Roosters star snubbed after being told he’d won Clive Churchill Medal after NRL Grand Final

A Roosters player has bizarrely been stitched up in another NRL backflip bungle after being told he’d been awarded the Clive Churchill Medal.

Jack Wighton was booed as he received the medal.

Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was left awkwardly standing next to the NRL Grand Final presentation podium after wrongly being told he’d been awarded the Clive Churchill Medal.

The Daily Telegraph reports the Roosters star had been told by an NRL official after the full time siren he’d been awarded the prestigious gong as the best player on the field in the controversial NRL Grand Final at ANZ Stadium on Sunday night.

However, the Kiwi enforcer was left stitched up standing near the stage as Raiders star Jack Wighton was handed the medal after his starring role in a losing Raiders team.

According to the report, Waerea-Hargreaves was told to prepare to receive the award before the start of the presentation — after only two of the three Clive Churchill Medal judging panellists’ votes had been tallied.

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While Wighton was correctly handed the medal, Waerea-Hargreaves must have been feeling more than a little sheepish as he walked back to be with his Roosters teammates as Wighton walked up to receive the medal.

NRL.com reported Channel 9 cameras were also placed in front of Waerea-Hargreaves before the award was announced after also being tipped off the star forward had won the award.

The medal is voted on by Australian selectors Laurie Daley, Mal Meninga and Darren Lockyer.

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves had plenty of other reasons to celebrate.

The report claims Waerea-Hargreaves was ahead in the voting before Lockyer’s votes saw Wighton edge ahead.

The correction to award Wighton the medal was reportedly only made on stage when NRL CEO Todd Greenberg informed master of ceremonies James Bracey that there had been a late change in the Clive Churchill Medal voting.

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Lockyer reportedly went missing “for an extended period” immediately after the game and his votes came in well after Meninga and Daley had made their selections. Word only filtered through to Greenberg and Bracey at the last minute, narrowly avoiding embarrassingly giving the award to the wrong player.

Waerea-Hargreaves was a Collosus for the Roosters, giving the premiers their only avenue out from their own end of the field.

With the Raiders physically dominating the Chooks’ forwards, Waerea-Hargreaves appeared the only one capable of getting them on the front foot.

He finished with the most metres of any forward on the ground, carrying the Steeden for 185m as well as making 41 tackles.

His selection as possibly the best player on the field would have seen Waerea-Hargreaves create history as the first Kiwi to ever win the medal.

However, there can be no denying Wighton deserved the award.

The Raiders star played out of his skin in the tense 14-8 match and was awarded best on ground at the post match presentation — but a host of fans in the ANZ Stadium stands weren’t too impressed, booing the 26-year-old as he had his medal draped over his shoulders.

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart labelled the Sydney Roosters fans who booed Wighton “wombats” who didn’t understand the game in his post match press conference.

Wighton played the game of his life in the Raiders’ tight 14-8 loss on Sunday, scoring Canberra’s only try and looking particularly dangerous on the left edge.

His performance will likely see him in contention for his Kangaroos debut, with Mal Meninga set to announce Australia’s squads on Monday morning.

Stuart said: “The best player on the field got the award tonight.

Jack Wighton’s try wasn’t enough for the Raiders.

“Whether those people out there that booed agree or not, Jack didn’t pick it. Three legends of our game pick the award.

“And I think they know a little bit more than the wombats sitting in there beside the goal posts.”

Wighton became just the fourth player to receive the medal on a losing team, after Brad Clyde in 1991, Brad McKay in 1993 and Daly Cherry-Evans in 2013.

The medal didn’t ease Wighton’s grand final ache.

“It was a very numb feeling to achieve something so big, but it was probably the worst moment of my life to lose a grand final,” Wighton said.

“It’s a very weird feeling at the minute.” A year after his spot in the game was in doubt due to off-field troubles, Wighton busted five tackles, had one linebreak and regularly put centre Jarrod Croker in space.

Players on both sides agreed he was the right pick for the medal, as did Roosters coach Trent Robinson.

“Jack was incredible tonight. That guy can play footy,” Robinson said. “That’s a legend player and he deserved that award.

“For individuals, I’ve been booed a bit this week and last week. It happens in life. It means people are passionate and they want to watch.”

— with AAP