CAMERON SMITH’S LIKELY RUN TO A SECOND DALLY M:
* WHY IS SMITH FAVOURITE?:
The Melbourne hooker held a commanding five-point lead when voting went behind closed doors after round 14 with a tally of 20. His nearest rivals Mitchell Pearce and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (15) had inconsistent ends to their NRL seasons, while Smith played nine games for nine wins with the Storm. He is likely to have polled well in big victories over Brisbane (42-12), Manly (40-6), Newcastle (44-12) and South Sydney (64-6).
* CAN ANYONE CHALLENGE SMITH?:
Pearce and Tuivasa-Sheck had disappointing second halves of the season while, further back on the leaderboard, Paul Gallen (14), Billy Slater (13) and Corey Norman (10) would have to make up a huge deficit.
* WHAT WILL SMITH WINNING MEAN?:
For seven consecutive years, a Queensland player has won the award. Jarryd Hayne shared the medal with Johnathan Thurston in 2014, but the last time a NSW player was the sole winner was Sydney Roosters five-eighth Todd Carney in 2010. It’ll also be his second award, his first coming in 2006 – making for the biggest time span between any player’s two wins.
* WHAT ELSE HAS SMITH ACHIEVED?:
The 34-year-old became the fifth player to notch 2000 career points, the first to kick 1000 goals and went past Darren Lockyer as the most-capped rugby league with his 356th game. He captained Queensland to another State of Origin series victory, and earned man-of-the-match honours with a dominant performance in game three.
* WHAT ELSE CAN HE WIN?:
Smith is likely to sweep the Dally M Awards by landing player of the year, hooker of 2017 and captain of the year. The Storm are raging favourites to beat North Queensland in Sunday night’s grand final. Smith, at $3, is the shortest-priced favourite in league history to win the Clive Churchill Medal for man of the match. The Kangaroos are expected to take out the Rugby League World Cup to end Smith’s perfect year.
* IS THIS THE MOST-DOMINANT SEASON BY AN INDIVIDUAL?:
Thurston enjoyed a dream 2015 season, leading the Cowboys to their maiden premiership and winning the Churchill medal with a field-goal in golden point to defeat the Broncos. The playmaker also won his fourth Dally M Medal, fourth Rugby League Players’ Association player of the year award, and third Golden Boot for best in the world. In 2006, Lockyer captained Brisbane to a premiership, Queensland to a drought-breaking Origin series and the Kangaroos to a Tri-Nations win. He scored series-winning tries for Queensland and Australia, and landed a crucial field goal in the Broncos’ upset win over Melbourne in the decider. The five-eighth was awarded the Wally Lewis Medal for State of Origin player of the series, won the Golden Boot Award, Dally M five-eighth of the year and Dally M representative player of the year.
