Ahead of the release of the 2022 Official Rugby League Annual, historian David Middleton has picked his top five NRLW players of the year with three Dally M Medallists included.
Raecene McGregor, who helped the Roosters clinch their maiden Premiership in the first competition of the year, backed up her efforts in the second half of the season – taking out the 2022 Dally M Medal as well as the Golden Boot award for her efforts while on international duties for the New Zealand Kiwi Ferns.
Knights duo Tamika Upton and Millie Boyle both finished in Middleton's top five after their breakthrough success for Newcastle in the 2022 season, with Eels forward Simaima Taufa and Dragons fullback Emma Tonegato – who both tasted World Cup success for the Jillaroos – rounded out the top five.
Millie Boyle
Boyle missed the World Cup due to business commitments, but she was a spectacular performer in two NRLW competitions and the Women’s Origin clash won by the Blues in Canberra.
Boyle was named joint winner of the Dally M Female player of the year for her efforts with the Broncos in the delayed 2021 premiership and then a significant contributor to the Knights’ maiden success in the 2022 competition.
In the winner's sheds: Millie Boyle
She averaged an incredible 200 metres per game across the two competitions, the go-forward a huge factor in the Broncos’ minor premiership title and the Knights’ premiership victory.
Emma Tonegato
Tonegato made a scintillating return to rugby league in 2022 after highly successful period playing Rugby Sevens. Her athleticism and skills added considerably to the NRLW competition and were a major factor in the Dragons’ rise from a winless season in 2020 to grand finalists in the delayed 2021 competition.
Named joint winner of the Dally M Female player of the year, Tonegato helped the Dragons to qualify for a second straight finals series and capped a tremendous 12 months when she played in the Jillaroos’ World Cup-winning team at Old Trafford.
Tonegato supreme in player of the match performance
Raecene McGregor
It was incredible to think that McGregor was almost left on the shelf ahead of the 2021 NRLW premiership due to an injury and a change in the competition set-up but a late invitation from the Roosters paid dividends all round.
McGregor was a leading figure for the Roosters in their sudden ascent to premiership honours and in the club’s undefeated run to minor premiership honours in the 2002 season.
She topped the try assist tally for both seasons and transferred her talents to the Kiwi Ferns where she starred in a mid-season Test against Tonga before helping the Ferns to a sixth World Cup Final appearance.
2022 Dally M NRLW Player of the Year - Raecene McGregor
McGregor scooped the pool in player awards late in the season, winning every gong from the Golden Boot to the Dally M and the RLPA Players Champion.
Simaima Taufa
There were few players in the women’s game who committed heart and soul to every game the way Simaima Taufa did in 2022. Despite playing in a Parramatta team that missed the finals at their first attempt, Taufa was invariably leading the stats counts for tackles and metres in every game.
An inspirational leader of the Eels, Taufa helped to guide the team to the play-offs in the 2022 premiership with her usual single-mindedness and to then steer them into their first grand final was a bonus achievement. Taufa was a significant contributor to the Sky Blues’ success in Origin and to the Jillaroos’ triumph in the World Cup final.
Taufa's captain's knock
Tamika Upton
In a year that featured several outstanding fullbacks in the women’s game, Queenslander Tamika Upton lost nothing in comparison to any of them.
She helped the Broncos to their fourth successive minor premiership title in March and then transferred her talents to the Newcastle Knights where she was an instrumental figure in the club’s breakthrough grand final victory.
Upton's Karyn Murphy Medal performance
Named winner of the Karyn Murphy Medal as player of the match, Upton ran for 181 metres, broke the line twice and scored a try in her team’s 32-12 triumph.
She scored five tries in her final four games for the Knights and was certain to figure prominently for the Jillaroos at the World Cup but was forced to withdraw through injury.