillett (Brisbane Broncos)
Toyota Cup Player of the Year: Tariq Sims (Brisbane Broncos)
Peter Frilingos Headline Moment: Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta Eels)
Top Point Scorer: Michael Gordon (Penrith Panthers)
Top Try Scorer: Akuila Uate (Newcastle Knights)
