Rothmans Medal
| Rothmans Medal | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | The best and fairest player in the New South Wales Rugby League and the Brisbane Rugby League |
| Country |
 Australia
|
| First awarded |
1968 (Rothmans Medal) 1997 (Provan-Summons Medal) |
| Last awarded | 1997 |
The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in both the New South Wales Rugby League and Brisbane Rugby League competitions, and later in the Australian Rugby League, which was given to the player voted by referees as the best and fairest in those competitions for the season. The award was established in both leagues in 1968, and ran until 1997. In 1998, with the establishment of the National Rugby League, the Rothmans Medal was replaced by the Dally M Medal as the official Player of the Year award.
The Rothmans Medal was also the award for Player of the Year in the Queensland Rugby Union premier grade competition between 1976 and 1996.
The Rothmans Medal was the first official player-of-the-year award to be established in rugby league in Australia. The medal was sponsored by Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., a tobacco production company. There were two Rothmans Medals awarded each year: one for the best player in the New South Wales Rugby League, and one for the best player in the Brisbane Rugby League.
The voting for the Rothmans Medal was done by the match-day referee. After each match, he awarded three votes to the best player, two votes to the second-best player, and one vote to the third-best player. This is the same basic format as the modern day Dally M, except that the votes are now determined by the media.
The two Rothmans Medals were first awarded in 1968, and were awarded each year until 1996. In 1997, the Rothmans Medal in New South Wales became known as the Provan-Summons medal, because all tobacco advertising and sponsorship was prohibited in Australia in 1992, under the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992; the medal then disappeared altogether in 1998 with the merger of the Australian Rugby League and the Australian Super League. The Queensland Rothmans Medal was also last awarded in 1996, as the Queensland Cup superseded the Brisbane Rugby League as Queensland's premier rugby league competition in 1997.
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