In-form Castleford hooker Daryl Clark moved within two points of Albert Goldthorpe Medal leader Travis Burns yesterday thanks to a stunning man-of-the-match display in the Tigers’ 54-12 win over Hull Kingston Rovers.
The Englishman, 23, was awarded three points for his performance, which brought him to 16 for the season, just two behind Burns who, despite scoring a try in the same match, did not register on the medal table.
The Albert Goldthorpe Medal was created by Rugby League Express newspaper 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.
In considering its design and requirements, the directors of League Publications Limited, publishers of Rugby League Express, looked to the process applied in awarding Australia’s ‘Dally M Medal’, the award that goes to the NRL player with the highest number of weekly points awarded by Rugby League writers associated with the News Limited series of newspapers.
That award is named after the great Australian superstar of both codes, Dally Messenger, who guaranteed the success of Rugby League in Australia when he signed to play the new code in 1907. 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.
Each week’s leading point scorers are published on page two of Rugby League Express until the end of the Super League regular season.
Albert Goldthorpe Medal table (after round 15)
Travis Burns (Hull Kingston Rovers): 18
Daryl Clark (Castleford Tigers): 16
Kevin Brown (Widnes Vikings): 15
Leon Pryce (Catalan Dragons): 15
Morgan Escare (Catalan Dragons): 13
Luke Walsh (St Helens): 12
Danny Brough (Huddersfield Giants): 11
Marc Sneyd (Castleford Tigers): 11
Alex Walmsley (St Helens): 10
Chris Hill (Warrington Wolves): 10
Gareth Ellis (Hull FC): 10
Justin Carney (Castleford Tigers): 10
Matty Smith (Wigan Warriors): 10
