The 7th Tackle 2016 Awards

It's The 7th Tackle's night of nights, where Josh Massoud and Liam Cox dish out the awards for all the categories you didn't see at the Dally M, including Biggest Brainsnap and Best Feud.

Here they are:

Tackle One - Best Brain Snap

Winner - Jason Taumalolo

Cowboys machine Jason Taumalolo certainly put all his eggs in one basket during the lead-up to the first final against Melbourne. On a quiet Wednesday night in Townsville, he and four team mates bought numerous cartons of eggs from a local convenience store.

Were they bulking up for the big game? Trying to perfect their omelette technique? Sadly the produce didn't even make it back to the fridge. Instead it was strewn all over the street and parked cars as the five players embarked on an unprovoked egg throwing eggs-capade.

But perhaps even more incredible was their failure to hide the evidence. When police pulled-over their car shortly after, the cartons were eggs-actly where they left them - in the back seat. No need to crack this case. Taumalolo didn't even bother scrambling to protest his innocence after being charged with wilful damage. This might not be on the podium for the season's worst atrocity, but it will stand as the most unfathomable for some time to come.

Highly Commended - Greg Inglis

You're one of the best players in the history of rugby league. Your team is two points down. It's the final play of the match. So what else do you do?

Attempt to halve the deficit by landing a long range drop goal! This rare error from Rabbitohs superstar Greg Inglis will provide plenty of laughter for fans in years to come. Even the man himself couldn't help but smile immediately afterwards; admitting that he thought the scores were locked throughout the second half and had been plotting the winning play for as long as ten minutes before the fulltime siren.

Tackle Two - Best Quote

Winner - Jarryd Hayne

The Titans mortgaged Robina to have Jarryd Hayne put them on the map. But they surely could not have bargained for publicity of biblical proportions.

For Hayne the struggle is real. He's a two-time Dally M winner earning $1.3 million-a-season. Only one person in the history of mankind can understand his plight.

Having trouble guessing who? Hayne was only too happy to tell the world - Jesus Christ.

Indeed, both shared extraordinary powers. Jesus healed the sick and fed the hungry. Hayne gives generous exposure to needy cyber-security companies, compression garment manufacturers, and travel agencies. And both had their critics. So Hayne naturally drew upon the strength and patience of Jesus when asked about how he handles the media.

"Jesus didn't lose his shit," Hayne replied. And nor did he. At least until he dropped the second half kick-off in Gold Coast's elimination final against Brisbane.

Highly Commended - Chris Grevsmuhl

Stretching way back to mid-2015, there's been no shortage of rumblings about disgruntlement at Redfern. But they remained unverified whispers until Chris Grevsmuhl let fly shortly after getting a release to join Penrith.

He labelled Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire a "mind manipulator". The pair had engaged in an extraordinary blow-up at training shortly before Grevsmuhl's exit.

Tackle Three - Best Stunt

Winner - Cameron Smith

Escaping suspension for dark and dastardly acts. Continuing Queensland's Origin dynasty. Qualifying for a FIFTH grand final.

Seriously, is there anything this bloke can't do? Despite Cameron Smith's staggering resume, most would have considered booting sideline conversion while seated on his solar plexus a little far fetched. But there he was, rubbing salt into the Roosters wounds in June, on his arse celebrating as the ball sailed over the black dot.

Highly Commended - Robbie Farah

For someone who didn't play the final six weeks of NRL, Robbie Farah sure consumed a lot of airplay. And he repaid the favour by consuming an impressive number of ciders from a peculiar vantage point after his farewell from the Leichhardt faithful.

Shortly after the Tigers were blasted from finals contention, Farah climbed the hill, entered the scoreboard and sat on its front ledge to reflect. And sink tinnies. He even captured the moment with a live interview; a welcome exception from what players are normally permitted to do and say under banal media guidelines.

But was Farah's act a little too indulgent? Or did the sentiment of the occasion justify him stealing the headlines from a event-packed afternoon?

Tackle Four - Blackest Sheep

Winner - Josh McGuire

No-one wants a rat in the ranks. So when Brisbane players suspected one of their team mates might have been leaking precious information, they decided to set a trap.

Hotly disputed and slippery to establish, the story claimed they fed prop Josh McGuire a porky about the Dragons chasing Matt Gillett and then nodded wisely when the yarn appeared in a newspaper shortly afterwards. And they decided to let McGuire know by posting a picture of a rat above his locker at Red Hill.

Cameras at training that day captured the big man visibly upset while talking to coach Wayne Bennett away from the rest of the team. And there were reports McGuire and halfback Ben Hunt almost came to blows after he found the offending rodent's likeness.

If so, it wasn't the only time McGuire found himself in a blue at training this season. He and lower grader Salesi Funaki had a scuffle during the finals. And if you think McGuire is unpopular in Brisbane, wait until you hear what Blues players have to say about him. He was crowned Enemy No. 1 after posting poking fun at NSW players on Twitter after Queenland's narrow victory in Origin I.

