Dally M’s 2009 : Jarryd's Big Night
Tuesday, September 08, 2009


Jarryd Hayne with his 2009 Dally M medal Pirtek Parramatta Eels fullback Jarryd Hayne has produced perhaps the most brilliant run of form ever seen in the Telstra Premiership to claim the 2009 Dally M Player of the Year Medal.


Prime Minister Kevin Rudd presented the Eels fullback with the Award at Sydney’s State Theatre this evening as the final counting showed the extent to which Hayne dominated the closing rounds of the competition.

In six weeks of wreaking havoc with opposition defences, Hayne picked up three points in every match from Round 19 to Round 24 to overtake two-time Dally M Player of the Year – and the man who had led the competition by five votes when judging went silent after Round 16 – Johnathan Thurston.

A single point in Round 25 gave Hayne, already the Dally M Fullback of the Year, an unassailable lead over both the 2009 Dally M Halfback of the Year Thurston and the 2009 Dally M Five-Eighth of the Year Jamie Soward.

Soward received further reward for his outstanding season from MyNRL.com members who lodged 235,0000 votes on a weekly basis throughout the Telstra Premiership to deliver him the Provan-Summons Medal as the people’s choice for player of the year.

While Hayne reaped the rewards of a stunning late season revival, the Bulldogs’ journey from 2008 wooden spooners to 2009 runners-up in the minor premiership saw the club land eight awards, including Dally M Coach of the Year, Kevin Moore.

The Bulldogs also boasted the: Dally M Centre of the Year, Josh Morris; Dally M Lock of the Year, David Stagg; Dally M Prop of the Year, Ben Hannant; Dally M Hooker of the Year, Michael Ennis; Dally M Captain of the Year, Andrew Ryan; Dally M Rookie of the Year, Jamal Idris and Top Point Scorer Hazem El Masri.

The Peter Frilingos Memorial Award for the Dally M Headline Moment of the Year went to South Sydney’s Nathan Merritt, whose first ever Telstra Premiership field goal sailed over 40 metres to hand the Rabbitohs a last-minute victory against the Wests Tigers at the SCG in Heritage Round (Rd 10).

The full list of 2009 Dally M winners is:

Fullback: Jarryd Hayne (Eels)
Winger: Taniela Tuiaki (Wests Tigers)
Centre: Josh Morris (Bulldogs)
Five-eighth: Jamie Soward (Dragons)
Halfback: Johnathan Thurston (Cowboys)
Lock: David Stagg (Bulldogs)
Second Row: Anthony Watmough (Sea Eagles)
Prop: Ben Hannant (Bulldogs)
Hooker: Michael Ennis (Bulldogs)
Captain: Andrew Ryan (Bulldogs)
Coach: Kevin Moore (Bulldogs)
Rep Player: Greg Inglis (Storm)
Rookie: Jamal Idris (Bulldogs)
Provan-Summons People’s Choice: Jamie Soward (Dragons)
Peter Frilingos Memorial Award: Nathan Merritt (Rabbitohs)
Top Point-scorer: Hazem El Masri (Bulldogs)
Top Try-scorer: Brett Morris (Dragons)
Toyota Cup Player of the Year: Beau Henry (Dragons)

The Dally M awards are the official awards of the National Rugby League and are run in partnership with The Daily Telegraph and presented in association with Fox Sports.

Judges for 2009 Awards included Wayne Pearce, Laurie Daley, Greg Alexander, Gorden Tallis, Andrew Johns, Michael Hagan and writers from The Daily Telegraph Rugby League team