Wally Lewis Medal /

Overview

The Wally Lewis Medal is an annual award presented to the State of Origin Player of the Series. The medal was originally awarded by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) to the top Queensland player from the State of Origin series. In 2004 the QRL renamed its official award the Ron McAuliffe Medal (one of Queensland’s administrative pioneers) allowing for the game to transition the name of Wally Lewis to the official medal recognising the best performer across the three-game series.

Eligibility Criteria

One (1) criterion of eligibility is applicable for qualification towards winning the official State of Origin Player of the Series (Wally Lewis Medal):

• Player must feature in a minimum of two (2) matches from the current 3-match series

Points System

Man of the Match Guidelines

i) Three (3) Judges elected by the NRL to adjudicate on the State of Origin series

ii) Judges assigned to determine their top three performers on-field across the 3-Game series.

iii) Judges must watch each match (Game 1, 2 & 3) in its entirety - from kick-off to final siren

iv) Judges tasked with assessing the performances of players that take the field

v) Judges tasked with assigning 3-points, 2-points and 1-point respectively for their top three (3) players on-field.

vi) Judges are not to submit any voting information until the final siren.

vii) The NRL will take receipt of votes and tally points to determine Man of the Match

Player of the Series Guidelines

i) NRL to review final match-day squads for third and final match of the State of Origin series

ii) NRL to undertake first round voting with Judges to determine the official Man of the Match for the third and final match of the series

iii) Judges tasked with assigning 3-points, 2-points and 1-point respectively for their top three (3) players on-field.

iv) NRL to conduct points aggregation from Man of the Match votes polled across the series

v) NRL to mark and exclude players who are ineligible for the Wally Lewis Medal

vi) NRL to generate leader-board from all points polled through the three matches

vii) Top five (5) players from leader-board extracted and sent back to Judges to cast second-round vote

viii) Judges tasked with assigning 3-points, 2-points and 1-point respectively for their top three (3) players from the Top 5 leader-board.

ix) NRL to collate second-round voting to determine the official ‘Player of the Series’

x) NRL to finalise player voted the ‘Player of the Series’ and communicate accordingly

Voting Determinant

In the event that two or more players achieve an equal tally of points the NRL will initiate a countback process in order to determine a winner. The countback process consists of mechanisms that effectively determine an outright winner. For the Wally Lewis Medal, the process below will be applied – if required – to determine both the Man of the Match (Game 1, 2 and 3) and the official Player of the Series.