Panthers premiership hero Craig Gower has vented his frustration over the NRL’s failure to retrospectively award him the 2003 Dally M medal.
Gower was favourite to take out the top gong but chose to boycott the awards as part of a bid from the RLPA to improve wages and conditions.
Gower revealed he had this year spoken to NRL’s head of football elite competitions, Graham Annesley but was told they were unable to confirm Gower had won the medal.
“I think it’s dead and buried really,” Gower told SEN Radio.
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“From their point of view they can’t determine if I’ve definitely won it, which is a load of shit, really.
“Sometimes the powers that be have got their decisions they want to make. i don’t know how they get their information.
“From what I understand, I won it, but I can’t change that. I thought I was doing the right thing at the time.
“It gave the players access, which is good. We’ve got more of a say, which is what we were after.
“At the end of the day I’ll take a grand final win over a Dally M, but it’s certainly a nice accolade to have.”
Brad Fittler has previously lent his support to a campaign to have Gower honoured.
“If he was the player that was leading at the end of the year, and I’m pretty sure he was, it’ll be interesting to see how it all came out towards the end,” he told WWOS in 2020.
“If you want to give it, give it, but I’m not sure Gowie really cares. The fact is it is a nice thing to have and if it’s warranted send it out to him.”
Fittler then revealed how they came to the decision to boycott the Dally M Medal.
“It was well before the end that it was all decided. It was a long time before the end that we all got together,” he said.
“We had a group of 10 players that used to get together and meet and talk about what we need in the game.
“There was all different things thrown up and that was sort of the least of the evils or the least of the impacts that we could have on the game.
“Sure someone misses out on an award, but there was a fair bit done during that period as well.”
