Rugby League Week
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Rugby League Week (frequently abbreviated to RLW) is one of the two major Australian rugby league magazines, Big League being the other. It is published weekly during the Australian rugby league season, which runs from March to late September (roughly corresponding to the southern hemisphere autumn and winter) and has been published continuously since 1970. It is currently under the control of Australian Consolidated Press.
Each edition of Rugby League Week contains details and assessments of every match in the National Rugby League (originally the New South Wales Rugby League). The games are assessed and each player who took the field and even the referee are given a rating, along with details not only of who scored the points, but when they did so. Before the formation of the Brisbane Broncos, these ratings and details were also given for the Brisbane Rugby League competition. There are also details of lower-level competitions in Australia given in the magazine, along with major off-field headlines affecting the sport.
[edit] Player of the Year award
Related to the rating of players ever since Rugby League Week was first published during the 1970 season has been its Player of the Year award.
Since 1978, players have been rated out of ten for every game. To deal with absences from club rugby due to interstate and Test duty, the five lowest scores of every player are deleted from their final score. After these five lowest scores are removed, the players with the highest score wins the award.
From 1970 to 1977, the method of judging was the same except that players were awarded out of five instead of out of ten.
[edit] Rugby League Week Players of the Year
| Year | Rugby League Week Player of the Year |
| 1970 | Tommy Bishop (Cronulla Sutherland) |
| 1971 | Bob Grant (South Sydney) |
| 1972 | John Ballesty (Eastern Suburbs) |
| 1973 | Johnny Mayes (Manly Warringah) |
| 1974 | Arthur Beetson (Eastern Suburbs) |
| 1975 | Bob Fulton (Manly Warringah) |
| 1976 | Ray Higgs (Parramatta) |
| 1977 | Mick Cronin (Parramatta) |
| 1978 | Geoff Gerard (Parramatta) |
| 1979 | Ray Price (Parramatta) |
| 1980 | Kevin Hastings (Eastern Suburbs) |
| 1981 | Kevin Hastings (Eastern Suburbs) |
| 1982 | Kevin Hastings (Eastern Suburbs) |
| 1983 | Phil Sigsworth (Manly Warringah) |
| 1984 | Peter Sterling (Parramatta) |
| 1985 | Ray Price (Parramatta) |
| 1986 | Peter Sterling (Parramatta) |
| 1987 | Peter Sterling (Parramatta) |
| 1988 | Ben Elias (Balmain) |
| 1989 | Gavin Miller (Cronulla Sutherland) |
| 1990 | Mal Meninga (Canberra) |
| 1991 | Ewan McGrady (Canterbury Bankstown) |
| 1992 | Paul Langmack (Western Suburbs) |
| 1993 | Steve Walters (Canberra) |
| 1994 | Cliff Lyons (Manly Warringah) |
| 1995 | Laurie Daley (Canberra) |
| 1996 | Allan Langer (Brisbane) |
| 1997 | Brad Fittler (Sydney City) |
| 1998 | Andrew Johns (Newcastle) |
| 1999 | Andrew Johns (Newcastle) |
| 2000 | |
| 2001 | |
| 2002 | Andrew Johns (Newcastle) |
| 2003 | Steven Price (Canterbury-Bankstown) |
| 2004 | Nathan Hindmarsh (Parramatta) |
| 2005 |
