Where's Marky Mark? The Dally M Team of the Year sparks a selection debate
The NRL's reveal of the season's best side ran about eleven times past a usual first day, well ahead of the video of Nathan Cleary collecting his first Dally M Medal.
NRL - National Rugby LeagueStory of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 118,874 views a day, 11 times a normal first day on this channel (10,510).
2026 Dally M Awards | Team of the Year | NRL
"2026 Dally M Awards | Team of the Year | NRL" is the league's own reveal of the side picked as the best of the season, posted on the official NRL channel the night the awards were handed out. Seventeen hours later it had passed 100,000 views, roughly eleven times what a new upload here usually gathers in a full first day.
The awards night had a bigger headline. Nathan Cleary, the Penrith halfback with four straight premierships behind him, won his first Dally M Medal, and the league posted that moment too. That video has drawn a little over half as many views as the team announcement.
The comments under the team video explain part of the pull. They are not about who made the side. They are about who didn't. One name runs through the most-liked replies: "Marky Mark," the nickname of Roosters winger Mark Nawaqanitawase. Viewers ask where he is, line up his highlight reels against the wingers who were chosen, and turn his first name into a pun. Others make a case for the Warriors forwards, enjoy a close-up of Naufahu Whyte, or comment on the evening's outfits. Among the warmer notes, one viewer singles out a player who came back from more than one apparent career ending.
The awards arrive in the middle of finals coverage on the channel. Extended highlights from the Panthers-Knights and Dolphins-Roosters games sit beside a 2018 Grand Final replay and a long look back at the Roosters of 2002 to 2004. None of them is drawing a crowd like this argument about one team sheet.
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What viewers say
Nah, you've missed the Mark!!
@AddHandleSee it on YouTubeSo stoked for Clark. He's been through a heap in his career and it looked to be all over, more than once. Never give up on your dreams, people.
@Theynotlikeus2024See it on YouTubeLove the zoom in on Naufahu Whyte
@JmainOneilSee it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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- Channel
- NRL - National Rugby League
- Subscribers
- 636,000
- Channel views, pace per day
- 655,672 (on a normal day: 554,852)
- Video published
- September 30, 2026
- Video views so far
- 101,063 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 118,874
The numbers
One awards-night video stands well above the channel's usual first day, even though the channel as a whole is only a little busier than normal.
💡 Test your knowledge
The Roosters side remembered in the channel's 'Iconic NRL Teams' film won the 2002 premiership. Which team did they beat in that Grand Final?
The Sydney Roosters beat the New Zealand Warriors 30-8 in the 2002 NRL Grand Final.
