Brad Fittler Medal 2022: NRL debutant, viral prop, NRLW rising star among award winners

A former rugby player from the Sutherland Shire, a teenager from the Central Coast, a son of a gun and a recent NRL debutant are among award winners at the Brad Fitler Medal.

Amanda Lulham

@amandalulham

3 min read

September 13, 2022 - 10:32AM

NewsLocal

Some of the winners at the Brad Fittler medal awards night celebrating the bets in the NSWRL.

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A former rugby player from the Sutherland Shire, a teenager from the Central Coast and a women who went viral were some of the award winners at a star-studded Brad Fitler Medal on Monday night.

St George Dragons young gun and former Rugby Sevens ace Andie Robinson collected the U19 Women’s State of Origin Player of the Year award at the gala event in Sydney where James Tedesco took out three major awards, including the Brad Fittler medal.

And while Tedesco was man of the moment and Isabelle Kelly the main women’s winner, there were plenty of other big awards handed out on the night to the NSW rugby league community.

Central Coast teenager Oryn Keeley won the U19s Men’s State of Origin Player of the Year while North Sydney Bears ace Kirra Dibb, now playing for the Newcastle Knights in the NRLW, won the Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership Player of the Year.

Caitlan Johnston during an NRLW match against the Eels.

Another Central Coast athlete, the Central Coast Roosters Jessica Gentle, claimed the Country Women’s Player of the Year.

Another major award on the night was the NSW Sky Blues Award which went to Newcastle Knights player Caitlan Johnston, whose blockbusting run and big hits in her Origin debut went viral.

Caitlan Johnston WINDS UP! ðŸ§¨#Origin pic.twitter.com/WM4C2Pqw0A
— NRLW (@NRLWomens) June 24, 2022

The Harvey Norman NSW Women’s State of Origin Player of the Year award went to Kelly from the Sydney Roosters.

Vice-captain of the Blues, she is the first woman to win the award back-to-back and has now won it three times after also securing the title in 2018.

Jake Brisbane from the Illawarra south coast Dragons won the Country Men’s Player of the Year.

The Sydney Shield Player of the Year went to Penrith Brothers player Frank Toomalatai while Hills Bulls gun Brad Keighran won the Ron Massey Cup Player of the Year.

The Jersey Flegg Cup Player of the Year was taken out by Penrith Panther’s Jack Cole who made his NRL debut against the Cowboys recently.

Isabelle Kelly was one of the stars on the night.

The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Player of the Year award went to Newtown Jets star Kayal Iro.

Iro is the son of New Zealand league legend Kevin Iro and a young outside back with talent to burn after topping the competition for post-contact metres, scoring 12 tries, making 14 line breaks and 97 tackle busts

The Ron Lanesbury Medal for Andrew Johns Cup went to youngster Zane Harrison from the Northern Rivers Titans.

The Tom Nelson Medal for Laurie Daley Cup was awarded to Nick Murphy from the Western Rams.

James Tedesco was the man of the moment on Monday night.

It was a who’s who of the rugby league world who attended the awards at the Star Event Centre in Sydney on Monday night.

NSW Blues coach Fittler was joined by the likes of NSW Sky Blues coach Kylie Hilder and players from the men’s and women’s Ampol State of Origin teams with around 500 guests attending.

Some of the winners at the Brad Fittler medal awards night celebrating the bets in the NSWRL.

Previous winners of the Brad Fittler Medal, which is chosen by NSW Blues players, include Tedesco, Tom Trbojevic, Nathan Cleary, David Klemmer, Paul Gallen, Robbie Farah, Ryan Hoffman, Josh Jackson and Steve Menzies.