Who will join the Wally Lewis Medal honour roll?

Since 2004 the Wally Lewis Medal has been awarded to the player of the State of Origin series and Queensland have dominated with 15 wins to NSW's six.

Maroons legends Cameron Smith and Billy Slater are the only multiple winners of the prestigious award, with Smith saluting on four occasions - 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2016.

Current Maroons coach Slater collected the gong twice, in 2010 and 2018, while Cameron Munster, Pat Carrigan and Reuben Cotter have the chance to grab a second Wally Lewis Medal in Sydney on Wednesday should they star in a Queensland victory.

The mercurial Munster took the honours in 2020 when the Maroons claimed a remarkable 2-1 series win after most critics had written them off before a ball had been kicked.

Carrigan had his moment in the sun in 2022, when the Maroons reigned supreme 2-1 in Slater's first series as coach, while Cotter's rampaging form in 2023 saw him become the second Cowboy behind Johnathan Thurston (2008) to claim the coveted award.

Since 2004 when Craig Fitzgibbon claimed the medal the first time it was awarded to the player of the series, the Blues have had just five other winners - Anthony Minichiello (2005), Paul Gallen (2014), James Tedesco (2019), Tom Trbojevic (2021) and Angus Crichton (2024).

When the dust settles at Accor Stadium on Wednesday and the Origin shield either stays in NSW or returns to Queensland, one man will have the special honour of taking home the medal named after the Immortal, Wally Lewis.

The Wally Lewis Medal

The History

From 1992 to 2003, the Wally Lewis Medal was awarded to Queensland's Player of the Origin Series, including Allan Langer three times in 1992, 1996 and 1998 and Darren Lockyer twice (2001 and 2003) before he went on to claim the medal again in 2006.

Since 2004, the Australian Rugby League has honoured the State of Origin Player of the Series with the Wally Lewis Medal, regardless of the state they represent.

The Queensland Player of the Series award was then renamed after the former Chairman of the Queensland Rugby League and the acclaimed father of the State of Origin concept, the late Senator Ron McAuliffe.

The Past Winners

2004 Craig Fitzgibbon (NSW)
2005 Anthony Minichiello (NSW)
2006 Darren Lockyer (QLD)
2007 Cameron Smith (QLD)
2008 Johnathan Thurston (QLD)
2009 Greg Inglis (QLD)
2010 Billy Slater (QLD)
2011 Cameron Smith (QLD)
2012 Nate Myles (QLD)
2013 Cameron Smith (QLD)
2014 Paul Gallen (NSW)

2015 Corey Parker (NSW)
2016 Cameron Smith (QLD)
2017 Dane Gagai (QLD)
2018 Billy Slater (QLD)
2019 James Tedesco (NSW)
2020 Cameron Munster (QLD)
2021 Tom Trbojevic (NSW)
2022 Patrick Carrigan (QLD)
2023 Reuben Cotter (QLD)
2024 Angus Crichton (NSW)

The Front Runners in 2025

Blues forward leader Payne Haas claimed man of the match honours in Game One with a mammoth 156 run metres and 30 tackles while Cameron Munster got the nod in Game Two for his inspirational performance in his new role as captain.

If Haas or Munster can stand tall in the decider and lead their team to victory then they'll be well on the way to collecting the medal.

Munster would become just the third player to win multiple Wally Lewis Medals behind fellow Melbourne Storm royalty Smith and Slater.

Blues winger Brian To'o has bagged four tries and run for 454 metres across the two games while Pat Carrigan has again been a mainstay of the Maroons pack.