James Tedesco has won the RLPA Players’ Champion surprisingly beating out Dally M favourite Cameron Smith.

“I would like to congratulate James on being awarded The Players’ Champion and all the players honoured for their performances throughout the 2017 season,” RLPA CEO Ian Prendergast said.

“James has been recognised by his fellow players as the best performer this year, which is an enormous accolade.”

Tedesco will now line up for the Prime Minister’s XIII against Papua New Guinea ahead of the World Cup.

A Dream Team was also selected by the players with a few interesting picks including Titans centre Konrad Hurrell:

The Players’ 13 Dream Team: James Tedesco (Wests Tigers), Jordan Rapana (Canberra Raiders), Konrad Hurrell (Gold Coast Titans), Dane Gagai (Newcastle Knights), David Nofoaluma (Wests Tigers), Gareth Widdop (St. George Illawarra), Nathan Cleary (Penrith Panthers), Aaron Woods (Wests Tigers), Cameron Smith (Melbourne Storm), David Klemmer (Canterbury-Bankstown), Jason Taumalolo (North Queensland), Wade Graham (Cronulla-Sutherland), Sam Burgess (South Sydney).