Highly Commended - Jackson Hastings

This should have been the season that brilliant young half Jackson Hastings came of age. Instead, he finished 2016 playing in a restricted age competition - the Holden Cup.

Just 20 years old at the time, Hastings was handed the keys to the team's attack after Mitchell Pearce's eight-week suspension. With an even younger rookie in Jayden Nikorima alongside him, Hastings struggled with the pressure and looked mentally shot after a few months.

The barren run also tested his relationship with senior Roosters players, not least of all skipper Jake Friend. It's understood Hastings challenged Friend about his distribution from dummy half - a battle the confident youngster was never going to win. Dumped from first grade in June and told to look elsewhere, Hastings is still trying to find a new club.

Tackle 5 - Biggest Cojones

Winner - Luke Keary

It takes some courage to stand up in the NRL with the stature of a jockey. Luke Keary stares down men more than twice his size on a weekly basis. But how about a man with the net worth of a developing country?

Keary didn't flinch when Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe berated him and team mates during a team camp on the actor's farm, near Coffs Harbour, last Christmas. Better still, he took the fight up to the Gladiator before storming off the property in a 3am taxi to the nearest airport.

Unsurprisingly, Keary was not offered a new deal to remain at Redfern - despite having a three-year offer on the table shortly before he and Crowe crossed swords.

Highly Commended - Jason Taylor

Jason Taylor played at a similar weight to Keary - and has since managed to drop a few more kilos thanks to his strict Gluten-free regimen. But the antsy Taylor still proved he's up for the fight by coming good on his promise from late last year to drop Tigers icon Robbie Farah to reserve grade.

Farah was initially dropped to the bench in late April, but Taylor waited until after the hooker's Origin commitments were over before dropping the real bombshell. It earned him the wrath of Tigers fans - particularly when Farah completed a lap of honour at halftime with the team trailing Canberra 30-4 in their final match at Leichhardt.

The Tigers needed to win that match to make the top eight - a scenario few would have predicted at the start of the year. That over-achievement lends weight to Taylor's massive call. But then again the team's incredible capitulation will forever leave fans wondering whether the result might have been different had the coach played Farah in such an important game.

Tackle 6 - Best Feud

Winner - Corey Payne & Michael Brown

There's no doubt Corey Payne is smarter than the average ex-player. After all, not many have completed an MBA. And even fewer have been appointed CEO of an NRL club at just 31 years of age.

But was Payne too smart for his own good? The Panthers boss fired off a lengthy press release in response to his failed bid to host games in the 2017 World Cup. RLWC boss Michael Brown was furious at Payne's temerity, and left him a voicemail that can only be described as volcanic.

That was a huge mistake from Brown, as Payne rejoiced in playing the expletive-laden message to work mates. When it found its way to NRL boss Todd Greenberg, Brown's days were numbered and he resigned shortly afterwards.

Payne didn't last much longer. He parted ways with Penrith in early August, with club insiders describing his relationship with fellow officials and peers from elsewhere "unworkable".

Highly Commended - Des Hasler & Terry Lamb

Jaws dropped all over Belmore early in the season, when Bulldogs great Terry Lamb claimed coach Des Hasler didn't have a proper appreciation of the club's culture.

The most decorated player in Canterbury's history also happens to work in their office; right alongside Hasler. The pair's first morning at work together after Lamb's comments would have been very interesting indeed. Months passed without much more being made of the situation, but Canterbury's response to the team's disappointing finish could be seen as an endorsement of Lamb.

Four of Hasler's staff - three of whom who joined him from Manly - have been told not to come back next season as the Bulldogs seek to re-assert their traditions on the football department.

Tackle 7 - Outrage of the Year

Winner - Herman Ese'ese

We've gone this long without mentioning The Bunker, but we just couldn't hold our tongues. Was there any more outrageous call this year - perhaps in the past 109 years - than its decision to disallow Broncos prop Herman Ese'ese a consolation try in their loss to Roosters?

Officials at Eveleigh ruled double movement, when it clear to everyone outside their glorified cellar that Ese'ese crossed the line with momentum generated by Roosters defenders. More galling was the point blank refusal of referees' boss Tony Archer to admit the mistake.

That happened far too often; with the NRL too concerned about protecting its own rather than the right of fans to be told the truth.

Highly Commended - Andrew Fifita

Where to start with this guys? We suspect we could ask Andrew Fifita the same question three times and get three totally different answers.

Most of the time, he doesn't seem to know where he stands on a range of issues. His mouth has been the common denominator in several off-field incidents and it didn't do him any favours after being exposed for supporting coward punch killer Kieran Loveridge.

To support a mate is one thing, but to stubbornly deny any regrets when his actions have exacerbated the pain of a grieving family is close to unconscionable.

Plenty of players have a lot of time for Fifita - they say he's good-natured, generous and warm. But he keeps letting himself down by failing to the think before he speaks - whether that be with his tongue, or a texta.