RLIF Awards
# RLIF Awards

The RLIF Awards are the Rugby League International Federation's annual major international sporting award for rugby league. Since 2004 the awards ceremony recognises the best referee, coach, developing nations player, international newcomer, captain and a team of the year.

In 2007, the RLIF did not organise any awards. To fill the gap, Rugby League World magazine asked its Golden Boot panel to come up with winners in the existing categories used by the RLIF.

Coinciding with the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, the RLIF Awards were rebranded and the old award system was replaced.

## Player of the Year

Described as rugby league's most prestigious individual honour, the International Player of the Year award is given to the world’s best player as voted upon by an international judging panel comprising journalists, broadcasters and former international players drawn from both the northern and southern hemispheres.

| Year | Player | Club | National team |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2008 | Billy Slater | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| 2009 | Jarryd Hayne | Parramatta Eels | Australia |
| 2010 | Todd Carney | Sydney Roosters | Australia |
| 2011 | Billy Slater | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| 2012 | Cameron Smith | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| 2013 | Sonny Bill Williams | Sydney Roosters | New Zealand |
| 2014 | Sam Burgess | South Sydney Rabbitohs | England |

## Coach of the Year

| Year | Name | Club | Representative team |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2004 | Brian Noble | Bradford Bulls | Great Britain |
| 2005 | Wayne Bennett | Brisbane Broncos | Australia |
| 2006 | Brian McClennan | | New Zealand |
| 2007 | Tony Smith | Leeds Rhinos | Great Britain |
| 2008 | Des Hasler | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | |
| 2009 | Craig Bellamy | Melbourne Storm | New South Wales Blues |
| 2010 | Wayne Bennett | St. George Illawarra Dragons | |
| 2011 | Des Hasler | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | |
| 2012 | Craig Bellamy | Melbourne Storm | |
| 2013 | Trent Robinson | Sydney Roosters | |
| 2014 | Michael Maguire | South Sydney Rabbitohs | |

## Rookie of the Year

| Year | Player | Club | National team |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2008 | Israel Folau | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| 2009 | Ryan Hall | Leeds Rhinos | England |
| 2010 | Sam Tomkins | Wigan Warriors | England |
| 2011 | Jharal Yow Yeh | Brisbane Broncos | Australia |
| 2012 | Shaun Johnson | New Zealand Warriors | New Zealand |
| 2013 | George Burgess | South Sydney Rabbitohs | England |

## Referee of the Year

| Year | Name | Competition | Major appointments |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2004 | Russell Smith | Super League, Challenge Cup | Tri-Nations |
| 2005 | Tim Mander | National Rugby League | State of Origin, NRL Grand Final, European Nations Cup, Tri-Nations |
| 2006 | Ashley Klein | Super League, Challenge Cup | Anzac Test, Tri-Nations |
| 2007 | Tony Archer | National Rugby League | NRL Grand Final, All Golds Tour |
| 2008 | Tony Archer | National Rugby League | State of Origin, NRL Grand Final, World Cup |
| 2009 | Shayne Hayne | National Rugby League | City vs Country Origin, State of Origin, NRL Grand Final, European Cup, Four Nations |
| 2010 | Tony Archer | National Rugby League | State of Origin, NRL Grand Final, Four Nations |
| 2010 | Richard Silverwood | Super League, Challenge Cup | World Club Challenge, Anzac Test, Challenge Cup Grand Final, Super League Grand Final, Four Nations |
| 2011 | Tony Archer | National Rugby League | State of Origin, NRL Grand Final |
| 2012 | Ben Cummins | National Rugby League | State of Origin, NRL Grand Final, Australia vs New Zealand Test match |
| 2013 | Ben Cummins | National Rugby League | State of Origin, NRL Grand Final, World Cup |

## Spirit of Rugby League Award

| Year | Recipient |
| - | - |
| 2008 | Paul Barriere |
| 2009 | Ken Arthurson |
| 2010 | Ron McGregor |
| 2011 | David Oxley CBE |
| 2013 | Maurice Oldroyd |
| 2014 | Peter Corcoran |

