Rugby League Writers and Broadcasters' Association

The Rugby League Writers and Broadcasters' Association (RLWBA) is an association of members of the English news media who write about rugby league in newspapers or present for television and radio programmes. Founded as the Rugby League Writers' Association, it presents a Player of the Year award annually to the best performing player in English rugby league.

Members of the Association who are present at the Challenge Cup Final decide which player should be awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for being man of the match.^[1]

RLWBA Player of the Year

Since 1996, the association has voted on the Player of the Year in recognition of the best performing Super League player that season.

Winners

Year	Winner	Club	Notes
1996	Apollo Perelini	St Helens	[2]
1997	Andy Farrell	Wigan Warriors	[2]
1998	Iestyn Harris	Leeds Rhinos	[2]
1999	Iestyn Harris	Leeds Rhinos	[2]
2000	Tommy Martyn	St Helens	[2]
2001	Paul Sculthorpe	St Helens	[2]
2002	Adrian Lam	Wigan Warriors	[2]
2003	Jamie Peacock	Bradford Bulls	[2]
2004	Danny McGuire	Leeds Rhinos	[2]
2005	Jamie Lyon	St Helens	[2]
2006	Paul Wellens	St Helens	[2]
2007	Trent Barrett	Wigan Warriors	[2]
2008	James Graham	St Helens	[3]
2009	Brett Hodgson	Huddersfield Giants	[4]
2010	Pat Richards	Wigan Warriors	[5]
2011	Sam Tomkins	Wigan Warriors	[6]
2012	Sam Tomkins	Wigan Warriors	[7]
2013	Danny Brough	Huddersfield Giants	[8]
2014	Jamie Peacock	Leeds Rhinos	[9]
2015	Adam Cuthbertson	Leeds Rhinos	[10]
2016	Gareth Ellis Danny Houghton	Both Hull F.C.	[11]
2017	Luke Gale	Castleford Tigers	[12]
2018	James Roby	St Helens	[13]
2019	Jackson Hastings	Salford Red Devils	[14]
2020	Bevan French	Wigan Warriors	[15]
2021	Sam Tomkins	Catalans Dragons	[16]
2022	Jai Field	Wigan Warriors	[17]
2023	Lachlan Lam	Leigh Leopards	[18]
2024	Mikey Lewis	Hull KR	[19]

Merit Award

The Rugby League Writers' Merit Award is awarded annually to a player, coach or official for their services to the game of rugby league. The inaugural winner of the award was Geoff Fletcher in 1982. The award winner is presented with the Arthur Brooks Trophy,^[20] named after a former rugby league journalist for the Daily Mirror.^[21]

Winners

Year	Winner	Role
1982[21]	Geoff Fletcher	Player and official
1983[21]	David Howes	RFL Press Officer
1984[21]	Tom Morton	Club secretary
1985[21]	John Holmes	Player
1986[21]	Roger Millward	Player and coach
1987[21]	Tom Bergin	RL Writers' Association life member
1988[21]	Trevor Foster	Player and official
1989[21]	Gary Hetherington	Player and official
1990[21]	Maurice Oldroyd	BARLA administrator
1991[21]	John Joyner	Player
1992[21]	David Oxley	RFL chief executive
1993[21]	Jeff Grayshon	Player
1994[21]	Mal Meninga	Player and coach
1995[21]	Alex Murphy	Player and coach
1996[21]	Garry Schofield	Player
1997[21]	Lee Crooks	Player
1998[21]	Eric Ashton	Player, coach and official
1999[22]	Shaun Edwards	Player
2000[23]	Daryl Powell	Player and coach
2001[24]	Johnny Whiteley	Player and coach
2002[25]	Peter Fox	Player and coach
2003[26]	Ray French	Commentator
2004[27]	Harry Jepson	Administrator
2005[28]	Colin Hutton	Player, coach and official
2006[29]	David Hinchliffe	Member of Parliament
2007[20]	John Wilkinson	Chairman
2008[30]	Tommy Sale	Player and official
2009[31]	Steve Prescott	Player
2010[32]	Malcolm Alker	Player
2011	Not awarded
2012[33]	Mark Aston	Player and official
2013[34]	Dave Hadfield	Rugby league correspondent
2014[35]	Mike Nicholas	Player, coach and official
2015	Kevin Sinfield Jamie Peacock	Players
2016	Richard Bott	Rugby league correspondent
2021	Bernard Guasch	Chairman
2022	Jodie Cunningham	Player
2023	Dave Woods	Commentator