The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in

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 ...

, awarded to the annual

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 involve ...

Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of

Lance Todd Lancelot Beaumont "Lance" Todd (26 May 1883 – 14 November 1942) was a New Zealand-born rugby league footballer and manager of the early 20th century. As a player, he represented New Zealand in 1907 and 1908 and played in England for the Wi ...

, the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

-born player and administrator, who was killed in a road accident during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. After Todd's death a fund, the Lance Todd memorial Trophy Fund, was established by Australian journalist and rugby league official Harry Sunderland. The trophy's winner is selected by the members of the

Rugby League Writers' Association The Rugby League Writers' Association is made up from accredited members of the 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 Challe ...

present at the game. Until 1957 there was no permanent trophy, instead the winner was given a cash prize with which to buy themselves a memento. In 1956 the Red Devils Association, the official body representing ex-Salford players, decided to pay for a permanent trophy to be awarded to the winner and the first recipient of the new trophy was Jeff Stevenson in 1957. The trophy is presented at a celebratory dinner at the

AJ Bell Stadium Salford City Stadium (referred to as the AJ Bell Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a rugby stadium in Barton-upon-Irwell, England, built to replace Salford rugby league club's ground the Willows for the 2012 season. Sale Sharks rugby unio ...

, home of the

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

although as of 2019 no Salford player has won this award. The first winner of the trophy was

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

, Billy Stott in 1945–46. St. Helens' Sean Long made history in 2006 becoming the first player to win the Lance Todd Trophy three times, having won in 2001 and 2004. Five players have won the trophy twice:

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

's Gerry Helme in 1949–50 and 1953–54;

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

Andy Gregory Andrew Gregory (born 10 August 1961) is an English former professional rugby league footballer. A Great Britain international representative , he is an inductee of the Wigan Hall of Fame. He was the first player to win five Challenge Cup Fin ...

in 1987–88 and 1989–90; and Martin Offiah in 1991–92 and 1993–94; St. Helens'

Paul Wellens Paul Simon Wellens (born 27 February 1980) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of St Helens in the Betfred Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer. A Great Britain and England interna ...

in 2007 (jointly) and 2008; Hull FC's Marc Sneyd in 2016 and 2017. Sneyd and Wellens are the only players to win the award in consecutive finals. Halifax's former Australian international fullback Graham Eadie and Wigan's 1984-85 Australian import stand-off Brett Kenny are the only players to win both the Lance Todd Trophy and the Clive Churchill Medal as the player of the match in the Sydney Premiership Grand Final. Eadie won the Lance Todd in 1986–87 and was (retrospectively) twice awarded the Churchill after Manly-Warringah's premiership wins in 1976 and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

while 1984–85 trophy winner Kenny was retrospectively awarded the Churchill for

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

's Grand Final wins in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

and 1983. The first player to win the trophy on the losing side was

Frank Whitcombe Frank William Whitcombe (29 May 1913 – 17 January 1958), also known by the nickname of "The Big Man", was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played rugby union (RU) for Cardiff ...

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...

in the 1947–48 final against Wigan. he was also the first forward to win the award.

Robbie Paul Robert Rawiri Hunter-Paul (born 3 February 1976) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer. He has since become a business owner and television pundit, runninXtra Mile Marketing an inbound and digital marketing company. Robbie retired fr ...

Gary Connolly Gary John Connolly (born 22 June 1971) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s as a and for St Helens, Canterbury Bulldogs, Wigan Warriors, Leeds Rhinos and for the Great Britain national si ...

, Kevin Sinfield and Niall Evalds have all won the award since 1996, despite each of them finishing on the losing side. The youngest player to win the trophy was Huddersfield's Peter Ramsden who, on his 19th birthday, won it in 1952–53. The trophy has been shared on two occasions, in 1964–65 by Ray Ashby (

) & Brian Gabbitas (

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds Central parliamenta ...

), and in 2007 by Wellens and Leon Pryce.

Winners

† = Won Lance Todd Trophy whilst on losing team

Awards by club

Winners by playing position

References

*
Lance Todd Wigan Career Page
on the Wigan RL Fansite''. {{Rugby League in France Challenge Cup finals Rugby league trophies and awards

Winners

Awards by club

Winners by playing position

See also

References