## Team of the Year

2008 :

| Position | Player | Club | National team |
| - | - | - | - |
| Fullback | Billy Slater | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| Wing | Manu Vatuvei | New Zealand Warriors | New Zealand |
| Centre | Israel Folau | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| Five-eighth/Stand-off | Greg Inglis | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| Halfback/Scrum-half | Scott Prince | Gold Coast Titans | Australia |
| Prop | James Graham | St. Helens | England |
| Hooker | Cameron Smith | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| Second-row | Gareth Ellis | Leeds Rhinos | England |
| Second-row | Anthony Laffranchi | Gold Coast Titans | Australia |
| Lock/Loose forward | Paul Gallen | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Australia |

2009 :

| Position | Player | Club | National team |
| - | - | - | - |
| Fullback | Jarryd Hayne | Parramatta Eels | Australia |
| Wing | Ryan Hall | Leeds Rhinos | England |
| Centre | Greg Inglis | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| Five-eighth/Stand-off | Benji Marshall | Wests Tigers | New Zealand |
| Halfback/Scrum-half | Johnathan Thurston | North Queensland Cowboys | Australia |
| Prop | Fuifui Moimoi | Parramatta Eels | New Zealand |
| Hooker | Cameron Smith | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| Second-row | Gareth Ellis | Wests Tigers | England |
| Lock/Loose forward | Kevin Sinfield | Leeds Rhinos | England |

2010 :

| Position | Player | Club | National team |
| - | - | - | - |
| Fullback | Darius Boyd | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Australia |
| Wing | Pat Richards | Wigan Warriors | |
| Centre | Shaun Kenny-Dowall | Sydney Roosters | New Zealand |
| Five-eighth/Stand-off | Todd Carney | Sydney Roosters | Australia |
| Halfback/Scrum-half | Scott Prince | Gold Coast Titans | |
| Prop | Adrian Morley | Warrington Wolves | England |
| Hooker | Robbie Farah | Wests Tigers | Australia |
| Second-row | Gareth Ellis | Wests Tigers | England |
| Lock/Loose forward | Luke Lewis | Penrith Panthers | Australia |

2011 :

| Position | Player | Club | National team |
| - | - | - | - |
| Fullback | Billy Slater | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| Wing | Akuila Uate | Newcastle Knights | Australia |
| Centre | Jamie Lyon | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | |
| Five-eighth/Stand-off | Benji Marshall | Wests Tigers | New Zealand |
| Halfback/Scrum-half | Daly Cherry-Evans | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Australia |
| Prop | Matthew Scott | North Queensland Cowboys | Australia |
| Hooker | Cameron Smith | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| Second-row | Sam Thaiday | Brisbane Broncos | Australia |
| Lock/Loose forward | Paul Gallen | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Australia |

2012 :

| Position | Player | Club | National team |
| - | - | - | - |
| Fullback | Ben Barba | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | |
| Wing | Ryan Hall | Leeds Rhinos | England |
| Centre | Jamie Lyon | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | |
| Five-eighth/Stand-off | Johnathan Thurston | North Queensland Cowboys | Australia |
| Halfback/Scrum-half | Cooper Cronk | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| Prop | James Graham | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | |
| Hooker | Cameron Smith | Melbourne Storm | Australia |
| Second-row | Nate Myles | Gold Coast Titans | Australia |
| Lock/Loose forward | Paul Gallen | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Australia |

2013 :

| Position | Player | Club | National team |
| - | - | - | - |
| Fullback | Greg Inglis | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Australia |
| Wing | Roger Tuivasa-Sheck | Sydney Roosters | New Zealand |
| Centre | Jamie Lyon | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | |
| Five-eighth/Stand-off | Danny Brough | Huddersfield Giants | Scotland |
| Halfback/Scrum-half | Daly Cherry-Evans | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Australia |
| Prop | Sam Burgess | South Sydney Rabbitohs | England |
| Hooker | Issac Luke | South Sydney Rabbitohs | New Zealand |
| Second-row | Sonny Bill Williams | Sydney Roosters | New Zealand |
| Lock/Loose forward | Corey Parker | Brisbane Broncos | Australia |

