BY A.J NASH AND SCOTT DILLON

Kiwi ace and Warriors skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has joined Kalyn Ponga atop the Arthur Beetson Medal leaderboard after 22 rounds of the 2018 season.

Cronulla-Sutherland prop Andrew Fifita is still a major threat just 1 point further adrift.

Daly Cherry-Evans is also a dark horse after snaring three votes in Manly’s victory over the Bulldogs.

Award winners will be announced on Twitter and Facebook on Monday 3^rd September.

Our annual end-of-year award also has a funny knack of predicting the Dally M winner which is announced a few weeks later. Since our award began in 2012, only once has our winner not also gone on to win the Dally M.

2017: Cameron Smith

2016: Johnathan Thurston, Jason Taumalolo, Cooper Cronk

2015: Johnathan Thurston

2014: Johnathan Thurston, Jarryd Hayne

2013: Greg Inglis

2012: Ben Barba

https://twitter.com/The81stMinute/status/902443824475029504

Here are some more quick facts:

• Johnathan Thurston won three consecutive Arthur Beetson Medals.
• The Arthur Beetson Medal has been previously known as the Ultimate Sports Memorabilia Medal, Handyman Magazine Medal and the Steele Sports Medal.
• Before being replaced by Cooper Cronk at the Roosters – half Mitchell Pearce won both Halfback of the Year and our Roosters Player of the Year in 2017.
• The first ‘Utility MVP’ award was given out in 2017 to Parramatta’s Clint Gutherson.
• Shaun Johnson led the 2016 count with two rounds to play but was overrun by Jason Taumalolo, Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk.
• Cameron Smith’s 2017 win was the largest margin since the award began in 2012. Smith won by 7 votes from Mitchell Pearce.
• Jason Taumalolo has won 7 individual awards including an Arthur Beetson Medal, positional awards in the Team of the Year and the Cowboys Player of the Year.
• The 2018 Arthur Beetson Medal will be announced on:

Facebook: Totally Rugby League

Twitter: @the81stminute

Monday 3^rd September

"Kalyn would be the best young player I've ever seen."

Mitchell Pearce on Kalyn Ponga thanks to the @Telstra Tracker!#NRL pic.twitter.com/daLYN6mCBW

— NRL (@NRL) July 10, 2018

2018 awards list

• Arthur Beetson Medal
• Coach of the Year
• Rookie of the Year
• Representative Player of the Year
• Utility MVP of the Year
• All 16 club Player of the Years as chosen by us
• Positional Team of the Year

.@NZWarriors superstar Roger Tuivasa-Sheck hit the turbo boosters on Friday night to burn through the @nthqldcowboys – scoring an epic 31 @SuperCoachNRL points in a matter of seconds! 🚀🚀🚀 pic.twitter.com/ISwDsuat0A

— Telegraph Sport (@telegraph_sport) June 19, 2018

Arthur Beetson Medal

AFTER ROUND 22

Kalyn Ponga 22

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 22

————————————————

Andrew Fifita 21 

Daly Cherry-Evans 19

Gareth Widdop 18 

Damien Cook 18

Cameron Smith 17 

Cameron Munster 17

Luke Brooks 17

Jason Taumalolo 17

Sam Burgess 16

Shaun Johnson 15 

Matt Dufty 14 

Nathan Brown 14

Jake Trbojevic 14

James Maloney 13 

Jai Arrow 13

Tevita Pangai Jr 12 

Johnathan Thurston 12

Issac Luke 12

Jack de Belin 11 

David Klemmer 11 

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 11 

Matt Moylan 11 

James Tedesco 11

Cooper Cronk 11

Benji Marshall 10 

Nelson Asofa-Solomona 10

Billy Slater 10

Josh McGuire 10

Tom Trbojevic 10

Blake Green 10

Matt Lodge 10

Ash Taylor 9 

Angus Crichton 9 

Adam Reynolds 9 

Blake Ferguson 9

Latrell Mitchell 9

Robbie Farah 9

Ben Matulino 9

Josh Papalii 9

Viliame Kikau 9

Martin Taupau 8 

Victor Radley 8 

Tariq Sims 8 

Nathan Cleary 8

Valentine Holmes 8

Ben Hunt 8

Luke Keary 7 

Tohu Harris 7 

Corey Oates 7 

Sio Taukeiaho 7 

Josh Hodgson 7 

Ryan James 7 

John Sutton 7

Tyrone Peachey 7

Mitchell Moses 7

Jarryd Hayne 7

Dylan Napa 6 

Greg Inglis 6 

Paul Gallen 6 

Mitchell Pearce 6

Rhys Martin 6

Josh Addo-Carr 6

Alexander Brimson 6

Jake Granville 5 

Raymond Faitala-Mariner 5 

Herman Ese’ese 5 

Trent Merrin 5 

Corey Thompson 5 

Cody Walker 5 

Chad Townsend 5 

Matt Prior 5 

Joseph Tapine 5 

Corey Norman 5 

James Fisher-Harris 5 

Paul Vaughan 5 

Aidan Sezer 5 

Esan Marsters 5 

Mitch Barnett 5 

Kodi Nikorima 5 

Lachlan Fitzgibbon 5

Jordan Rapana 5

Joey Leilua 5

Boyd Cordner 5

Siliva Havili 4 

Cameron McInnes 4 

Mahe Fonua 4

Tyson Frizell 4 

Dallin Watene-Zalezniak 4 

Daniel Saifiti 4 

Ryan Hoffman 4 

Anthony Milford 4 

Blake Austin 4 

Jarrod Wallace 4 

Agnatius Paasi 4 

Joel Luai 4 

Moses Mbye 4 

Brenko Lee 4

Wade Graham 4

Lachlan Lewis 4

Waqa Blake 3 

Elijah Taylor 3 

Russell Packer 3 

Corey Harawira-Naera 3 

Andrew McCullough 3 

Jayden Bailey 3 

Reagan Campbell-Gillard 3 

Kaysa Pritchard 3 

Shannon Boyd 3 

Dale Finucane 3 

Api Koroisau 3 

James Roberts 3 

Jack Wighton 3 

Josh Reynolds 3 

Sione Mata’utia 3 

Elliot Whitehead 3 

James Segeyaro 3 

Joe Ofahengaue 3 

Brodie Croft 3 

Jake Friend 3 

Coen Hess 3

Joel Thompson 3

Joseph Manu 3

Clint Gutherson 3

Solomone Kata 3

Matt Frawley 3

Tom Burgess 3

Nene McDonald 2

Dane Gagai 2

Phillip Sami 2

Jesse Ramien 2

Michael Lichaa 2

Chris Lawrence 2

Jesse Bromwich 2

Will Chambers 2

Cameron Welch 2

Alex Johnston 2

Matt Scott 2

Josh Morris 2

Jamayne Isaako 2

Isaac Liu 2

Robert Jennings 2

Keegan Hipgrave 2

Jeremy Marshall-King 2

Jarrod Croker 2

Simon Mannering 2

Brian Kelly 2

Jordan McLean 2

Ryley Jacks 1

Konrad Hurrell 1

Euan Aitken 1

Mason Lino 1

Josh Aloiai 1

Josh Dugan 1

Tim Mannah 1

Ben Hampton 1

Jason Clark 1

Ryan Matterson 1

Alex Glenn 1

Manu Ma’u 1

Peta Hiku 1

George Burgess 1

Brett Morris 1

Darius Boyd 1

Kyle Feldt 1

David Fusitua 1

Kevin Proctor 1

Kerrod Holland 1

Tim Glasby 1

Michael Gordon 1

Aidan Tolman 1

Campbell Graham 1

Luke Lewis 1