Lachlan Lam, whose golden boot kicked Leigh Leopards to Betfred Challenge Cup glory in extra time against Hull KR at Wembley Stadium yesterday (Saturday 12 August), was the overwhelming media choice for the 79th Lance Todd Trophy award for player of the match.
Lam becomes the first Papua New Guinea international to win Rugby League’s oldest individual award, which was introduced in 1946 and is voted for by members of the media – including the Rugby League Writers and Broadcasters Association.
He follows in the footsteps of his fellow Kumul Edwin Ipape, who won the Ray French Award as Player of the Match in the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year.
Lam is the second Leigh player to win the award, and there were strong echoes of the club’s only previous Wembley success in 1971 as like Alex Murphy, who won the Lance Todd Trophy on that occasion, he was wearing the number seven jersey – while drop goals were another common theme.
The 25 year-old half back had already made his mark on the occasion with a superb first half try which brought his side right back into what was already a breathtaking encounter, and it was Lam who stepped up in golden point extra time to kick the winning goal which broke Hull KR hearts and gave Leigh a first Challenge Cup trophy in 52 years.
Lam earned 20 of the 29 votes cast, with his half-back partner Ben Reynolds receiving three, Hull KR’s Mikey Lewis two, and John Asiata, Rhys Kennedy, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Gareth O’Brien each receiving one vote.
The complete list of Lance Todd Trophy winners is available online via the Rugby League Record Keepers Club Rugby League RKC - Lance Todd Trophy (rugbyleaguerecords.com). Work is ongoing to complete the full career histories of all winners – a project that will take several years to complete and which can be followed online or by becoming a record keepers’ club member.
In the last of Saturday’s four Finals at Wembley, there was another overseas winner of the Ray French Award, as French half-back Louis Jouffret was voted player of the match in the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final by viewers of the live coverage on Our League, the sport’s free membership platform.
Jouffret landed four goals from as many attempts as Halifax Panthers held off a thrilling late fightback from Batley Bulldogs to win 12-10 – and was delighted to follow in the footsteps of Tony Gigot, who became the only previous French player to win an individual award at Wembley when he won the Lance Todd Trophy in Catalans Dragons’ Challenge Cup win against Warrington in 2018. Like Gigot, Jouffret is originally from Avignon, and has played for a number of English clubs since joining Warrington’s Academy.
The honour of being named Player of the Match in the first Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup Final at Wembley went to the St Helens captain and loose forward Jodie Cunningham, who was selected by Kyle Amor and Andrea Dobson, expert summarisers on BBC Sport’s live coverage of the historic match. Cunningham was outstanding as Saints defeated Leeds 22-8 to make it a hat-trick of victories in the competition.
