Australia's Rugby League Week (RLW) magazine has, since its inception in 1970, rated all players in each NSWRL/ARL/Super League/NRL club game on their performance. Originally they were scored out of 5, and in 1978 this was changed to a rating out of 10.
At the end of the season all player's week to week ratings are tallied. The five lowest scores are removed from each (to account for representative commitments) and the player with the highest total is announced the RLW Player of the Year.
| 1970 | Tommy Bishop |
| 1971 | Bob Grant |
| 1972 | John Ballesty |
| 1973 | Johnny Mayes |
| 1974 | Arthur Beetson |
| 1975 | Bob Fulton |
| 1976 | Ray Higgs |
| 1977 | Michael Cronin |
| 1978 | Geoff Gerard |
| 1979 | Ray Price |
| 1980 | Kevin Hastings |
| 1981 | Kevin Hastings |
| 1982 | Kevin Hastings |
| 1983 | Phil Sigsworth |
| 1984 | Peter Sterling |
| 1985 | Ray Price |
| 1986 | Peter Sterling |
| 1987 | Peter Sterling |
| 1988 | Ben Elias |
| 1989 | Gavin Miller |
| 1990 | Mal Meninga |
| 1991 | Ewan McGrady |
| 1992 | Paul Langmack |
| 1993 | Steve Walters |
| 1994 | Cliff Lyons |
| 1995 | Laurie Daley |
| 1996 | Allan Langer |
| 1997 | Brad Fittler |
| 1998 | Andrew Johns |
| 1999 | Andrew Johns |
| 2000 | Andrew Johns |
| 2001 | Andrew Johns |
| 2002 | Andrew Johns |
| 2003 | Steve Price |
| 2004 | Nathan Hindmarsh |
| 2005 | Nathan Hindmarsh |
| 2006 | Luke Bailey |
| 2007 | Johnathan Thurston |
| 2008 | Billy Slater |
| 2009 | Jarryd Hayne |
| 2010 | Paul Gallen |
| 2011 | Corey Parker |
| 2012 | Ben Barba |
| 2013 | Corey Parker |
| 2014 | Jarryd Hayne |
| 2015 | Roger Tuivasa-Sheck |
| 2016 | Jason Taumalolo |