Why Jack Wighton deserves to be latest NRL Dally M medallist

In amongst the utter debacle of Monday night's event, during which the Daily Telegraph broke a strict media embargo and published the results early, there was a suggestion that Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary had effectively been robbed by not winning the medal.

Looks like that isolation Tik Tok video he starred in might have cost him more than just two rounds of football.

Wighton polled 26 votes throughout the season, finishing one clear of Parramatta fullback Clint Gutherson with Cleary one vote further back in third.

Playing in rounds three and four may well have been enough to earn Cleary the votes required to pip Wighton, or at least finish level with him.

On the flip side, Wighton was rested in the final round against Cronulla opening the door for Cleary and Gutherson to leapfrog him at the final hurdle, and both players failed to do so.

No voting system is perfect, especially one as subjective as asking so called experts to dish out post-match votes in a three-two-one fashion.

But this voting system is more than adequate in trying to determine the league's best player each season.

And Wighton is an absolute vote magnet - let's not forget he claimed the Clive Churchill Medal, despite the Raiders losing last year's grand final.

When Canberra win, it's quite often Wighton pulling the strings to make it happen.

Consider this. Wighton's 26 votes were 18 clear of his closest teammate - English half George Williams who polled eight Dally M votes in his first season.

Wighton's co-Mal Meninga medalist Josh Papalii managed just seven points but such is the way of the Dally M Medal, which predominantly favours playmakers.

Gutherson lauded the next largest margin over his teammates - 16 points separated him from Junior Paulo and Mitchell Moses. The latter probably should have polled better after a blistering start, but his form fell away much like the Eels'.

Cleary was well supported this season, hence the reason Penrith stormed to the minor premiership and subsequently their first grand final in 17 years.

Boom youngster Jarome Luai claimed 17 points, and hooker Api Koroisau took another 12.

All three players complement each other incredibly well, and the form of Luai and Koroisau have contributed to Cleary having a career-best season.

Now here's something else to consider. No club has had a kinder draw this season than Cleary's Penrith.

In a season of same-day travel, thanks to the NRL's strict Apollo bubble regulations, Penrith players have slept better than anyone else.

They've had just three interstate trips to Queensland. Otherwise the furthest they've traveled have been to Gosford, and the Northern Beaches.

The Raiders, meanwhile, played just eight matches in Canberra this season, one of those being a qualifying final.

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Every other week they had to travel on the day of the game, and return that night, be that to Sydney, Melbourne or Queensland.

Over the course of the year, they racked up the best part of 50 hours in transit to away games and that's not including traveling from Raiders headquarters to the airport, or the transit to the venue once they landed.

It was an extra logistical layer the likes of Wighton and co had to overcome while Penrith, for the most part, were able to stay on the ground.

If anything that only enhances his efforts to win the Dally M Medal. And there might well be more to come.

Season 2020 was just his second as a five-eighth, and it has absolutely validated coach Ricky Stuart's decision to cloak his star man in the number six jersey.

After winning the Mal Meninga Medal, Wighton spoke of how determined he was this year to prove last year's debut season in the halves wasn't a fluke. One Dally M Medal later, he has done so much more than that.