Tupapa Panthers captain Eric Newbigging leads the Cook Islands Rugby League Player of the Year race with 25 points heading into the grand final this weekend.

The John Whittaker Trophy to the Player of the Year will be awarded straight after the Rarotonga League 13s grand final match between the Panthers and the Arorangi Bears this Saturday at the National Stadium in Nikao.

Newbigging, who played in the NRL competition for the Parramatta Eels in 2014, tops the tally with 25 points, followed by fellow Panthers’ teammate Mafu Kalas with 16 points and Avatiu Nikao Eels’ Nathan Nabou with eight points.

According to Chris Browne of Cook Islands Rugby League Association, the John Whittaker Award points tally is similar to the NRL Dally M Award Tally.

“Every week CIRLA media crew reviews the footages to have a ‘near accurate’ judgement to decide on the top four players every week. The media crew watches over 100 players from footages captured each week. The top 4 players earn points and gets their name shown on the John Whittaker Points Tally,” Browne explained.

The points allocated are:

• MVP - 5 points
• 2^nd Best Player - 3 points
• 3^rd Best Player - 2 points
• 4^th Best Player - 1 point

“The top 4 players are shown every week on the CIRL Show hosted by Radio 88FM which is posted to the CIRL Facebook and YouTube channel.  A total of 11 points is available, which is then distributed to the Top 4 Players of the Week,” Browne said.

“The MVP gets a highlight reel showcasing his outstanding performance that week and the reel is posted on CIRL social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok.”

The criteria include offence, defence, work rate, skills, leadership and quality of opposition. Scoring tries and goals are added bonuses.

“Player discipline is also a major factor. If a player receives a yellow card, he will lose two points from that match. Example: Let’s say Eric Newbigging had an outstanding performance that’s MVP worthy and would have earned five points, but then he gets a yellow card, he loses two points and only gets three points for that week, making him the second-best player of the week.

“If a player receives two yellow cards (red), he gets 0 points regardless of how great he played that week. Example: Let’s say Mafu Kalas scored two tries, scored 28 points and kicked 10 goals, that’s worthy of being MVP for the week. Then he received two yellow cards, he gets 0 points despite putting up incredible stats.”

According to Browne, points are not deducted from the tally, “we are not strict like the NRL Dally M Award”.

“The points tally is not shown during the first round of the season. It starts becoming public once the second round starts and ends after the Grand Final.

“The player who receives the most points by the end of the Grand Final, will receive the John Whittaker Trophy, $200 cash prize and of course a highlight reel of his performance throughout the season.”

The John Whittaker Trophy is sponsored and presented by the Whittaker family.