Five controversial 2016 Dally M decisions that have debates raging
THE 2016 Dally M Medals have been named and the debate has begun: Did the judges get team of the year right or were more worthy players overlooked? These are the five biggest controversies.
THE 2016 Dally M Medals might be done and dusted for another year but debate over the winners in some categories has been fierce.
More than one eyebrow was raised when Josh Mansour stepped on stage as winger of the year.
Likewise with Matt Gillett (second row), James Maloney (five-eighth) and Cameron Smith (hooker and rep player).
Here are five Dally M decisions that statistics and the people say should have been different.
Mansour over Rapana
Jordan Rapana was arguably the most controversial omission from the team of the year after he lost out to Penrith and NSW flyer Mansour. While Mansour had the advantage in runs and average metres per game (16.4 and 172 to Rapana’s 13.1 and 136), the Raiders man had him covered in tries (23 to 15), tackle busts (140 to 116), line breaks (27 to 25) and even try assists (7 to 2). Along with Joey Leilua, Rapana was the most dominant outside back in the competition over the course of the season and was superior to Mansour in nearly all aspects. The people seem to agree — five of our 11 experts and 53 per cent of fans preferred Rapana.
Gillett over Harris, Papa
Matt Gillett certainly enjoyed a fine start to the season but he was fortunate to win his first backrower of the year award. While there was no single outstanding candidate the likes of Tohu Harris, Josh Papalii, Elliott Whitehead, Wade Graham and Josh Jackson all had a real shot at the crown with Harris and Papalii the two best candidates. They both eclipsed Gillett in metres gained per match, average hit ups per match, tackle busts, offloads, line breaks, line break assists, try assists and tries. Gillett led the league in one-on-one tackles and averaged more tackles per match but also missed more tackles, made more errors and gave away more penalties than Harris and Papalii. In our online poll, which was restricted to four candidates, Gillett polled just 14 per cent of the vote, behind Papalii (47 per cent), Graham (22 per cent) and Harris (17 per cent).
Hodgson final tally
It was always going to be tough for Hodgson to take out the medal given his suspension in Round 24 but an equal seventh finish on the overall tally was surprisingly low for the Raiders rake. In fact, once the voting went behind closed doors after Round 16 Hodgson polled in just three matches — but had he not lost three points for his suspension he would have scored a top five finish. Hodgson also missed out on the hooker of the year gong to Cameron Smith, despite 11 of our 13 NRL experts and 61 per cent of the public tipping him for the prize before the awards.
Maloney over Milford/Moses
James Maloney has played a huge role in helping the Sharks to the brink of their maiden title but his selection as five-eighth of the year came as a surprise given the resume of his two main challengers, Mitchell Moses and Anthony Milford. Like the back row, there was no single standout candidate who dominated throughout the season, but Moses and Milford have Maloney covered in terms of statistical dominance. In terms of the overall tally Milford finished in equal fifth with 19 points, Moses was one further back on 18 points while Maloney was way back on 10 votes. Milford (20) and Moses (22) both doubled Maloney’s total for try assists (10) and had him covered in terms of line breaks (17 and 12 to 9) and line break assists (25 and 15 to 11).
Smith over Boyd for rep player of the year
Rep player of the year is a difficult award to judge given the lack of alignment with the man of the match process and Cameron Smith is always a solid choice. But Darius Boyd can count himself as highly unlucky not to have taken out this prize. While Smith was man of the match in Game II and had a strong series overall, Boyd had the most consistent performances across the three matches. Boyd did not win a man of the match award (although the prize should have been his in the Maroons’ victory in Game II), he was directly involved in either scoring or creating five of the 14 tries scored by both sides in the series. Over a third of the Origin tries in 2016 involved Darius Boyd, including more than half of Queensland’s eight. If that doesn’t win you rep player of the year, what else could?
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Originally published as Five controversial 2016 Dally M decisions that have debates raging