Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has won his third John Eales Medal, edging out last year's winner Marika Koroibete by just three votes.
Hooper's victory was unveiled to little fanfare on Tuesday, Rugby Australia choosing to drip feed the game's top awards over the past week amid the coronavirus pandemic -- the governing body also likely saving vital cash by not staging its usual glitzy ceremony.
Poised for a six-month playing stint in Japan that will see him miss next year's Super Rugby AU and crossover series with New Zealand's five franchises, Hooper was voted the Wallabies' best by his teammates across the six Bledisloe Cup and Tri Nations Tests.
Having started with a gallant 16-all draw against the All Blacks in Wellington, Australia would go on to finish with the 1-2-3 record across Dave Rennie's first year as coach.
Hooper didn't cover himself in glory in the closing Test against Argentina when he was sin-binned for a dangerous cleanout and also made several handling errors; though he did score a try that helped bring the Wallabies back to their third draw of the campaign.
Hooper finished with 91 votes with Koroibete tallying 88 and James Slipper, who only played four Tests, rounding out the top three with 79 votes.