NRL fans are once again questioning the credibility of the Dally M voting system after Warriors prop Jackson Ford didn’t receive a single vote on Saturday night. Ford has made a barnstorming start to the 2026 season and looks a certainty to play State of Origin for NSW.
Heading into Round 9 he was leading the Dally M count with 31 votes, narrowly ahead of Panthers star Nathan Cleary on 28. But Cleary has now surged into the lead on 33 points after collecting five against Manly.
Nathan Cleary (L) has surged past Jackson Ford (R) to take the lead in the Dally M race. Image: Getty
Perplexingly, Ford didn’t poll a single vote despite another huge performance in the Warriors’ 36-14 win over Parramatta. Ford played 71 minutes in the front row, making 50 tackles with only one miss. He also scored a try, ran for 177 metres and had two offloads and two tackle-breaks.
Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to draw any love from either of the two judges. Erin Clark, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Tanah Boyd each scored three votes, after Clark had a try assist, three tackle breaks, one offload and 27 tackles. Tuivasa-Sheck scored a try and ran for 199 metres with five tackle-breaks and two line-breaks, while Boyd had a try assist and two line-break assists while kicking four goals from six attempts.
Jackson Ford had another huge game, but didn’t receive a single vote.
(Getty Images)
Eels five-eighth Ronald Volkman (2) and Warriors winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (1) scored the other votes. Volkman scored a double on the losing team, while Watene-Zelezniak had a try and 177 running metres.
As for Cleary, he scored five votes despite a rather quiet game by his standards. The Panthers halfback had a try-assist, four tackle-breaks and three offloads in Penrith’s 18-16 win over Manly. Dylan Edwards (3), Blaize Talagi (2) and Haumole Olakau’atu (2) scored the other votes.
NRL fans blast Jackson Ford Dally M snub
Cleary’s five votes saw him leap-frog Ford into outright top spot in the Dally M race, leaving NRL fans confused as to why Ford didn’t get a single vote. One person wrote on social media: “Absolute joke how Jackson Ford got 0! He was one of the best players out of every game!”
Another wrote: “Ford robbed a point at the very least.” While a third commented: “Not saying he should’ve got 6, but I don’t see how Ford comes away with ZERO points from that game.”
It’s the latest instance of Dally M votes raising eyebrows around the NRL world. Last month veteran commentator Andrew Voss called for the system to be “blown up”, saying on SEN: “The system is broken. The system does not work. The system cannot stand up today with any form of integrity.”