Clive Churchill Medal

The Clive Churchill Medal has been presented to the man-of-the-match of the Australian first grade rugby league Grand Final ever since 1986. The award was created to honour one of the greatest rugby league players in history - Clive "the Little Master" Churchill, following his death in 1985. Churchill played for and later coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs, played interstate football for New South Wales and Queensland and also played for, captained and coached the Australian Kangaroos.

The medal's recipient is chosen by the selectors for the Australian national team as the best and fairest player on the field in the Grand final, and is a prestigious honour in Australian rugby league. The first recipient of the medal was Parramatta's Peter Sterling.

Retrospective Awards

As part of the Centenary Of League celebrations, the Clive Churchill medal has been retrospectively awarded for man-of-the-match performances from season 1954, the first to feature mandatory grand finals. The first recipient from the 1954 season is the man for which the award was originally named, Clive Churchill.

In the replayed grand finals of 1977 and 1978, the award was based on efforts over the course of both games.

Recipients of the Medal

Year	Winner	Team	Position
1954	Clive Churchill	South Sydney	Fullback
1955	Jack Rayner	South Sydney	Second row
1956	Kevin Brown	St George	Prop
1957	Norm Provan	St George	Second row
1958	Norm Provan	St George	Second row
1959	Peter Provan	St George	Lock
1960	Monty Porter	St George	Second row
1961	Brian Clay	St George	Five-eighth
1962	Ian Walsh	St George	Hooker
1963	Norm Provan	St George	Second row
1964	Graeme Langlands	St George	Fullback
1965	Kevin Ryan	St George	Prop
1966	John Raper	St George	Lock
1967	Les Johns	Canterbury (losing team)	Fullback
1968	Eric Simms	South Sydney	Fullback
1969	Dave Bolton	Balmain	Five-eighth
1970	Bob Grant	South Sydney	Halfback
1971	Ron Coote	South Sydney	Lock
1972	Dennis Ward	Manly-Warringah	Halfback
1973	Bob Fulton	Manly-Warringah	Five-eighth
1974	Arthur Beetson	Eastern Suburbs	Prop
1975	Ian Schubert	Eastern Suburbs	Fullback
1976	Graham Eadie	Manly-Warringah	Fullback
1977	Craig Young	St George	Prop
1978	Graham Eadie	Manly-Warringah	Fullback
1979	Steve Morris	St George	Halfback
1980	Steve Gearin	Canterbury	Winger
1981	Bob O'Reilly	Parramatta	Prop
1982	Brett Kenny	Parramatta	Five-eighth
1983	Brett Kenny	Parramatta	Five-eighth
1984	Peter Kelly	Canterbury	Prop
1985	Steve Mortimer	Canterbury	Halfback
1986	Peter Sterling	Parramatta	Halfback
1987	Cliff Lyons	Manly-Warringah	Five-eighth
1988	Paul Dunn	Canterbury Bulldogs	Prop
1989	Bradley Clyde	Canberra Raiders	Lock forward
1990	Ricky Stuart	Canberra Raiders	Halfback
1991	Bradley Clyde	Canberra Raiders (losing team)	Lock forward
1992	Allan Langer	Brisbane Broncos	Halfback
1993	Brad Mackay	St. George (losing team)	Lock forward
1994	David Furner	Canberra Raiders	Second row
1995	Jim Dymock	Sydney Bulldogs	Lock forward
1996	Geoff Toovey	Manly-Warringah	Halfback
1997	Robbie O'Davis	Newcastle Knights	Fullback
1998	Gorden Tallis	Brisbane Broncos	Second row
1999	Brett Kimmorley	Melbourne Storm	Halfback
2000	Darren Lockyer	Brisbane Broncos	Fullback
2001	Andrew Johns	Newcastle Knights	Halfback
2002	Craig Fitzgibbon	Sydney Roosters	Second row
2003	Luke Priddis	Penrith Panthers	Hooker
2004	Willie Mason	Canterbury Bulldogs	Prop
2005	Scott Prince	Wests Tigers	Halfback
2006	Shaun Berrigan	Brisbane Broncos	Hooker
2007	Greg Inglis	Melbourne Storm	Five-eighth
2008	Brent Kite	Manly Sea Eagles	Prop

See also

• National Rugby League
• Australian Rugby League
• New South Wales Rugby League premiership