## Nations' Players of the Year

| | 2008 | 2009 | 2011 | 2012 | 2014 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Canada | | | Matt Wyles | Tony Felix | Steve Piatek |
| Cook Islands | Adam Watene | Karl Temata | Tinirau Arona | Tinirau Arona | Dominique Peyroux |
| Czech Republic | | Josef Kučera | Jan Buben | David Lahr | |
| Estonia | | Alex Janov | | | |
| Fiji | Ashton Sims | Jarryd Hayne | Wes Naiqama | Sisa Waqa | Semi Radradra |
| France | | Olivier Elima | Rémi Casty | Vincent Duport | Rémi Casty |
| Germany | | Jimmy Keinhorst | Thomas Isaak | Mawuli Améfia | |
| Ireland | | Damien Blanch | Liam Finn | Tim Bergin | Liam Finn |
| Italy | | Giovanni Franchi | Matteo Rossi | Fabrizio Ciaurro | |
| Jamaica | | Roy Calvert | Tyronie Rowe | Fabion Turner | Nathan Campbell |
| Japan | | Hiroshi Miyazak | Keisuke Kinoshita | Noriyuki Tainaka | |
| Latvia | | Kristaps Jakushs | | | |
| Lebanon | George Ndaira | Ramy Rassi | Walid Yassine | Danny Barakat | Chris Saab |
| Malta | | | Clifford Debattista | Clifford Debattista | |
| Morocco | | | | Souhail Ait Alla | |
| Papua New Guinea | Paul Aiton | David Mead | | Dion Aiye | Israel Eliab |
| Russia | | Nikolay Zagoskin | Eduard Ososkov | Sergey Konstantinov | Kirill Kosharin |
| Samoa | | Kylie Leuluai | George Carmont | Tony Puletua | David Fa'alogo |
| Scotland | | Iain Morrison | Dale Ferguson | John Duffy | Matty Russell |
| Serbia | | Soni Radovanović | Dalibor Vukanović | Stefan Nedeljković | Stefan Nedeljković |
| South Africa | | Andre Loader | Deon Kraemer | Stevie Meyer | Ruaan du Preez |
| Sweden | | | Alexander Rappestad | Tobias Rorstam | |
| Tonga | Michael Jennings | Richard Faʻaoso | Feleti Mateo | Brent Kite | Jason Taumalolo |
| Ukraine | | Mikhail Troyan | Vladimir Mashkin | | Oleksandr Skorbach |
| United States | Greg Stelluti | Siose Muliumu | Apple Pope | Michael Garvey | Joseph Paulo |
| Wales | | Jordan James | Lloyd White | Rhodri Lloyd | Rhys Evans |

## Awards No Longer Presented

### International Newcomer of the Year

* 2004 Sonny Bill Williams, New Zealand
* 2005 Manu Vatuvei, New Zealand
* 2006 Greg Inglis, Australia
* 2007 Israel Folau, Australia (awarded by Rugby League World)

### Developing Nations Player of the Year

* 2004 Jamal Fakir, France
* 2005 Jamal Fakir, France
* 2006 Wes Naiqama, Fiji
* 2007 George Ndaira, Lebanon (awarded by Rugby League World)

### International Back of the Year

* 2004 Darren Lockyer, Australia
* 2005 Anthony Minichiello, Australia
* 2006 Darren Lockyer, Australia
* 2007 Johnathan Thurston, Australia (awarded by Rugby League World)

### International Forward of the Year

* 2004 Andrew Farrell, England
* 2005 Stuart Fielden, England
* 2006 Jamie Peacock, England
* 2007 Jamie Peacock, England (awarded by Rugby League World)
