NRL announce nominees for 2023 NRLW Dally M awards

The National Rugby League (NRL) has today announced the nominees for the 2023 NRLW Dally M Team of the Year as well as several individual Dally M awards.

The Dally M Awards recognise the game’s most outstanding performers from both the NRL Telstra Premiership and NRL Telstra Women’s Premiership each year, with this year’s awards to be presented on Wednesday, September 27 in Sydney.

Significant changes to the Dally M voting process for both the NRL and NRLW competitions were introduced for the 2023 season.

This season, two independent judges each gave out votes on a 3,2,1 basis for every game, meaning players were able to earn a maximum of six votes per game compared to three in previous years.

The decision to add in a second judge to assess each game in 2023 will increase the final total of points to players, but also the level of fairness in further removing potential variances that arise from a single judge voting on a game.

Any player suspended for a total of two NRLW regular season games becomes ineligible to claim any Dally M award, while a one-game suspension brings with it a deduction of six points this year (compared to a deduction of three points in past seasons). Players who become ineligible for awards due to suspension are still able to pick up points in subsequent games so as not to distort the voting process throughout the regular season.

However, players who are suspended for two games will be ineligible to collect any awards, deeming players such as Mia Middleton, Ashleigh Werner, Kennedy Cherrington, Mackenzie Weale, Annetta-Claudia Nuuausala and Hopoate not available.

The NRLW Dally M Team of the Year recognises the best player in each position across all rounds of the regular season. Judges vote on the best player in each position at regular intervals throughout the year with a further vote conducted at the end of the regular season.