What’s your favourite look?

I was a non-working spectator at Lang Park for this effort from Tom Dearden on Selwyn Cobbo and couldn’t believe what I was watching:

And the try of the year we’ve known since it happened:

Some quotes from Xavier Coates on this try and this game: “I didn’t have to do too much. I had a shocker.”

Absolute BS from the Storm winger.

Abigail Roache with a stunning try-saver:

Zali Fay flying through the air to touch down in the last round:

The veteran halfback was just off the pace when votes went behind closed doors, and then he led Manly back to the finals.

Is the Maroons skipper and chance?

Every person with even a passing interest in the NRL will tell you Melbourne Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes is the favourite for the Dally M Medal, but if you look at the leaderboard, he’s miles back.

Hughes was in equal 15th with 16 votes when the votes went behind closed doors after round 12, but that sort of ground can be made up thanks to the two-voter system introduced last year.

With two judges giving 3-2-1 votes for each game (rather than one judge from years past) players can earn a maximum of six points per match.

Hughes and the rest of the chasing pack also benefit from leaders Dylan Edwards and Nicho Hynes missing long stretches in the back half of the season.

Edwards and Hynes played six and five games respectively in the final 15 rounds, while Hughes played 12 and other potential contenders like Isaah Yeo, James Tedesco, Ben Hunt and Daly Cherry-Evans all cracked double digits.

The wedding of Brian To’o and Moesha To’o gave us Jarome Luai’s trash best man speech, but there’s no denying these two are one of the best couples in rugby league.

• 2023: Kalyn Ponga and Tamika Upton
• 2022: Nicho Hynes and Raecene McGregor
• 2021: Tom Trbojevic and Millie Boyle/Emma Tonegato
• 2020: Jack Wighton and Ali Brigginshaw
• 2019: James Tedesco and Jess Sergis
• 2018: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Brittany Breayley
• 2017: Cameron Smith and Simaima Taufa
• 2016: Cooper Cronk/Jason Taumalolo and Kezie Apps
• 2015: Johnathan Thurston and Jenni-Sue Hoepper

* Before NRLW started in 2018, best female player was awarded based on international performances

Nathan Cleary and Jahrome Hughes may be about to face off in the biggest game of the year, but there is still plenty of respect there.

Despite being arguably the best player in the game for the past few years, Cleary is yet to win a Dally M Medal, owing mostly to injury layoffs. That’s the case once again this season and, with his name out of the running, the Penrith halfback happily labelled his rival in Melbourne as a deserving winner tonight.

“He’s been a pleasure to watch all year, he’s been on fire. He’s been the best player this year for sure,” Cleary said.

“He’s definitely the best running halfback I’ve just about ever seen. The way he takes on the line, he’s constantly a threat.

“I think he’s added a lot of other stuff to his game as well just in terms of game management and ball playing.”

Anyone other than Jahrome Hughes winning tonight would be an upset, but Roosters skipper and 2019 winner James Tedesco is one of the only other names that has been tossed up as a genuine challenger.

Cronulla Sharks captain Tiana Penitani is one of 70-odd players taking a night out of their grand final preparations this week to walk the red carpet and get some individual recognition.

We’ll see the official Dally M team of the year named tonight, but NRL Daily hosts Darcie McDondald and Josh Mansour have already named theirs.

Have a listen.

Melbourne halfback Jahrome Hughes is a massive favourite for the top men’s award tonight, and he’s just spoken to Fox on the green carpet on the way into Royal Randwick.

“To be put alongside the guys who have won it … would be pretty humbling,” he says.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the boys around me. I might have had to pick up a little bit more of a leadership role, but other than that [didn’t have to change much].”

NSW Sky Blues co-captains Kezie Apps and Isabelle Kelly are in the building.

Former Melbourne and Manly playmaker Cooper Johns is among the first to hit the green red carpet at Royal Randwick Racecourse for tonight’s Dally M Awards.

The son of Matthew Johns is clearly honouring the release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel to a movie about a character named … well, I can’t say it now lest he appear, but you get the idea.

I’ll keep across the best looks and interviews from the red carpet as we go, but for the full list and breakdown, we’ve called in some less colourblind, more fashion-minded brains.

Hey and howdy folks! We’ve got some awards to hand out tonight.

The NRL and NRLW Dally M Medals are chief among them, but between the red carpet and the teams and moments of the year, there’s plenty to talk about between now and then.

So please, stick it out with me, Jon Healy, as we take a moment out of grand final week to look back at the season just gone.