Ken Allen Medal – What is the Players Player?

Ken Allen is the big award on the night, and rightly so with its history and long line of names who have been honoured to receive the award.

But there are some questions. What is the Players Player?

Voted by the players, it is sometimes considered the award players want to win. Voted by your opposition who you go into battle against week to week, the votes are collected off players from within the Men’s Premiership and Women’s Premiership ranks.

The rules for the award are below –

1. Must be a player who played in the Premiership Competition
2. Cannot vote for a player in your own team
3. Players are asked for a 3/2/1 vote
   1. Three points being the best player
4. Thirteen players (Mens) & Ten Players (Womens) from every team in the competitions are asked for their votes privately, and they are free to choose any player they deem worthy.
5. A mix of players are asked their opinion to make sure that we have a mix of different positions and not allow positional bias to come into play (eg. Players tend to vote for players in their position due to mutual respect)
   1. Outside Backs – 4 (Mens)/ 3 (Womens)
   2. Spine Players – 4 (Mens) / 3 (Womens)
   3. Forwards – 5 (Mens) / 4 (Womens)

Anyway lets have a look at the winners and the votes

Cash Converters Women’s Players Player
Fremantle Roosters – Kateraina Horner – Second Row

It’s the second time Kateraina has won this award, winning it in 2020 in dominant fashion. But she didn’t have it all her own way this year. In one of the tighter races in recent memory, she had to fend off challenges from Ellenbrook Rabbitohs pair Kailey Thompson and Mahinarangi Clair, along with the Willagee Bears dummy half superstar in Ruby Hodgson.

All up 38 players received votes, but below is a breakdown of the top 10 as chosen by the players.

Women’s Players Player Final Count
	Player	Total	%
1	Kateraina Horner	52	21.67
2	Kailey Thompson	35	14.58
3	Ruby Hodgson	33	13.75
4	Mahinarangi Clair	26	10.83
5	Brianna Young	17	7.08
6	Zion Taurima	10	4.17
7	Ariana Ruru-Hinaki	10	4.17
8	Sam Treherne	9	3.75
9	Adrienne Acker	8	3.33
10	Frieda Ah-Sam	7	2.92

Cash Converters Men’s Players Player
Kainoa Gudgeon – Willagee Bears – Fullback

It’s also the second Kainoa has won this award, also winning it in 2020 in dominant fashion, along with picking up the Ken Allen Medal as the fullback for the premiership winning Joondalup Giants. But in 2025 it was a much different story. In the closest vote ever in Players Player history (first awarded in 2019) 17 votes seperated 4 players, with Samisoni Langi (South Perth Lions), Chris Siddons (Rockingham Sharks) and Eli Beattie (Fremantle Roosters) all within striking distance at one point or another.

All up 44 players received votes, but below is a breakdown of the top 10 as chosen by the players.

Men’s Players Player Final Count
	PLAYER	Total	%
1	Kainoa Gudgeon	78	16.67
2	Samisoni Langi	73	15.60
3	Chris Siddons	65	13.89
4	Eli Beattie	61	13.03
5	Bailey Millar	17	3.63
6	Taurean Sheehan	16	3.42
7	Mason Hiko	11	2.35
8	Jeremy Wallace	11	2.35
9	Roydon Gillett	10	2.14
10	Jayden Evans	7	1.50
10	Daniel Green	7	1.50
10	Jaylen Grey	7	1.50

Anyway that’s the player’s player in a nutshell. 
Some great players here and if you want to have a look at the history, see the year to year winners below.

 

Womens Players Player
Year	Players Player	Club	Position
2019	Claudia Foster	Fremantle Roosters	Prop/Lock
2020	Kateraina Horner	Fremantle Roosters	Second Row
2021	Valuese Tiakia	Joondalup Giants	Prop
2022	Mahinarangi Clair	Ellenbrook Rabbitohs	Five-Eight
2023	Anneka Stephens	Joondalup Giants	Halfback
2024	Anneka Stephens	Joondalup Giants	Halfback
2025	Kateraina Horner	Fremantle Roosters	Second Row
Mens Players Player
Year	Players Player	Club	Position
2019	Trent Trotter	North Beach Sea Eagles	Hooker
2020	Kainoa Gudgeon	Joondalup Giants	Fullback
2021	Taurean Sheehan	Joondalup Giants	Lock/Hooker
2022	Keelyn Tuuta-Edwards	Rockingham Sharks	Lock
2023	Paora Kemp	Fremantle Roosters	Fullback
2024	Korey Craig	North Beach Sea Eagles	Fullback
2025	Kainoa Gudgeon	Willagee Bears	Fullback