Jack Mesley: Super Rugby Pacific CEO on the organisation introducing a Player of the Year award for the 2025 season

There's optimism from the head of Super Rugby Pacific that players and coaches will stay genuine with their votes for the competition's new award.

The Player of the Year gong will be voted on by the captains and head coaches, who will dish out points to their top three players from the opposing team after every match.

Jack Mesley says the sport had a really good year last year - and they're hoping to build on that.

"We think things like this, the introduction of awards, fantasy rugby - which we're also introducing - are all great initiatives that will increase engagement."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Super Rugby is bringing its own version of the Daly m.
This has been announced today. The Player of the Year
Award will be an annual prize. It's given to the
best player and the Super Rugby Pacific competition and each
head coach and captain will vote throughout the season on
who to give the award to. It's hope it will
drive engagement with the fans. Jack Mesley is the Super
Rugby Pacific CEO. He's with me this evening, Hijack, Hey, Ran,

(00:23):
how are you? I'm good? Thank you? Is this a
little bit like Man of the Match? Is this going
to be groundbreaking for us?

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well? No, I don't think it's groundbreaking, but we think
it's an important accolade that the competition should award and
it hasn't done in the past. So we're very excited
to introduce it into Super Rugby Pacific. And yeah, recognize
the most outstanding player for the season.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Ahead somebody who's just texted it. Literally as you've answered
the call, Stephens said, Ryan, Super Rugby Player of the
Year is like flogging a dead horse. The game has
bigger problems. What do you say?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Well, Super Rugby at a really good year. We saw
strong growth in attendance and TV audiences last year and
we're looking to build on that this year and we
think things like this introduction of awards Fantasy Rugby that
we're also introducing are all great initiatives that will increase
engagement and give fans the tools that we're being told

(01:22):
they want to engage with the competition.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Do the fans get to vote on it at all
or is it just the coaches and the captain?

Speaker 2 (01:30):
No, for this award, it will just be that the
captains and the head coaches. We do have a Player
of the Week award that fans can engage with every
round to nominate their player of the week, but this one,
which is the highest accolade for our competition, it's going
to be voted on by captains and the head coaches
after each match.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Interesting, Jack, thank you for that. Great to have you
on the show. Good luck with the award. That's Jack Missley,
Super Rugby Pacific CEO. For more from hither du Allen Drive,
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