Danny Brough of Huddersfield Giants and Tom Lineham of Hull FC were the gold and silver medallist respectively at the 2013 Albert Goldthorpe Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 18th Sept.
In front of a specially invited audience at the Taverners Lounge, Headingley, Brough was presented with the solid gold Albert Goldthorpe Medal and a cheque for £2,000, while Lineham received the solid silver Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year Medal and a cheque for £500.
It is the second time that Danny Brough has won the Albert Goldthorpe Medal. He was the inaugural winner in 2008, when he played with Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, while Lineham follows in the footsteps of his Hull FC team-mate Liam Watts, who was the Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year in 2010, when he played with Hull Kingston Rovers.
Martyn Sadler, the Chairman of League Publications Limited, and the Managing Editor of Rugby League Express, presented the Albert Goldthorpe Medal, and said: “Danny Brough has had an outstanding season in leading the Giants to the League Leaders’ Shield, and the award of the Albert Goldthorpe Medal recognises his consistent form throughout the 27 rounds of Super League.
“Danny earned the maximum three points in nine of the Giants’ 27 matches in the Super League season, which demonstrates his contribution to their season.
“Similarly, Tom Lineham has had an outstanding season for Hull FC.
“He made just five appearances in 2012, and was given squad number 25 at the start of the season. Yet in a very short space of time he cemented a place on the wing and scored 17 tries in 25 appearances, before injury curtailed his season.”
The Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year Medal is awarded to a player who, prior to the start of the season, had played fewer than ten Super League games. This year it was presented by Leeds Rhinos Head of Youth Development Barrie McDermott.
The Albert Goldthorpe Medal was created by Rugby League Express in 2008 to honour leading players in Super League each year, and to link Rugby League’s modern stars with its proud history.
The medal is named after a man who was English Rugby League’s first superstar, more than 100 years ago, who was the subject of one of the most iconic photographs in the history of the game, when he was pictured holding all four Cups when he captained the great Hunslet team of the 1907/8 season.
Each week, after every Super League game in the regular season, the Rugby League Express match report writer awards medal points to the three players who, in the opinion of the writer, were the ‘best and fairest’ players in that game. 3, 2 & 1 points are awarded, respectively.
The leading positions in the final table were as follows:
Albert Goldthorpe Medal Table 2013
Danny Brough (Huddersfield Giants) 39
Rangi Chase (Castleford Tigers) 33
Michael Dobson (Hull Kingston Rovers) 22
Sam Tomkins (Wigan Warriors) 19
Stefan Ratchford (Warrington Wolves) 19
Jarrod Sammut (Bradford Bulls) 19
Tim Smith (Wakefield Trinity Wildcats) 17
Leon Pryce (Catalans Dragons) 17
Mickey Higham (Warrington Wolves) 17
Liam Farrell (Wigan Warriors) 16
Jon Wilkin (St Helens) 16
Several other awards were also presented at the Albert Goldthorpe ceremony.
- The Albert Goldthorpe Team Award was presented to Huddersfield Giants by Rugby League Hall of Fame member Alex Murphy.
- The Albert Goldthorpe Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to veteran administrator Harry Jepson by Rugby Football League President David Oxley.
- Leeds chief executive Gary Hetherington presented the Albert Goldthorpe Career Award to former Leeds Rhinos, Sheffield Eagles and Great Britain centre Keith Senior.
- Steve Menzies of the Catalan Dragons also received an Albert Goldthorpe Career award.
- The Albert Goldthorpe Pen was presented to Phil Caplan for his outstanding contribution to Rugby League journalism.
