Nathan Cleary Wins the 2026 Dally M Medal: What It Means for His Cards
Four premierships. Two Clive Churchill Medals. A Wally Lewis Medal. And now, finally, Nathan Cleary has a Dally M Medal.
Cleary was crowned the NRL's best player for 2026 on Wednesday night, polling 67 votes to finish 14 clear of Cronulla's Braydon Trindall on 53. Panthers teammate Dylan Edwards finished third with 52.
And after everything Cleary has already achieved, somehow this was his first.
The One That Was Missing
It's crazy that it's taken this long.
Cleary has been at the centre of Penrith's run of four straight premierships, won the Clive Churchill Medal twice and has been one of the best players in rugby league for years. But he'd never won the game's biggest individual award. That all changed last night.
Cleary had already opened up a lead when Dally M voting went behind closed doors after Round 12, and by the end of the season he'd piled up 67 points.
And, speaking of ‘67, it also ends a pretty incredible drought for the club founded in 1967.Despite their success in 2003 and their incredible run in the 2020s, Cleary is the first Panthers player to win the Dally M since Greg Alexander in 1985. Craig Gower controversy notwithstanding, of course.
An Unusual Way to Win It
This was a Dally M people will remember for a long time; Nathan Cleary finally receiving that one elusive piece of silverware he just couldn’t grasp. But there was a surreal vibe about Wednesday Night’s awards. And it wasn’t that it looked like the ceremony took place in Peter V’Landys’ secret lair inside a volcano.
It was, of course, that the guest of honour wasn’t there. Nathan Cleary accepted the biggest individual award in rugby league from the couch at his dad’s house. His feet up and eyes heavy as he recovers from the serious leg injuries suffered in Penrith's preliminary final loss to Newcastle. It’s not exactly how you’d picture one of the biggest nights of your career.
But the injury didn't change what he'd done over the previous six months. Cleary had already secured the medal with two rounds of voting remaining.
What Does It Mean for Nathan Cleary Cards?
This is the big talking point. It’s not as if collectors needed another reason to chase Cleary cards, but they’ve been given one anyway.
The Panthers captain has one of the best résumés of any player of the NRL era, but the Dally M fills one of the few remaining gaps.
Does that suddenly make every Nathan Cleary card more valuable? Probably not. Rarity, condition, signatures, patches and demand still matter.
But collectors like milestones, and while the Panthers fell short, the 2026 season now comes with a pretty important one attached for Nathan Cleary.
