The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded annually to the
man of the match
In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...
in the
Super League Grand Final
The Super League Grand Final is the championship-deciding game of rugby league's Super League competition. It is played between two teams who have qualified via the Super League Play-Off series. The winning team receives the Super League Trop ...
. Named after
Harry Sunderland
Harry Sunderland (23 November 1889 – 15 January 1964) was an Australian rugby league football administrator and journalist.
Sunderland was born in Gympie, Queensland in 1889. From 1913 to 1922, Sunderland was the Queensland Rugby League's ...
, who was an Australian
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
football administrator in both Australia and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, the Trophy was first awarded in the
Rugby Football League Championship
The Rugby Football League Championship First Division was the top division of rugby league in England between 1895 and 1996, when it was replaced by the Super League.
History
1895–1904: Foundations
The first season of rugby league (189 ...
Final of the
1964–65 season following Sunderland's death.
After the
1972–73 season the play-off system was dropped as the League went to two divisions. The Trophy's use was continued in the
Rugby League Premiership and Super League Premiership finals until
Super League III, when a play-off system was re-introduced to determine the Champions through the
Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
.
The trophy's winner is determined by the
Rugby League Writers' Association The Rugby League Writers' Association is made up from accredited members of the England, English news media who write about rugby league in newspapers or present for television and radio programmes.
Members of the Association who are present at the ...
and presented on the field immediately following the conclusion of the match. In 2011,
Rob Burrow
Robert Geoffrey Burrow (born 26 September 1982) is an English former professional rugby league player. An England and Great Britain representative, he spent his entire 16-year professional career with Leeds Rhinos in the Super League, making ...
of
Leeds Rhinos
The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...
became the first player to achieve the unanimous votes of all 37 judges when winning the award.
Recipients
† = denotes a player who won the trophy but played on the losing team in the final.
Winners by club
Seven players have been awarded trophy twice.
See also
*
Clive Churchill Medal
The Clive Churchill Medal is the award given to the player judged to be man-of-the-match in the National Rugby League's annual Grand Final. The award was created to honour Clive Churchill, one of the greatest rugby league players in Australian ...
– corresponding award for the NRL Grand Final
*
Karyn Murphy Medal – corresponding award for the NRLW Grand Final
*
Norm Smith Medal
The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Football ...
– corresponding award for the AFL Grand Final
*
Lance Todd Trophy
The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in ...
- similar award for
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
final
References
Super League Grand Finals
Rugby league trophies and awards
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