2019 NRL Touch Premiership Dally M Winners

Congratulations to both Luke Cain and Hayley Maddick for taking out the 2019 NRL Touch Premiership Dally M Medals!

On the evening of Wednesday 2^nd October at Rugby League’s night of nights, the Dally M Awards, elite touch football players were also honoured, with the female and male NRL Touch Premiership Player of the Year Awards presented by Fox Sports’ Matt Shirvington.

The 2019 Female Player of the Year Award was presented to Brisbane Broncos NRL Touch Premiership player Hayley Maddick, 27, who’s from the Sunshine Coast.

The 2019 Male Player of the Year Award was presented to Wests Tigers NRL Touch Premiership player Luke Cain, 20, from NSW’s Central Coast.

As with the NRL’s Dally M Medal, these Player of the Year recipients were determined via the allocation of 3-2-1 points throughout the 2019 NRL Touch Premiership season, which ran from 6^th April through to the Grand Final on 18^th August.

Touch Football Australia CEO Jamie O’Connor, who handed the medals to Cain and Maddick on-stage, said both players had outstanding seasons that “neither of them will forget any time soon”.

“Hayley has achieved everything there is to achieve in the game in just six months,” he said. “She was a member of the all-conquering Australian Emus Women’s Open team that defeated New Zealand in the World Cup Final in May, has won a Premiership Grand Final with the Broncos on the hallowed turf of the Sydney Cricket Ground and caps it off with the NRL Touch Premiership Player of the Year at the Dally Ms. It’s been quite a season for her; she’s arguably the most dominant player in the world right now.”

Cain’s journey has been a little different, he said. “As a 20-year-old rookie, Luke found himself at the Tigers after being unable to crack into a very strong Newcastle Knights outfit and in his debut game at Mt Smart Stadium he was the Tigers’ standout player. That soon became the Premiership’s standout player as he lapped the field polling votes in every one of his matches. That’s extraordinary when you look at the calibre of players in that team. He’s a prodigious talent and a great story for all those up and coming players waiting for their Premiership opportunity.

2019 saw the second year of the NRL Touch Premiership, an elite touch football tournament where men’s and women’s teams representing eight NRL clubs played at major stadiums around Australia and New Zealand, with games broadcast on Fox League, Kayo Sports and NRL.com.

The Brisbane Broncos were the 2019 Women’s Premiers, while the North Queensland Cowboys were the Men’s Premiers.

Luke Cain - 13 Votes

Both Player of the Year and, you’d have to say, “Rookie of the Year”. Cain seemed to come out of nowhere, holding his own among the many seasoned Australian Men’s Opens players in his Wests Tigers team, with match-winning performances. The 20-year-old Central Coast local has lightning footwork and a fabulous left-to-right long ball that saw him score or set up numerous tries for the Tigers. He also produced two pieces of individual brilliance in drop-offs (extra time) to secure the Tigers two vital wins. His Player of the Year points tally was double that of the next player in line.

Hayley Maddick - 13 Votes

This 27-year-old helped her Brisbane Broncos team claim victory in the 2019 NRL Touch Premiership. She was the “go to” attacking player for the Women’s Broncos all season – she led her team around the park in every game and had a high involvement rate. Maddick has a tremendous pass and great pass selection, which meant she was one of the leading try-assist players in the comp. She was named Player of the Match in half the games her team played during the 2019 Premiership season. This Sunshine Coast local is also an Australian Women’s Open player and Queensland Women’s Open representative in the Touch State of Origin.

For full votes click HERE

About the NRL Touch Premiership

• This was the second ever season of the NRL Touch Premiership, the elite touch football tournament where women’s and men’s touch teams representing eight NRL clubs played on major stadiums throughout Australia and New Zealand, with games broadcast on Fox, Kayo and NRL.com.
• 2019 saw a significantly expanded season compared to the short season in 2018, with a total of 52 (26 men’s, 26 women’s) games played over a period of five months.
• The tournament also expanded from 6 NRL clubs involved in 2018, to 8 in 2019, with the Roosters and the Warriors joining the Tigers, Eels, Knights, Titans, Broncos and Cowboys.
• NRL Touch Football is Australia’s largest social sport, with 680,000 participants around Australia and an even split of men and women. Yet the elite game is a hugely entertaining spectator sport – the NRL Touch Premiership thrilled audiences with its phenomenal speed, high try scores, dives, long passes and incredible footwork.
• The North Queensland Cowboys took out the Men’s 2019 NRL Touch Premiership, and the Brisbane Broncos took out the Women’s.