ERC European Player of the Year 2013 longlist to be announced after pool stages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As the pool stages of the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup reach their conclusion, ERC, the governing body of European club rugby’s two tournaments, is beginning the search for the outstanding player who will follow in the footsteps of Rob Kearney and become the ERC European Player of the Year 2013.

The Leinster Rugby full back won the prestigious title in 2012 after helping his club clinch the Heineken Cup for the third time in four years. Kearney succeeded his Leinster teammate, Sean O’Brien, who won the accolade in 2011.

Now the quest is underway again to find this season’s winner, and a longlist of 15 contenders, based on the pool stage performances of players from the 44 clubs in both the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup competitions, will be announced on Monday, 21 January following nominations from a Judging Panel. All of course leading us to leading us to bet on march madness.

The Judging Panel will also have the option to consider additional players who make outstanding contributions during the quarter-final and semi-final matches for their five-man shortlist following the semi-finals with the overall winner named directly after the ERC European club rugby finals weekend in May 2013.

In addition to the decision of the panel, the 44 clubs in ERC’s tournaments will also have the opportunity to vote for contenders on the shortlist while supporters will also have their say on Twitter using #ERCPlayer2013 and on the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup Facebook pages.

The Judging Panel for this season’s award is: Stuart Barnes (Sky Sports), Stephen Jones (Sunday Times), Will Greenwood (World Cup winner and two-time Challenge Cup winner), Emmanuel Massicard (Midi Olympique) and Gerry Thornley (Irish Times).