Super Rugby Pacific takes first step towards 'competition-led awards program'

Super Rugby Pacific’s revolution under new CEO Jack Mesley continues with the introduction of a new Player of the Year Award with an intuitive weekly ranking system.

The award will be dedicated by weekly votes from each head coach and captain, who will dish out a total of six points to their opposition’s three best players; three points for the best performer, two for the second-best, and one for the third-best.

There will be an updated leaderboard published weekly, helping the league engage with fans.

“While the excellence of our athletes has always been recognised by the respective national unions, there has never been a competition-led awards program,” Mesley said.

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“This year we take a significant first step towards that goal with the introduction of the Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year Award for 2025.

“With the votes published on Super Rugby Pacific channels after every round, we look forward to engaging with our fans as the leaderboard evolves through the season, and seeing the robust discussions it will no doubt generate.”

The initiative is the result of fan feedback, with more formal player recognition atop wishlists Super Rugby Pacific has engaged with over the past year.

Tuesday’s announcement can be seen as a rebranding and revitalization of the MVP award that has been handed out previously, with Blues star Hoskins Sotutu the most recent recipient.

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This news comes two days after Mesley offered an update on the previously announced, yet suspiciously absent Super Rugby Pacific Fantasy product.

An initial launch date of January came and went without any announcement, but Mesley did speak with the New Zealand Herald and offered an update on the product’s delay and development.

“We’re just knocking off the last couple of things, some of the things are just taking us a little a little longer than we expected, we’re just putting the finishing touches on it,” he told the publication.

The CEO went on to discuss how the fantasy league is being developed by Genius Sports, who created World Rugby’s 2023 Rugby World Cup fantasy game. The Super Rugby Pacific game will follow a similar logic to the World Cup version, giving Mesley confidence fans will find the product easy to navigate.

While Mesley says this year’s fantasy will be relatively simplistic, he reports the product is looking good and the process has involved all of the competition’s clubs.

“There’s not a draft version, players will have a $100m to select 15 players and then add a captain … next week you’ll see some of that pricing come through and some of the rules that are associated with the game.”

Watch this space with the Super Rugby Pacific launch event taking place in Sydney on Wednesday.