The Rugby Australia Awards for 2017 are in the books, with Israel Folau the star of the show in winning his third John Eales Medal.

Here's how all the action panned out throughout the night.

9:45pm

Israel Folau has won his third John Eales Medal and has done so with a total of 260 votes, 94 ahead of Kurtley Beale with 166 and 114 clear of Bernard Foley.

Folau streaked clear with an unassailable lead after carving up throughout the June Tests and was never in any danger of being chased down.

He is now the only player to notch three John Eales Medal's, no mean feat considering he only came to the code with the Waratahs in 2013.

9:35pm

Chloe Dalton has beaten a brilliant field to join Stannard as the Australian Women's Sevens Player of the Year.

9:30pm

The evergreen James Stannard is the Australian Men's Sevens Player of the Year.

9:20pm

Hilisha Samoa has won the Women's XV Player of the Year ahead of a strong field that guided the Wallaroos to a sixth place finish at the World Cup.

8:55pm

The next round of votes are in... here is how the leaderboard stands after the June Tests.

Israel Folau - 179

David Pocock - 105

Bernard Foley - 98

Dane Haylett-Petty - 83

Michael Hooper - 79

8:50pm

Michael Hooper is the man of the people in 2017, awarded the Fan's Choice Wallaby of the Year.

Will he win the John Eales Medal as well?

8:45pm

After an enormous debut season, Amanaki Mafi has been crowned the Super Rugby Player of the Year.

8:35pm

This superb team effort, which Joe Powell finished, has been crowned Australian Try of the Year.

8:30pm

After starting the first seven Tests of his career, Ned Hanigan has been crowned Australian Rugby Rookie of the Year.

8:20pm

It's been a big week for Liam Wright. His first Wallabies squad inclusion and now, crowned U20s Player of the Year.

7:50pm

The votes after the 2016 Spring Tour are in and here is the top five.

David Pocock - 105

Dane Haylett-Petty - 79

Bernard Foley - 76

Tevita Kuridrani - 60

Israel Folau - 49

7:45pm

Melbourne Unicorns coach Alana Thomas has been crowned Community Coach of the Year and we have also paid respects to some of the greats of our code that passed away in 2017.

7:35pm

Kevin Crowe OAM has won the Joe French Award for 2017.

7:30pm

The Warringah Rugby Club and the Ward family have been awarded the Nick Farr-Jones Spirit of Rugby award after their tumultuous year.

7:20pm

Angus Gardner has gone back-to-back, claiming the top gong for an Australian referee.

Gardner beat out Nic Berry to top the prize, having increased his reputation worldwide in a big 2017 which included officiating during the All Blacks-British and Irish Lions series.

7:15pm

Peter Kurtz has been recognised for his service to the game in being crowed the Volunteer of the Year.

HSBC have rewarded Kurtz's club, Biloela Rugby Club in central Queensland, with a $10,000 grant.

Congrats, Pete.

7:05pm

John David Brockhoff and Greg Cornelsen have been inducted into the Wallaby Hall of Fame.

They have been recognised for their commitment to the code whilst playing and thereafter.

6:30pm

6pm

As the stars of the show roll in, we will bring you all the photos of the arrivals.

In the meantime, here's a preview to all the awards that are up for grabs tonight, along with a prediction for each category.