Rugby league legends honoured as special award created for Ashes series

The kick off to the Rugby League Ashes is just days away, as stars from England and Australia prepare for what is no doubt three of the biggest games of their careers.

In what is set to be a brutally brilliant series, the best players that Super League has to offer will take on the NRL’s elite, with key one-on-one match-ups taking place all across the field.

If we look back to the last time an Ashes series took place, all the way back in 2003, the Kangaroos may have completed a series whitewash, but each contest was won by less than six points, highlighting that it came down to key moments that ended up changing the course of the game.

For either side to win this series, it will again come down to individual stars executing pieces of magic, and there are plenty of players on each side with that capability.

Special award created for Ashes Player of the Series as rugby league legends recognised

Today, the RFL and ARLC have both confirmed that a brand-new trophy will be given out to the player who makes the biggest impact across the three Tests, with the Fulton-Reilly Award set to be given to the Player of the Series.

The award is named as such because it remembers two Ashes greats, Australia’s Bob Fulton and Great Britain’s Malcom Reilly.

Fulton was born in Warrington before moving to Down Under, and played 35 Tests for the Kangaroos, including four Ashes series. He later coached Australia against Reilly in three more Ashes campaigns. A multiple Premiership winner, he was one of the first players to be named an Immortal.

Reilly, meanwhile, is a Castleford legend, and was a star in Great Britain’s 1970 Ashes victory – the last time a UK-based side won the Series.

As a coach, Reilly emerged victorious in Test Matches across four different Ashes series between 1988 and 1994.  As a club coach, he guided the Newcastle Knights to their maiden premiership in 1997 — defeating a Manly side coached by Fulton in the Grand Final.

The Great Britain icon admitted it was a huge honour for the award to be named after him and Fulton, with their rivalry across their careers epitomising what rugby league is all about.

He said: “This is an honour – especially to be recognised alongside Bobby Fulton, who was such a wonderful Rugby League player and coach, and also a great friend over many years.

“Our sporting rivalry with Australia is fierce but also built on mutual respect, and I am delighted it is being revived with the Rugby League Ashes series this year. Good luck to the players of both teams.”

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