Hes a Pest AND a Moron.

underdog

Well-known member
In 2009 I was named Best Hooker in the Dally M Team of the Year. It was a proud moment in my career, being named by commentators and pundits of the game as the best and fairest No9 throughout the season.
Having won that award last year, what I am about to say about the Dally M process may seem a bit strange, but it is something that bothers me every time the awards come around.
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The Dally M Medal is the highest individual honour an NRL player can receive. Like the Brownlow Medal in AFL and the Allan Border Medal in cricket, it is something all players in their respective codes strive to win one day.
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What annoys me is that the Dally M Medal is invariably won by a halfback, a fullback, a five-eighth or, to a lesser extent, a hooker. It seems that players playing in any other position stand no chance of winning the highest accolade, and to me that is an unfair playing field.
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Let's take a look at the past 15 Dally M Medal winners and their positions: 2009 - Jarryd Hayne (fullback), 2008 - Matt Orford (halfback), 2007 and 2005 - Johnathan Thurston (halfback), 2006 - Cameron Smith (hooker), 2004 - Danny Buderus (hooker), 2003 - Craig Gower (halfback), 2002, 1999 and 1998 - Andrew Johns (halfback), 2001 - Preston Campbell (halfback/fullback), 2000 - Trent Barrett (five-eighth), 1997 - Brad Fittler (five-eighth), 1996 - Jason Taylor (halfback), 1995 - Paul Green (halfback).
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In fact, we have to go back to 1994 to find a winner that was not a No1, No6, No7 or No9 – and that was North Sydney Bears' prop David Fairleigh.
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There is no question that the guys listed above are all outstanding players, and were match-winners for their teams. But as a player, I just feel that the Dally M voting process does not reward the blokes who do the real hard yards week in week out.
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It is clear that the Dally M judges are more inclined to give the points to those flair players. The halfbacks, five-eighths and fullbacks who do most of their work in attack, who set up and score the brilliant tries, and who seem to have all the great skills.
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My argument is, what about the blokes who lay the platform for those flair players to perform? What about the guys who literally put their bodies on the line so much in defence? What about the players that can always be relied upon to do the tough stuff for their teams?
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The 2010 Dally M awards are on Tuesday and it should once again be a fantastic night. I just wish there was a new category rewarding the unsung heroes of the game.
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Here is my Dally M Team of the Year for 2010:
Fullback: Darius Boyd – Outstanding all season, and one of the best kick returners in the game. His ball-playing skills have developed into something Karmichael Hunt-like.
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Winger: Akuila Uate – An exctiment machine. Strong, fast, a great finisher and has that X-factor.
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Centre: Jamie Lyon – A class player with all the skills, who seems to be thriving on the captaincy at Manly. Centre is his home, not five-eighth.
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Five-eighth: Todd Carney – What a return. Consistent all season and thriving in combination with Mitchell Pearce. Played fullback for a part of the year but he played as a ball player/second receiver when he wore the No1 anyway.
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Halfback: Scott Prince – Another one with all the skills, and his control of the team is first class. He will be the key if the Titans are to succeed in September.
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Prop: Michael Weyman – 'Horse' has been strong all season for the Dragons and a real reason they have again won the minor premiership.
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Hooker: Isaac Luke – On the back of a big Souths pack, Luke has taken his game to a new level. I've got great respect for him as a hooker.
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Second row: Scott Bolton/Sam Thaiday – I can't split these two. Bolton has been a standout in a disappointing season for the Cowboys, and Thaiday has taken the second-row position to a new level. He is the benchmark.
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Lock: Corey Parker – Has been consistently brilliant for a number of seasons. He goes above and beyond for the Broncos in every match. Should be bashing on the door for Origin selection. Special mentions also to Paul Gallen, Nate Myles and David Stagg.

