A touch late on the "end of year" publication, but ... oh well. The deliberations were fiery, no stone was left unturned, and the final pieces to this year's awards have come into place. What a year 2021 was .., and where to begin?

In the face of a pandemic, the MLR went 99-0 (Commish's favorite stat), Gilly hoisted some hardware, the Pioneers got to compete in Tokyo after a year delay, PR 7's was launched, & the college game returned (even though the political infighting continues) ...

How does one cap a big year? The 2nd annual RPA's. No serious analysis involved, just some lighthearted shout outs to the general rugby community. Sit back, enjoy, and dive into the utter absurdity of handing out awards to the Rugby Media Industrial Complex (TM).

The Categories and nominees are...

Step of the Year:

Tadhg Furlong

Nate Augsperger

Stuart Hogg

MLR Mascot of the Year:

Woodgy - New England Jacksquatch

Koa the Warrior Panther - Utah Warriors

Rucky - Seattle Seawolves

Scratch - Houston SaberCats

MLR Fan of the Year:

Broccoli Man (Seattle)

The Big Guy (RUNY)

The Cohort (SD Legion)

MLR Podcast of the Year:

W Nation

Road To Glory

Cat Chronicles

Who Is Winning The Rugby Streaming Wars?

FLO Rugby

Peacock

The Rugby Network (TRN)

Best Cross Over Podcast of the Year:

The sole nominee and winner is ....

DNVR Rugby Podcast

Rugby's Hardest Worker:

Steve Lewis

Pat Clifton

Commish Killebrew

Alex Goff

Ryan Kirby (on twitter)

Matt McCarthy

Brianna Kim

Independent Podcast of the Year:

Stories Unleashed Podcast - Chez Waihi

Rugby on the Rise - Max Dacey

Rugby Hive - Dallen Stanford & Robin McDowell

Listen to the full podcast to find out who wins.

PICKEM!