Monday Buzz: My Dally M team of the year
HOW would you like to be a Dally M judge trying to pick an NRL team of the year? All but one positional award is up for debate and as wide open as ever.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
HOW would you like to be a Dally M judge trying to pick an NRL team of the year?
When you go through all the positions there’s probably only one obvious standout, the great Cameron Smith as hooker of the year.
Every other positional award is up for debate and as wide open as ever.
MORE MONDAY BUZZ: Weekend highlights, lowlights
We’ve gone in two weeks early to have a crack at all the positional awards, which are dominated by minor premiers Melbourne Storm.
An incredible five Storm players have made my team of the year, while eight made the full list including coach Craig Bellamy.
Storm superstar No. 1 Billy Slater gets the fullback of the year. No one even knew if he would make it back from shoulder surgery this year, let alone play so magnificently.
We’ve also gone with Storm players on the wing, in the centres and at five-eighth.
Suliasi Vunivalu and Will Chambers play well every week in the Storm backline.
And one of the reasons why is the wonderful service they get from five-eighth Cameron Munster.
The halfback is a tougher call than any other position.
He’s only in his second season but Nathan Cleary has been exceptional and tips out Manly’s Daly Cherry-Evans for halfback. He’ll be 20 next year and should be playing for NSW. We chose him ahead of Melbourne’s Cooper Cronk, and Parramatta’s Mitchell Moses, who has been exceptional in the past six weeks.
At lock, Cowboys giant Jason Taumalolo has been the pick of a hot field that included Paul Gallen, Jake Trbojevic and Dale Finucane.
No one could argue about Broncos right-edge forward Matt Gillett being the second-rower. At prop we’ve gone for another Broncos star, front-rower Josh McGuire.
Picking a coach is as hard as the positional awards.
Bellamy has done a sensational job to steer the Storm to another minor premiership. Yet he’s had much better cattle than Brad Arthur at the Parramatta Eels.
We’ve gone with Arthur ahead of Bellamy, Trent Barrett at Manly and Shane Flanagan at the Sharks.
Trying to defend a premiership can be harder than winning one and the fact Flanagan has Cronulla in a position to challenge again despite losing Michael Ennis and Ben Barba is a significant achievement.
We’ve gone with former Rabbitohs forward Nathan Brown in a hot field for buy of the year ahead of the Roosters’ Luke Keary, the Storm’s Josh Addo-Carr and Sea Eagles five-eighth Blake Green.
Rookie of the year is one of the easier choices.
Canberra Raiders winger Nick Cotric is the most exciting new talent we have seen for years, as he proved against Penrith on Sunday.
At the Sharks, hooker Jayden Brailey made an outstanding comeback from a broken jaw against the Cowboys on Saturday night.
Originally published as Monday Buzz: My Dally M team of the year
Brave NRLW coaching call the Bulldogs must make
The Bulldogs have a groundbreaking NRLW opportunity. There are two obvious candidates for the vacant coaching job if they’re brave enough to make a big decision for the future, writes PAMELA WHALEY.
Broncos star set to reject Sydney raids in $2m signing coup
Brisbane’s 2024 Allan Langer Medallist is set to reject rival Sydney suitors to ink a multimillion-dollar contract extension - but the move could force his backline partner out of Red Hill.