Johnathan Thurston claims fourth Dally M Medal

It's 2015 Dally M Awards night as we bring you live coverage from the Star Casino in Sydney. Johnathan Thurston has claimed a record fourth Dally M Medal as he took the top gong by an 11 point margin.

The awards night is set to commence from 8:30pm AEST.

LIVE BLOG:
8:00pm - The Dally M night kicks off with a promo cutting all the highlights of the 2015 season as we look back over the 26 Rounds
8:35pm - Tony Squires welcomes us to the night, giving us a recap of what we can expect tonight. He runs through what is ahead for both the Broncos and Cowboys in the 2015 Grand Final
8:40pm - NRL CEO Dave Smith is now on stage welcoming the crowd, including the new Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. Dave runs us through to all the good things the League has made progress with this season, including the changes to player welfare and safety.
8:50pm - First award of the night is the Captain of the Year, which sees our second live cross to Townsville with a small delay. JT and Matt Scott sharing the award for the Cowboys co-captains
8:55pm - Jack Bird beats high flying storm fullback, Cameron Munster for the Rookie of the Year.
8:57pm - Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull talks about his Sydney Roosters being knocked out of the finals race.
9:00pm - Tessa James and Shane Watson present the Coach of the Year award to Wayne Bennett who collects after reviving the Brisbane Broncos in season 2015.
9:05pm - Matty Johns leads us in the Leaderboard countdown, sadly no Russell Crowe to carefully guide us through the points round by round. We kick it off with Round 17, 18 and 19.
9:10pm - Thurston leads the ranks with 25 points at the end of 19 Rounds, Aaron Woods in second with 18 points.
9:15pm - Norm Provan and Arthur Summons presenting their Provan-Summons award for People's Choice to Johnathan Thurston, who is suffering with that long delay to North Queensland via satellite.
9:25pm - Gorden Tallis and Lincoln Lewis on stage to present the Dally M Representative player of the year, a real Queensland flavour to this award, and surprisingly not JT with the win. Broncos Corey Parker collecting the gong, well deserved!
9:30pm - Shaun Johnson gives us a look at Round 20, 21 and 22 as 7 players in the top 10 collect points. JT climbing higher to an outright lead on 30 points, 9 points clear of Aaron Woods
9:40pm - Ash Taylor takes out the Under 20s player of the year, presented by Braith Anasta
9:45pm - A very quiet spoken Nathan Friend presented with his global flipping pass against the Storm that stole sporting headlines across the world
9:48pm - No players in the top ten were awarded points from Round 23.
10:00pm - All done and dusted as Johnathan Thurston collects his record fourth Dally M medal with an outright lead of 32 points. He credits his whole team for the performance which has seen his side make just their second Grand Final.

Dally M Players of the Year: Johnathan THURSTON (North Queensland Cowboys)

FINAL DALLY M LEADERBOARD (After 26 Rounds):
Johnathan Thurston (NQL) - 32
Michael Ennis (CRO) - 21
Aaron Woods (WST) - 21
Benji Marshall (SGI) - 21
Ben Hunt (BRI) - 18
James Maloney (SYD) - 18
Cameron Smith (MEL) -17
Blake Austin (CAN) - 16
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (SYD) - 16
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck SYD - 16

LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 16 (points):
Johnathan Thurston (NQL) - 19
Aaron Woods (WST) - 18
Benji Marshall (SGI) - 14
Matt Moylan (PEN) - 13
Chris Sandow (PAR) - 13
Blake Austin (CAN) - 13
Dale Cherry-Evans (MAN) - 12
Ben Matulino (WAR) - 12

Player Awards

Provan Summons Award (fan voted): Johnathan THURSTON (North Queensland Cowboys)
Nominated: Corey Parker (BRI), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (SYD), Blake Austin (CAN), Johnathan Thurston (NQL)

Peter Frilingos Headline Moment: Nathan FRIEND's flipping pass against the Storm

Peter Moore Award - Rookie of the Year: Jack BIRD (Cronulla Sharks)
Nominated: Tom Trbojevic (MAN), Jack Bird (CRO), Cameron Munster (MEL), Kane Elgey (GLD), Tuimoala Lolohea (WAR)

Coach of the Year: Wayne BENNETT (Brisbane Broncos)
Nominated: Trent Robinson (SYD), Paul Green (NQL), Wayne Bennett (BRI), Shane Flanagan (CRO)

Captain of the Year: Johnathan THURSTON & Matt SCOTT (North Queensland Cowboys)
Nominated: Justin Hodges (BRI), Cameron Smith (MEL), Mitchell Pearce/Jake Friend (SYD), Johnathan Thurston/Matt Scott (NQL)

Representative Player of the Year: Corey PARKER (Brisbane Broncos)
Nominated: Johnathan Thurston (QLD/AUS/NQL), Josh Dugan (NSW/AUS/SGI), Corey Parker (QLD/AUS/BRI), Greg Inglis (QLD/AUS/SOU)

Holden Cup (Under 20's) Player of the Year: Ashley TAYLOR ()
Nominated: Ashley Taylor (BRI), Addison Demetriou (MAN), Tom Trbojevic (MAN), Latrell Mitchell (SYD)

Female Player of the Year: Jenni-Sue HOEPPER (Queensland/Australia)
Nominated: Steph Hancock (QLD/AUS), Jenni-Sue Hoepper (QLD/AUS), Karina Brown (QLD/AUS), Simaima Taufa (NSW/AUS

Ken Stephen Medal: Luke DOUGLAS (Gold Coast Titans)

Team of the Year:

Fullback - Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Sydney Roosters)
Nominated: James Tedesco (WST), Lachlan Coote (NQL), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (SYD), Greg Inglis (SOU)

Winger - Semi Radradra (Parramatta Eels)
Nominated: Semi Radradra (PAR), Curtis Rona (CBY), Marika Koroibete (MEL), Valentine Holmes (CRO)

Centre - James Roberts (Gold Coast Titans)
Nominated: Josh Morris (CBY), Will Chambers (MEL), Michael Jennings (SYD), James Roberts (GLD)

Five-Eighth - Blake Austin (Canberra Raiders)
Nominated: Blake Austin (CAN), James Maloney (SYD), Anthony Milford (BRI), Michael Morgan (NQL)

Halfback - Johnathan Thurston (North Queensland Cowboys)
Nominated: Johnathan Thurston (NQL), Mitchell Pearce (SYD), Cooper Cronk (MEL), Ben Hunt (BRI)

Prop - Aaron Woods (Wests Tigers)
Nominated: Aaron Woods (WST), David Klemmer (CBY), Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (SYD), Jesse Bromwich (MEL)

Hooker - Michael Ennis (Cronulla Sharks)
Nominated: Cameron Smith (MEL), Jake Friend (SYD), Jake Granville (SYD), Michael Ennis (CRO)

Second Rower - Josh Jackson (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)
Nominated: Josh Jackson (CBY), Aidan Guerra (SYD), Wade Graham (CRO), Tyson Frizell (SGI)

Lock - Jason Taumalolo (North Queensland Cowboys)
Nominated: Greg Eastwood (CBY), Jason Taumalolo (NQL), Corey Parker (BRI), Paul Gallen (CRO)

Points Awards:

Top Points scorer: Jarrod Croker (Canberra Raiders)

Top Try Scorer: Semi Radradra (Parramatta Eels)

Stay tuned!