Dally M Awards descend into a farce as result is leaked online HOURS before Jack Wighton was crowned the winner - and extraordinary blunder has left NRL and fans fuming
NRL star Jack Wighton won the coveted Dally M Medal on Monday night - but the suspense at the league's pinnacle awards event was spoiled hours earlier when the results were leaked online.
The Canberra Raiders five-eighth pipped Parramatta Eels star Clinton Gutherson to first place by a point during the 'virtual count' held at Fox Sports' Sydney studio.
Wighton was among the favourites to be crowned the NRL's best and fairest after a scintillating 13-try season and a call-up to the New South Wales State of Origin side.
But what should have been a thrilling build-up to the award's announcement was ruined when Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph accidentally published the result on its homepage.
The story published at 5.47pm - three-and-a-half hours before the result was announced at 9.15pm - was titled 'Dally M drama: System needs an urgent overhaul' and had a preview showing Jack Wighton and other favourite Nathan Cleary.
ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys said an investigation would be launched into how the results came to be published accidentally.
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NRL star Jack Wighton has claimed the coveted Dally M Medal on Monday night - but the big reveal was ruined after the full final vote count was published online hours before
Wighton pictured on Monday night at Fox Sports Studios in Artarmon on Sydney's lower north shore. His scintillating 2020 season was punctuated with 13 tries and a call-up to the New South Wales State of Origin side
Wighton poses with the coveted medal after winning the Dally M Player of the Year award on Monday night
'I know mistakes do happen but we'll certainly do an investigation to see how this happened,' he said.
'We'll do an investigation and make sure this never, ever, ever happens again.'
Mr V'landys claimed players at the Sydney event didn't have the results spoiled for them as their phones were confiscated after the story was posted online.
The article said 'Dally M winner Jack Wighton is a great player who had a wonderful season' but argued Penrith Panthers star Cleary was a more worthy winner.
A breakdown of the vote count was also included in the story, showing the full final leaderboard with Cleary in third with 24 votes and Storm star Cameron Smith in fourth with 22.
A select few News Corp journalists are told the results of the count ahead of time on the condition they only publish them once the winner is announced officially.
The story was quickly removed from the publication's website, but not before screenshots of the story were posted on social media and shared by thousands.
Veteran Channel Nine reporter Danny Weidler described the inadvertent leak as 'the blunder that ruined the NRL's big awards night'.
Footy fans wrote of their outrage on Twitter, saying the highly-awaited award reveal had been turned into a damp squib.
'Why spoil the awards for everyone?' one fan wrote who tagged the article's author Buzz Rothfield in his tweet.
Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph accidentally published the result on its homepage hours before the official announcement - along with a full breakdown of the vote tally
Jack Wighton with (L-R) James Tedesco, Clint Gutherson, Luke Keary and Nathan Cleary after the the Dally M Player of the Year award was announced
'Now anyone that has come across the article has the spectacle ruined.'
'Well done Buzz - saved me having to watch the awards knowing the result after you leaked it,' another said.
Rothfield took to Twitter after the results were officially announced to say a 'production error' was behind the gaffe.
Footy fans immediately wrote of their outrage at the leak on Twitter, saying the highly-awaited award reveal had been turned into a damp squib
Journalist Buzz Rothfield took to Twitter after the results were officially announced to say a 'production error' was behind the gaffe
Wighton's crowning moment wasn't spoiled as the Canberra Raiders five-eighth said he had his phone taken off him during the event
'Owing to a production error that was out of my control, The Daily Telegraph website accidentally published the winner of the Dally M award before the official announcement tonight,' he said.
'We apologise sincerely for the mistake.'
Wighton confirmed his crowning moment was not spoiled as he was unaware of the leak.
'Halfway through they took all our phones so we didn't know what was going on. We had no insight to that at all,' he told 100% Footy later on Monday evening.
Panthers Group chief executive Brian Fletcher said the leak 'was all a bit disappointing'.
The article published at 5.47pm said 'Dally M winner Jack Wighton is a great player who had a wonderful season' but argued Penrith Panthers star Nathan Cleary was a more worthy winner
'To be sitting there waiting for something that has already been announced is disappointing. It wouldn't worry Nathan ,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Wighton's rise to the NRL's top award comes after a tumultuous past few years which saw him temporarily suspended from the sport's top level in Australia.
In 2018 he pleaded guilty to six charges - five counts of assault and one charge of public urination - following a night out in Canberra.
He was given a suspended two-month jail sentence, a $3,500 fine and banned for 10 matches by the NRL.
Ivan Cleary named NRL coach of the year
One Cleary walked away with an NRL award on Monday night but it wasn't Nathan.
The first virtual Dally M Medal ceremony looked set for a Cleary sweep until Nathan was pipped at the post by Canberra five-eighth Jack Wighton for the player-of-the year award.
The Penrith halfback has steered the team to 17-straight NRL wins on the march to Sunday's grand final, but it was the mastermind of those victories who got the credit.
Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary after winning the Coach of the Year award at the Dally M Player of the Year awards in Sydney
Father Ivan was named coach of the year for the stunning streak that has given the club its first grand final appearance in 17 years.
Just last season the Panthers finished 10th and were watching the finals from their couches at home, but in the space of a season have turned the culture around.
Spearheaded by Cleary, the Panthers are on the verge of an NRL premiership after a record-breaking season.
A win on Sunday will make it 18 straight wins - the most in NRL history.
It's Cleary's second coach of the year award after winning it in 2014, when he led the Panthers to an unlikely preliminary finals finish.
'I'd also like to take the opportunity to apologise to the victims of the incident for any pain I may have caused them and their families,' Wighton said at the time.
'There are no excuses for my behaviour. I want to let them know that I'm truly sorry for what happened that night.
'I wish it didn't happen. If I could take it back, I would. It was a big muck-up on my behalf.'