The Ken Irvine Medal is a rugby league award given annually to the National Rugby League (NRL) player who scores the most tries during the season.
The medal is presented annually at the Dally M Awards ceremony.
History The medal was first presented in 2018 to the New Zealand Warriors's David Fusitu'a; replacing the Dally M Award presented to the leading try scorer each season. The medal is named after Ken Irvine a prolific try-scorer during his career. Irvine held the Australian first grade rugby league record of 212 tries from 236 appearances in a career stretching from 1958–1973. His record stood until the 2026 NRL season when South Sydney Rabbitohs winger Alex Johnston took over the mantle as the leading tryscoring in Australian rugby league.
Following Johnston passing Irvine as the league's top try scorer, South Sydney CEO Blake Solly pushed for the medal to be renamed the Irvine-Johnston Medal.
Johnston won his fourth medal in 2026, scoring a career-high 30 tries to tie with Thomas Jenkins. It was the first time since 1954 that any player had scored 30 or more tries during the season.
Recipients
Note: Leading try scorers 1908–2017 in NRL and predecessor competitions, Ken Irvine Medalists from 2018 + Leading try scorer (premiership season only) Season Recipient Club Tries Notes 1908 Eastern Suburbs 10 1909 South Sydney9 Newcastle 1910 South Sydney 17 1911 Glebe 13 1912 Glebe 12 1913 South Sydney 12 1914 (2) South Sydney 19 1915 Glebe 20 1916 (2) Glebe 22 1917 (3) South Sydney 17 1918 (3) Glebe 24 1919 Eastern Suburbs 17 1920 (2) Eastern Suburbs 18 1921 (3) Eastern Suburbs 11 1922 North Sydney 18 1923 North Sydney 16 1924 Balmain 10 1925 South Sydney 12 1926 (2) South Sydney14 1927 (3) South Sydney 16 1928 Western Suburbs 9 1929 Western Suburbs 11 1930 Eastern Suburbs 14 1931 Eastern Suburbs 16 1932 Western Suburbs 16 1933 University 11 1934 St. George 11 1935 Eastern Suburbs 38 1936 Eastern Suburbs 22 1937 (2) Eastern Suburbs 101938 South Sydney12 Newtown1939 Balmain16 St. George 1940 St. George 18 1941 Eastern Suburbs 13 1942 (2) St. George 14 1943 North Sydney 10 1944 (2) Newtown 201945 Newtown12 (2) Newtown 1946 (3) St George Dragons 14 1947 Balmain Tigers 25 1948 Newtown 27 1949 St George Dragons 21 1950 Newtown 16 1951 South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 1952 North Sydney Bears 18 1953 South Sydney Rabbitohs 20 1954 Newtown 33 1955 Eastern Suburbs Roosters 18 1956 St George Dragons 17 1957 (2) St George Dragons 24 1958 (2) Eastern Suburbs Roosters 16 1959 North Sydney Bears 19 1960 St George Dragons 21 1961 St George Dragons 19 1962 St George Dragons 21 1963 (2) St George Dragons 221964 (3) St George Dragons16 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1965 (2) North Sydney Bears 13 1966 (3) North Sydney Bears 13 1967 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 16 1968 St George Dragons 20 1969 (4) North Sydney Bears 17 1970 (5) North Sydney Bears 16 1971 Balmain Tigers 18 1972 Newtown 18 1973 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 16 1974 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 211975 (2) Eastern Suburbs Roosters14 Eastern Suburbs Roosters1976 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles18 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1977 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 17 1978 Balmain Tigers 24 1979 (2) Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 16 1980 Balmain Tigers 16 1981 Eastern Suburbs Roosters 15 1982 Parramatta Eels 22 1983 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 26 1984 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 17 1985 St George Dragons 16 1986 (2) Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 13 1987 (2) Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 16 1988 Canberra Raiders 20 1989 Penrith Panthers 15 1990 Canberra Raiders15 Newcastle Knights Brisbane Broncos 1991 Illawarra Steelers 191992 Balmain Tigers16 Western Suburbs Magpies 1993 Canberra Raiders 19 1994 Brisbane Broncos 22 Australian Rugby League 1995 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 21 1996 (2) Canberra Raiders 21 1997 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 20 Super League 1997 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 17 National Rugby League1998 Brisbane Broncos20 North Sydney Bears (2) Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1999 