Former NRL premiership winner Matty Johns reckons Dolphins young gun Isaiya Katoa – and not Nathan Cleary – should have won the Dally M halfback of the year award on Monday night. It comes amid fresh debate around the format of the awards night, and criticism about why Wests Tigers prop Terrell May was overlooked for the team of the year, despite polling higher than Sharks rival Addin Fonua-Blake in the overall count.
Roosters captain James Tedesco was a runaway winner of this year’s Dally M, polling a whopping 67 votes to finish 22 ahead of Cleary (45) in second and Katoa and Payne Haas (both 44) in equal third. Due to current rules, Tedesco, Cleary and Haas were also automatic inclusions in the Dally M team of year in their respective positions because they finished in the top-three of the overall count.
All other positions in the Dally M team of the year are judged separately and not based on how the players polled in the count. It meant that despite Katoa finishing in the top-three, the Dolphins young gun missed out on team of the year honours because he plays in the same position as Cleary (halfback), who finished one point above Katoa.
But Newcastle great Johns believes Katoa should have been picked in the team of the year ahead of Cleary. The Dolphins No.7 had 25 direct try involvements in 24 games in 2025, including a staggering 23 try assists and 21 linebreak assists in a standout season for Kristian Woolf’s side, who narrowly missed out on making the finals as a huge injury count eventually took its toll.
In contrast, Cleary’s numbers for the Panthers weren’t quite as eye-catching. The champion halfback had 17 try assists and 23 direct try involvements for the Panthers, with 18 linebreak assists across his 22 games. Johns says while taking nothing away from Cleary’s influence on Penrith, he thought Katoa was actually the better halfback across the entirety of the season.
“I’m disappointed (Katoa) didn’t get halfback of the year,” Johns told SEN radio about the Dolphins No.7. “I’m a massive Nathan (Cleary) fan but I thought he (Katoa) should have won it… I have never spoken to someone who is as tactically smart as Izzie Katoa and the kid’s 21 years of age.”
Wests Tigers boss hits out over Terrell May snub
The situation with Cleary and Katoa highlighted an unpopular aspect of the Dally M awards in the eyes of many fans. And it sparked fresh questions about why only the top-three players in the overall count are automatic picks in the Dally M team of the year, when it has no bearing on the rest of the 13-player squad.
Tigers prop May’s snub for team of the year honours was the perfect example after he polled higher than Addin Fonua-Blake but was overlooked as one of the two prop’s of the year, alongside Haas. Wests Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson was among those to hit out at May’s omission and insisted he deserved the accolade ahead of Fonua-Blake.
“I don’t want to disrespect Addin Fonua-Blake because he is one of the best front rowers in the competition but for consistency over the entire season, Terrell was a standout prop,” Richardson told News Corp. “I am not sure why he doesn’t get the kudos he deserves for the minutes he plays and the way he plays the game.”
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May was high on the Dally M leaderboard before the voting count went behind closed doors. He ultimately dropped down the list over the back-end of the season, but plenty of fans shared Richardson’s confusion as to why May wasn’t one of the props of the year.
This article originally appeared on Yahoo Sport Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/matty-johns-names-player-who-should-have-received-halfback-of-the-year-over-nathan-cleary-011410326.html
