Friday 24 October 2014 16:20, UK
Clive Churchill Medal winner Sam Burgess has become the first English winner of the RLIF International Player of the Year Award on Thursday in Brisbane.
Burgess held off a group of nominees which included fellow England international James Graham, Dally M Medal winners Johnathan Thurston and Jarryd Hayne, as well as Man of Steel winner Daryl Clark, to win the prestigious award.
Burgess, who is now set to join Aviva Premiership side Bath ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in England, enjoyed a season to remember after helping South Sydney Rabbitohs to NRL Grand Final success.
The former Bradford will not be able to make his rugby union debut until December as he recovers from the injuries he sustained in the first tackle of the match against Canterbury Bulldogs earlier this month.
"Sam was wonderful for England in the World Cup last year and his performances for South Sydney through the NRL season were first-class, all the way to his Clive Churchill Medal effort in the Grand Final against Canterbury-Bankstown," RLIF chairman Nigel Wood said.
"He is a worthy recipient and deserves to be recognised for his achievements over the past year on the international stage as well as in the NRL competition."
A voting panel comprising 10 judges - five from the northern hemisphere and five from the southern hemisphere - was asked to assign votes to three players from a group of 10 nominees (five from Super League, five from the NRL), in 3-2-1 fashion.
The RLIF also handed the Spirit of Rugby League Award to Peter Corcoran, primarily for his work in introducing the modified games program to rugby league.
Previous recipients of the Spirit of Rugby League Award, recognising an individual’s exceptional contribution to the sport, are Maurice Oldroyd (England), David Oxley CBE (England), Ron McGregor (New Zealand), Ken Arthurson (Australia) and Paul Barriere (France).
Individual nations player-of-the-year awards winners:
Cook Islands: Dominique Peyroux; Fiji: Semi Radradra; France: Remi Casty; Ireland: Liam Finn; Jamaica: Nathan Campbell; Lebanon: Chris Saab; Papua New Guinea: Israel Eliab; Russia: Kirill Kosharin; Samoa: David Fa'alogo; Scotland: Matty Russell; Serbia: Stefan Nedeljkovic; South Africa: Ruaan du Preez; Tonga: Jason Taumalolo; Ukraine: Oleksandr Skorbach; Wales: Rhys Evans; United States: Joseph Paulo; Canada: Steve Piatek.