St. George Illawarra Dragons 20 2000 (2) St. George Illawarra Dragons 25 2001 (3) St. George Illawarra Dragons 25 2002 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 23 2003 Penrith Panthers 24 2004 Penrith Panthers 232005 Melbourne Storm19 Brisbane Broncos 2006 South Sydney Rabbitohs 222007 North Queensland Cowboys21 Melbourne Storm 2008 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 19 2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons 22 2010 Newcastle Knights 21 2011 (2) South Sydney Rabbitohs23 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs2012 (2) Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs21 North Queensland Cowboys2013 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles19 Penrith Panthers Newcastle Knights 2014 Parramatta Eels 20 2015 Parramatta Eels 24 2016 Melbourne Storm 22 2017 (2) Melbourne Storm 23 Ken Irvine Medalists 2018 New Zealand Warriors 22 2019 Parramatta Eels 20 2020 South Sydney Rabbitohs 20 2021 (2) South Sydney Rabbitohs 27 2022 (3) South Sydney Rabbitohs 28 2023 Dolphins 24 2024 Gold Coast Titans 24 2025 Sydney Roosters 232026 (4) South Sydney Rabbitohs 30 Penrith Panthers Multiple recipients + Table of multiple recipients Player Wins Club(s) Years 5 North Sydney Bears 1959, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970 4 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2020, 2021, 2022, 2026 3 St. George Illawarra Dragons 1999, 2000, 2001 Glebe 1915, 1916, 1918 St. George Dragons 1960, 1963, 1964 South Sydney 1913, 1914, 1917 St. George Dragons 1940, 1942, 1946 South Sydney 1925, 1926, 1927 Eastern Suburbs 1919, 1920, 1921 2 Eastern Suburbs 1955, 1958 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2011, 2012 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1983, 1986 Balmain/Newtown 1939, 1944 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 1984, 1987 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles/Eastern Suburbs 1973, 1975 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1995, 1998 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2006, 2011 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 1976, 1979 Canberra Raiders 1993, 1996 St. George Dragons 1956, 1957 Newtown 1938, 1945 Eastern Suburbs 1936, 1937 Melbourne Storm 2016, 2017
Club totals + Table key†Club no longer participates in the NRLLTSNumber of leading try scorers (1908–2017)Medalists Number of Ken Irvine Medals (2018–present) + Table of club totals Club Overall Years LTS Medalists Total South Sydney Rabbitohs 13 4 171909, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1917, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1938, 1951, 1953, 2006, 2011, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2026 Sydney Roosters (Eastern Suburbs) 15 1 16 1908, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1930, 1931, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1941, 1955, 1958, 1975, 1981, 2025 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 15 0 151964, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1986, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2008, 2013 St. George Dragons† 15 — 15 1934, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1985 North Sydney Bears† 10 — 10 1922, 1923, 1943, 1952, 1959, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1998 Newtown Jets† 8 — 8 1938, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1950, 1954, 1972 Balmain Tigers† 7 — 7 1929, 1939, 1947, 1971, 1978, 1980, 1992 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6 0 6 1984, 1987, 1997, 2002, 2011, 2012 Glebe† 5 — 5 1911, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918 Penrith Panthers 4 1 5 1989, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2026 Brisbane Broncos 4 0 4 1990, 1994, 1998, 2005 Canberra Raiders 4 0 4 1988, 1990, 1993, 1996 Melbourne Storm 4 0 4 2005, 2007, 2016, 2017 Parramatta Eels 3 1 4 1982, 2014, 2015, 2019 St. George Illawarra Dragons 4 0 4 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009 Western Suburbs Magpies† 4 — 4 1928, 1929, 1932, 1992 Newcastle Knights 3 0 3 1990, 2010, 2013 North Queensland Cowboys 2 0 2 2007, 2012 Dolphins — 1 1 2023 Gold Coast Titans 0 1 1 2024 Illawarra Steelers† 1 — 1 1991 New Zealand Warriors 0 1 1 2018 Newcastle† 1 — 1 1909 University† 1 — 1 1933
See also Dally M Medal Dally M Awards
Notes
References