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Emirates Western Force Vice-captain David Pocock and skipper Nathan Sharpe will both feature prominently in Australian Rugby’s most prestigious award, the John Eales Medal, after being revealed as two of the top 10 contenders for the prize.
This year, the Australian Rugby Union and the Rugby Union Players Association decided to unveil two progressive vote updates in the countdown to the presentation of the John Eales Medal, with Pocock currently leading the way.
Sharpe, who won the coveted award in 2007 and finished runner-up last year, continues to dominate the Wallabies lineout, while Pocock’s emergence as one of the world’s leading flankers has catapulted him into medal calculations.
The ARU today announced the top ten contenders for the medal which will be presented on October 21 in Sydney with only the votes from the recent Tri-Nations series to be collated.
The 2010 John Eales Medal is decided by polling from 15 Tests – the five on last year’s Spring Tour, the four in June 2010, and the six in the recent Tri-Nations series.
Voting is undertaken after each Test and involves every member of the Wallabies game-day squad with the 22 players each casting votes on a 3-2-1 basis.
Wycliff Palu led the count from Matt Giteau after the five-Test Spring Tour against New Zealand, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales late last year with Pocock sitting in third place.
The star Emirates Western Force loose forward then leapt to the lead following inbound tests against Fiji, England and Ireland in June and will be hard to beat after some brilliant displays against the All Blacks and Springboks in the Tri-Nations.
Other awards presented on the night will be the Joe French Award, Rookie of the Year, Try of the Year, Women’s Player of the Year, Sevens Player of the Year – Shawn Mackay Award, Volunteer of the Year, Under 20s Player of the Year, Referee of the Year and the 2010 Hall of Fame inductees will also be honoured.
Emirates Western Force members and supporters can vote for their favourite Wallabies player online at www.rugby.com.au from Friday (24 September) to decide who, from a shortlist, will take home the ‘Australia’s Choice - Wallaby of the Year’ award.
2010 JOHN EALES MEDAL STAGE 1 PROGRESSIVE COUNT
(Following the 2009 Spring Tour)
WYCLIFF PALU 113
MATT GITEAU 102
DAVID POCOCK 86
WILL GENIA 72
ADAM ASHLEY-COOPER 52
2010 JOHN EALES MEDAL STAGE 2 PROGRESSIVE COUNT
(Following June Tests against Fiji, England and Ireland)
DAVID POCOCK 149
MATT GITEAU 146
QUADE COOPER 130
WYCLIFF PALU 113
WILL GENIA 74
2010 JOHN EALES MEDAL NOMINEES
(votes to come from the Tri-Nations)
MATT GITEAU, ROCKY ELSOM, QUADE COOPER, KURTLEY BEALE, WILL GENIA, ADAM ASHLEY-COOPER, NATHAN SHARPE, WYCLIFF PALU, DAVID POCOCK, LUKE BURGESS
Previous winners of the John Eales Medal:
2002 GEORGE SMITH
2003 PHIL WAUGH
2004 DAVID LYONS
2005 JEREMY PAUL
2006 CHRIS LATHAM
2007 NATHAN SHARPE
2008 GEORGE SMITH
2009 MATT GITEAU
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