A LATE surge of irresistible form has secured a second Dally M player of the year award for the Cowboys halfback Johnathan Thurston, as Tigers hooker Robbie Farah was stunningly overtaken by the Queensland maestro over the final five rounds of the NRL.

Holding an enormous lead before voting went behind closed doors after round 16, Farah was the hot favourite for the award but a hip injury hampered him from claiming the one vote in the final round that would have won him the crown.

He was named hooker of the year.

Thurston, who has been instrumental in the Cowboys' late season revival, polled heavily over the closing rounds to edge to a narrow victory in the 27th Dally M awards, and matched his effort of 2005 when he won the same honour.

Thurston joins illustrious company in having won the Dally M medal more than once, alongside Peter Sterling, Michael Cronin and Dennis Pittard.

Andrew Johns the only player to have claimed three medals.

Not surprisingly, the Cowboys captain also won the halfback of the year award, while his teammate Matt Bowen captured the fullback honour to further push his claims for a Test jumper.

After finishing the regular season as the joint-leading try scorer (21) with Melbourne's Israel Folau - who waltzed through as rookie of the year - Bowen has a strong chance of being selected for the Kangaroos with Brisbane's Karmichael Hunt injured.

However, he may be overlooked again for the bigger Justin Hodges, who claimed the best centre award but is playing fullback for the Broncos in Hunt's absence.

Darren Lockyer was the only player to retain his title from 2006 after again winning best five-eighth despite suffering a season-ending knee injury in round 18. No other second-receiver was able to catch Lockyer, even though he did not earn a vote for the final seven rounds, proving how dominant the Kangaroos captain was over rivals.

Last year's rookie winner Eels star Jarryd Hayne, took out this year's winger of the year following a tremendous debut Origin series for NSW.

Steve Price won two awards, best prop and captain, after a tireless year for the Warriors and Queensland in which he broke records for metres gained in games.

The feats of the high-flying Melbourne Storm, who claimed their second successive minor premiership this year, didn't go unnoticed as they picked up four awards, the most by any club. Along with Folau, Dallas Johnson won best lock, skipper Cameron Smith won the representative player award, and Craig Bellamy top coach for the second consecutive year.

Queensland players won nine of the 14 awards, and only three Sydney teams - the Tigers, Manly and Parramatta - were represented among the winners group.

The Sea Eagles' noted hole-runner Anthony Watmough was rewarded for a fine season with the best second-rower award, although the Bulldogs' star performer Sonny Bill Williams was ineligible due to a poor disciplinary record. The awards are judged by News Ltd journalists and Fox Sports commentators.