This agreement addressed issues surrounding player burnout, agent accreditation, occupational health and safety, compulsory tertiary educationas well as improvement of the employment conditions for all players. Awards RUPA Medal for Excellence The RUPA Medal for Excellence is awarded annually to the Australian player who is voted by his peers as having excelled both on and off the field during the season. All full-time professional players who are members of RUPA are eligible to vote. The inaugural winner was George Gregan in 2001. Gregan won the award three times in total, following up 2001 by winning the Medal for Excellence in 2004 and 2006 as well. Nathan Sharpe has won the Medal for Excellence a record four times (2002, 2005, 2011 and 2012), with George Smith (2007 and 2008) and David Pocock (2010 and 2015) the other multiple recipients. Brendan Cannon (2003), Berrick Barnes (2009), Nick Cummins (2013) and James Slipper (2014) are the other winners of the RUPA Medal for Excellence. The John Eales Medal In June 2002 the ARU and RUPA jointly launched an award to honour the game's best Wallaby player each season, named after Wallaby legend John Eales. The John Eales Medal is awarded to the player judged by his peers as the team's outstanding player. The inaugural John Eales Medal was won in 2002 by George Smith who won it again in 2008. Newcomer of the Year First introduced in 2006 when it was won by Berrick Barnes, all five Australian Super Rugby teams have seen at least one of their players receive this prestigious award. The Newcomer of the Year is awarded to any first-year contracted player who has not only excelled in their performances on the field, but has also made significant achievements with their education and support of the community. Of the first ten recipients of the Award, eight have thus far gone on to represent the Wallabies. Winners: Berrick Barnes (2006), David Pocock (2007), Ben Lucas (2008), Laurie Weeks (2009), Pat McCabe (2010), Ben Tapuai (2011), Joe Tomane (2012), Israel Folau (2013), Sean McMahon (2014), Sefa Naivalu (2015). People's Choice Player of the Year Introduced in 2013, the RUPA People's Choice Player of the Year is awarded to the player deemed by members of the public to have best displayed the 'spirit of Rugby' in all their pursuits of a calendar year. The results are formulated from a web-based vote. The past