The Dally M Medal is the premier individual award in the National Rugby League, which is given to the best and fairest player in the competition for that year. To be eligible, a player must not have been suspended from the competition at any stage during the season and obviously have performed remarkably well through-out the season, the player usually had received representative honours as well.

The award was named after Henry Herbert 'Dally' Messenger, who was instrumental in the establishment of Rugby League in Australia. The award was originally established in 1980 by the Daily Mirror newspaper and was for many years the second major individual award behind the Rothmans Medal.

In 1998, with the merger of the Australian Rugby League and the Australian Super League, the Dally M became the only player-of-the-year award. The medal is awarded at the annual Dally M Awards night where as well as honouring the player of the year, the awards night also recognizes the premier player in each position, the best coach and the most outstanding rookie of the season.

News Limited journalists vote on the best performing players in each match on a 3, 2, 1 points system. The scores of the voting are visible to the public and media up until Round 16 of the NRL season

Awards cancelled
Due to a dispute with the Rugby League Players Association, the NRL cancelled the Dally M awards 2 days prior to the ceremony. Previously the players had threatened to boycott the event unless the NRL met their demands.