Finalists announced for Ken Stephen Medal

Club captains Terry Campese, Michael Ennis, Ben Creagh, Kurt Gidley, Tim Mannah and Nate Myles are among the 15 finalists announced today for the prestigious 2013 Ken Stephen Medal presented by Telstra, to be awarded at the annual NRL One Community Awards that will kick off the Telstra Premiership Grand Final Week.

Scott Prince (Broncos), Brent Tate (Cowboys), Joe Galuvao (Sea Eagles), Clint Newton (Panthers), Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Roosters), Ben Ross (Sharks), Billy Slater (Storm), Steve Rapira (Warriors) and Lote Tuqiri (Wests Tigers) are the other players nominated for their involvement in charity work, youth development or community support that demonstrates their ability as a community role model.

The seventh annual NRL One Community Awards will be held on Monday, 30 September, at Sydney’s Town Hall and is set to be an inspiring evening of celebration for the contributions made by NRL’s unsung heroes including volunteers, grassroots clubs, teachers, students, and NRL players.

 “Every year I’m blown away by the tireless contributions made by those in the grassroots Rugby League community,” said NRL Interim Community, Culture and Diversity General Manager, Mr Mark deWeerd.

“The efforts made by the 2013 finalists continue to inspire me and I couldn’t be more proud that the NRL is able to highlight the significant role volunteers play in our Game.

“The awards are a small token of our gratitude to the dedication of the thousands of community volunteers who play a huge part in fostering our up and coming stars and the growth of our game.

“It’s important to celebrate our unsung heroes during Grand Final Week to give them the recognition they deserve while the nation is firmly focused on the NRL, both on and off the field.

“The game would not be at the level it is today without their support, dedication and commitment.”

Since 1988 the Ken Stephen Medal has honoured the likes of ARL Commissioner, Wayne Pearce, Andrew Ettingshausen, Mark Coyne, Peter Sterling, Hazem El Masri, Nathan Hindmarsh, Andrew Ryan, Sam Thaiday and last year’s winner, Johnathan Thurston, for their contributions to the game and the community.

The One Community Awards has a prize pool of over $50,000 across eight award categories including the Holden National Volunteer of the Year, Harvey Norman Women in League Achievement Awards (Professional and Volunteer), Telstra One Community Grassroots Club of the Year, AAMI Service to Refereeing, AAMI Service to the Community Award, ARL Commission National Teacher of the Year (Primary and Secondary School) and the ARL Commission Young Indigenous Learn Earn Legend! Award.

The finalist for these awards will be announced soon.

The public will have a chance to vote for the winner of the Ken Stephen Medal, with the ‘public’ winner earning one vote for the final judging stage. Voting for the Ken Stephen Medal will open at the end of the month.

Follow the NRL One Community Twitter feed @rlonecommunity and the official NRL Twitter feed @NRL, and ‘like’ the NRL One Community Facebook page to keep up to date with all of the latest information.

The finalists for the 2013 Ken Stephen Medal presented by Telstra are:

NB: The Rabbitohs have elected not to nominate one individual player for this award.

Telstra will give $5,000 to the winner and $5,000 to their favourite charity.