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=7954950" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ennis Article on ninemsn regarding the Daily M Medal, but what strikes me as funny is his "Team of the year"

Not a tiger in sight… in particlular his awful decisions for Second Rower (cough ELLIS) and Lock... (cough HEIGHNINGTON)
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Granted I rate Gallen and Thiaday, but his other choices are questionable at best...

Is he another Heindmarsh/Thurston etc.. who just doesn't take the tigers seriously?
 
I don't really care what that idiot thinks. He is Laurie Daley's lovechild.
 
It was one thing taking the voting away from the referees in the old Rothman's Medal days but fair dinkum the Dally M judges are a pretty ordinary bunch.
Ennis has a point in the article considering that all the awards go to the glamour players but he is apparently just as poor a judge with some of his suggestions, there are some players who should be quoted and Ennis isn't one of them.
 
I don't see how this article could make you dislike Ennis more. He's standing up for the forwards of the game who don't get the accolades.
And when it comes to his team of the year I wouldn't be able to put Ellis and Rhino above Thaiday or Parker either.
I hate the guy but don't have a problem with this article.
 
Ridiculous, the point about glamour players winning the Dally M is true, and he is just stating the obvious. I remember Peter Sterling wrote an article on this last year and Fatty mentioned it heaps on the Footy Show as well.

However, how could he not put Farah as hooker, oh wait I know, he hates him!!

Who lets these guys write an article? Seriously?
 
@Leroy The Tigers Fan said:
It was one thing taking the voting away from the referees in the old Rothman's Medal days but fair dinkum the Dally M judges are a pretty ordinary bunch.
Ennis has a point in the article considering that all the awards go to the glamour players but he is apparently just as poor a judge with some of his suggestions, there are some players who should be quoted and Ennis isn't one of them.

Agreed. You just need to look at the judges and some of the conclusions they reach. Far too much say in the hands of people who are poor judges. If they were fair dinkum they'd get a rep from say Foxtel/Nine, SMH, 2GB and ABC (if they had someone there), AAP, and the Telegraph and then give 3-2-1 based on the total votes. That way you'd have more chance of getting the right outcome and not rely on one bozo's opinion.

I don't know how many times I've seen us dominate a game and the other team gets the 2 points or even 2 and 1\. Likewise I've seen us lose in the last few minutes and get nothing.
 
If Sam Thaiday doesn't win second rower of the year the awards are a farce. Corey Parker has also had a great year. Only ones I completely disagree with him on are Weyman (should be Pet/Shillo) and Lyon (should be Tonga/Jennings).

The only Tiger I can see winning a positional award is Farah (although Isaac Luke would be a sure thing if he wasn't injured for so long). Marshall may edge out Carney but I doubt it, Carney has been excellent this year.
 
I suspect Wests Tigers players will miss out again (hope I'm wrong) but judges/selectors/pretenders have a habit of overlooking the WTs. As for ennis how come this bloke is given any airtime??
 
Well he got hooker of the year last year but didnt robbie poll more points than him overall?
 
I dont know if this is the way it works, but doesn't the logical way say the highest fullback in the overall points should be fullback of the year, highest prop in the overall points should be prop of the year, and so on?
 
@alex said:
I dont know if this is the way it works, but doesn't the logical way say the highest fullback in the overall points should be fullback of the year, highest prop in the overall points should be prop of the year, and so on?

It gets hard because if you take someone like Todd Carney, he played about a 8 games at fullback, a few at halfback and a dozen or so at 5/8\. If he tops the point scoring does he win all 3 awards? Or does he not win a positional award because you are only going to count the points he's scored at 5/8 for that position, the ones at fullback for that position and so on?

Take Michael Gordon, he's played about 4 games at the back, played well in all of them and probably polled about 6 points. He's played around 20 games on the wing, and probably polled about 1 point in all of them. That totals around 7 points which would be more than any other winger (they don't poll well), so he wins winger of the year, despite earning the bulk of his points at fullback.

The panel I guess helps even it out for the players who move around a little.
 
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