Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards has been nominated as a shock contender to win this year’s Dally M award after another Herculean effort for the Panthers.
Edwards battled through a shoulder problem to deliver a man-of-the-match performance in Penrith’s 26-6 win over Canberra on Saturday night.
The 26-year-old continues to prove himself as one of the NRL’s toughest players — battling through a serious ankle injury in Penrith’s run to last year’s premiership.
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“Penrith, they’ve got some wonderful players but I don’t know whether they’ve got a more consistent player or a braver player than their fullback Dylan Edwards, what a player he is,” NRL great Laurie Daley said on Sky Racing’s Big Sports Breakfast.
Daily Telegraph reporter Phil Rothfield echoed those sentiments and predicted Edwards was a legitimate contender for this year’s Dally M award, especially with Nathan Cleary set to miss the rest of the regular season due to suspension.
“Well you know he played through the finals no media publicity, nothing was heard about until after the game basically with a really serious ankle injury, couldn’t train, was in a moon boot all week, he’s a really, really tough dude and he just got needled game after game,” Rothfield said.
“Again he took a heavy knock the other night and just played outstanding.
“I looked up the Dally M leaderboard when it closed and he was running eighth, in equal eighth with Daly Cherry-Evans and he was only six points behind Ben Hunt.
“I think he might be a bolter’s chance to actually win the award.
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“I think he’s a good thing to finish in the top 3 and apart from him being subject to terrific play, picking up points every week, he no longer has, for the rest of the year, Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai in the side, competing with him for points each week.”
Rothfield said Edwards was only a “cigarette paper” behind the likes of James Tedesco, Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic in the echelon of the game’s premier fullbacks
“He’s improved out of sight in the last two years and I’m really happy for him because while he may lack a few of the skills of the boys I’ve just mentioned he’s toughness and his effort plays are up there with any player in the competition.”
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