 SUPER
LEAGUE STAR SET TO GRAB A GOLD MEDAL
League
Publications Limited are delighted to announce that the winner
of the inaugural Albert Goldthorpe Medal will be revealed
on Tuesday 9th September at a lunchtime presentation ceremony
at Huddersfield's historic George Hotel.
A
strictly limited number of tickets to this event are being
made available to the public exclusively via TotalRL.com.
and come and join us at what promises
to be a memorable and enjoyable Rugby League occasion.
The Medal will be awarded to the man judged to be the Player
of the Year in engage Super League - as voted throughout the
season by League Express match reporters.
The Albert Goldthorpe Medal will be unveiled as a
solid gold medal worth several thousand pounds, incorporating
the iconic photograph of Goldthorpe himself with All Four
Cups. The winner of the Albert Goldthorpe Medal will also
receive a cheque to the value of £2,000.
In addition to the Albert Goldthorpe Medal, the name of the
player judged to be the Rookie of the Year in engage Super
League will also be revealed at the ceremony. The Rookie of
the Year will receive a solid silver medal, and a cheque for
£500.
To qualify for consideration for the Rookie of the Year award,
a player must have played no more than ten first-team games
before the beginning of the current season.
More about the Award
 This
is a new award that has been created by League Express to
honour the leading players in Super League, and to link Rugby
League's modern heroes with the name of a man who was English
Rugby League's first superstar 100 years ago.
It is intended to parallel the 'Dally M Medal',
which is awarded to the NRL player of the year by Rugby League
writers associated with the News Limited series of newspapers
in Australia.
That award is named after the great Australian player Dally
Messenger, who was a superstar of both codes, and guaranteed
the success of Rugby League in Australia when he signed to
play the new code in 1907.
Albert Goldthorpe's career also embraced the early part of
the 20th century. He was born on 3 November 1871, one of five
brothers, four of whom at one period played together in the
same Hunslet team. He made his first team debut, at full back,
as a 16-year-old in October 1888, and he was probably the
finest individual talent in the game at the time of the Northern
Union formation in 1895.
He had become one of the best known figures in English rugby
both before and after the split.
He was still playing for Hunslet 20 years after his debut,
when he led the club to unprecedented success, winning all
four cups (the Challenge Cup, the Championship, the Yorkshire
Cup and the Yorkshire League). Hunslet were the first team
to achieve that feat.
When he finally retired in 1910 he had scored more goals and
points than any player in the game's history at that time.
After his playing career ended he served on the Hunslet committee
until, in 1924, he was appointed as Hunslet's second fulltime
secretary-manager, a post he held for seven years.
In 2006 a number of correspondents wrote to the local newspaper
suggesting that the South Leeds Stadium should be re-named
in his honour.
League Express reporters will cast votes for the Albert Goldthorpe
Medal after every Super League game in the regular season.
The three players who, in the opinion of our reporter, have
been the three 'best and fairest' players in the game will
receive three points, two points and one point respectively.
To be eligible for a vote, however, a player must not have
been suspended from the competition at any stage during the
season.
Albert Goldthorpe's descendants
are delighted that their ancestor will be honoured by League
Express.
"I'm sure that the Goldthorpe
family will be delighted that the tremendous achievements
of Albert, and indeed the other players of that era, are to
be formally recognised with an annual award," said Goldthorpe's
greatgrandson Stephen McGrail.
"I'm sure that Albert would be proud and honoured to
think that his achievements are to be remembered within the
modern day Super League community.
"I have long felt that both Dally Messenger and Lance
Todd are better known within the Rugby League community than
Albert. It would be great to be able to raise the profile
of Albert and the Hunslet community as a whole. If a publication
such as yours would be able to instigate an award I'm sure
that this would be achieved."
The Albert Goldthorpe Medal points table
will not be published in League Express or on TotalRL.com
for the remaining rounds of the competition. Although League
Express reporters will still be asked to award points as part
of their match reports, the details will remain confidential
in order to avoid any pressure on reporters to award points
based on players' current positions in the Medal table.
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