JOHNATHAN Thurston became the first player to win the Dally M Player of the Year award four times when he was crowned the NRL’s best and fairest player in late September.
It was a title that was never in serious doubt. Thurston held a one-point lead over Wests Tigers prop Aaron Woods with 10 rounds remaining but bolted to victory by 11 points – a record under the current scoring system.
The Cowboys’ maestro caused a headache for Dally M event organisers when he picked up a corked calf muscle in his team’s preliminary final defeat of Melbourne and was unable to attend the presentation ball at The Star in Sydney. A minipresentation dinner was hastily organised in Townsville, where Dally Messenger III, the grandson of the original Dally M, presented Thurston…
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Official Rugby League Annual (Digital) - 1 Issue, 2014