NRL Fans’ Poll 2021 results: Andrew Voss dethrones Ray Warren; best player; most popular team
Ray Warren is no longer the premier commentator in rugby league, according to NRL fans. Check out the full 2021 NRL Fan Poll here.
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Everyone knows the Melbourne Storm are the most dominant.
But popular? When you’re based in AFL heartland?
Incredibly, support for Melbourne has surged to point the Storm have overtaken the four best backed clubs of last year — the Roosters, Eels, Broncos and Panthers — as the game’s most popular team according to the 23,000 fans who had their say in the NRL and The Daily Telegraph’s annual poll.
Normally, Aussie sports fans get sick of winners — we all know about the tall poppy syndrome — but it turns out the Storm have won enough games to start winning hearts and minds, with their wrestling and salary cap controversies fading into the past.
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SEE ALL THE OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM THE 2021 NRL FAN SURVEY HERE
Last year’s premiership win has clearly done them a world of good, with a five per cent rise in fan votes pushing them to the top.
They’re also the fans’ pick to win the title in 2021, while Manly’s Tom Trbojevic was the runaway selection as the game’s best player.
But the voice of the fans wasn’t just limited to on-field matters — the people have revealed who they believe is the best commentator in the game, and their thoughts on the state of the competition and the controversial new rules.
STORMING TO THE TOP
According to the fan poll not only are Melbourne the best supported team in the league but they’re the side other fans want to beat more than any other (at 32 per cent, they were streets ahead of second best).
Throw in a rousing endorsement for Bellamy as the league’s top coach (he captured 57 per cent of the vote) and a growing surety they’ll win the premiership (57 per cent of voters think so) and it’s clear why they’re top of the pops.
What makes them so good? It’s simple — they find a way to win, each and every week, and never take shortcuts.
Just ask Parramatta skipper Clint Gutherson, whose Eels are out to stop Melbourne claiming the all-time consecutive win record on Saturday night, if an ambush is possible.
“I don’t think so. It’s Melbourne. They’ve been on top for 40 years. They just keep winning,” Gutherson said.
TURBO BOOST
After Nathan Cleary was the runaway choice as the top player in the league last year the prince of Penrith has been deposed by the Manly messiah, Tom Trbojevic.
On the back of his stellar Sea Eagles campaign and brilliant Origin series, 51 per cent of fans have Trbojevic as the 2021 MVP, 62 per cent of punters believe he’s surpassed James Tedesco as the game’s best fullback, 66 per cent have him winning the Dally M and 30 per cent would choose him first if they were starting a club tomorrow.
Stopping Trbojevic has been a fool’s errand this year as this weekend’s victims Canterbury know all too well after the Sea Eagles smashed the Bulldogs 66-0 in their last encounter.
“It’s always going to be a challenge against one of the best players in the game,” said Canterbury fullback Nick Meaney.
SEE ALL THE OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM THE 2021 NRL FAN SURVEY HERE
“You’re always looking how to stop those guys because they have the biggest influence on their teams.
“That game got out of reach and the scoreboard blew out. We have to take what we allowed him to do and try and prevent it. It’s hard, but we have to try our best.”
NINE NEEDS NEW BLOOD
Commentators Ray Warren and Peter Sterling have been fan favourites for decades but with the duo edging closer and closer to hanging up the microphone it begs the question — who will replace them?
Sterling is still the fans’ pick as the best analyst in the game with 23 per cent of the vote while the runners-up (Matthew Johns and Cooper Cronk) are both with Fox League.
In fact, Andrew Johns is the only other Nine personality in the top five.
It’s a similar story with play-by-play callers — Andrew Voss (34 per cent) pipped Warren (29 per cent) at the top but Nine’s other main caller, Matthew Thompson, attracted just 2 per cent — well behind Fox League’s Warren Smith and Dan Ginnane.
STILL SPLIT ON NEW RULES
Almost two seasons after the controversial six-again rule was introduced the fans are still divided on its merits.
Just over half — 54 per cent, to be exact — of all voters like it while 42 per cent are against it and five per cent are indifferent.
The captain’s challenge was more warmly received with 94 per cent of fans believing it should be retained in some form but 52 per cent of all voters want the Bunker to be used less.
THE GON GUN BECOMES NRL’S BEST
The Justin Olam story is one of rugby league’s very best. From the tiny village of Gon in Chimbu Province, Papua New Guinea to a vital spot in Melbourne’s winning machine is the kind of journey that defies belief but it’s what Olam has managed to achieve and now the 27-year old is the fans’ choice as the best centre in the league ahead of Roosters star Joseph Manu.
JOYS OF SIX
It’s been a banner year for five-eighths and there’s no wrong answer when trying to choose between the top three. Do you take Jarome Luai’s swagger and irrepressible confidence, or Cameron Munster’s big-game experience and ability to dominate a fixture with his running game? In the end, the fans went with South Sydney’s Cody Walker with 36 per cent of the vote and it’s easy to see why — the Rabbitohs star has been in tremendous touch all year.
SEE ALL THE OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM THE 2021 NRL FAN SURVEY HERE
KING OF TONGA LOSES CROWN
Far be it for us to doubt the King of Tonga, but Jason Taumalolo has endured a difficult year in North Queensland. A succession of hand injuries and the Cowboys’ struggles for form mean, according to the fans, Taumalolo, last year’s choice as the best lock in the game, has slipped behind Cameron Murray, Isaiah Yeo, Jake Trbojevic, Dale Finucane, Victor Radley and Tino Fa’asuamaleuai. The former Dally M winner attracted just five per cent of the vote.
LOST THE BEST, STILL GOT REST
In losing Cameron Smith to retirement, the Storm have had a serious downgrade at hooker — after enjoying almost two decades of the greatest player of all time at dummy half, Melbourne must now be content with having two of the best three hookers in the game to fill the void. Pity the poor things, it must be so tough to get by with Brandon Smith, who topped the polls at 54 per cent, and Harry Grant, who finished third with 12 per cent. Lord knows how they manage.
NO COUNTRY FOR YOUNG MEN
It’s a particularly strong crop of rookies this year but the Broncos might never stop kicking themselves over losing the best two candidates for top of the class. Roosters halfback Sam Walker attracted 35 per cent of the vote as rookie of the year ahead of Warriors fullback Reece Walsh with 27 per cent. It wasn’t so long ago that both were on Brisbane’s books.
NRL GUN NOBODY WANTED
Parramatta were the only NRL club to show any real interest in Isaiah Papali’i when he left the Warriors at the end of 2020. Brad Arthur brought the hard-running forward over the Tasman with the promise of a chance and little else, but that’s all Papali’i needed.
Now the Kiwi hardman is the undisputed best buy of 2021, beating out big-money men like David Fifita and Addin Fonua-Blake with 35 per cent of the vote. Papali’i was also named the best second-rower in the league and the biggest improver in the game.
According to Parramatta captain Clint Gutherson, the Eels could see it coming from the first day of pre-season and the best may be yet to come.
“He’s a great buy for us and he’s been great for us since day one,” Gutherson said.
“Ever since that first training session you could always see what he was about, he was always in there doing extras, getting his body right.
“All that hard worked has paid off, he’s been one of our best every single week. He’s only going to get better from here.”
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Originally published as NRL Fans’ Poll 2021 results: Andrew Voss dethrones Ray Warren; best player; most popular team
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