I agree! But i do think the lack of competition within our game has a part to play alongside the fact the aussies are years ahead of us, and all we do is copy what they do, by which time they are onto a new thing (a'la Leeds Rhinos trying to adapt the Storms dominance in the ruck, just as the Storm moved on to playing much much faster after the NRL introduced a second referee).

Rugby League isnt out No1 sport, probably not even our second or third, but then football is and we are s*** at that.

Could it be the case that in this country we put so much emphasis on competing at grass roots and in schools, while the aussies focus purely on winning, as do other nations in other sports.

Sad but probably true. I think Sam Burgess would be the only English player who could get in to an Aussie 17. Ellis and Graham would be in the squad but neither (particulary Ellis) has ever really been able to look more than slightly above average in comparison to their Aussie counterparts.

You could argue that Ellis has looked well above average compared to his counterparts in the NRL, given his three successive Player of the Year Awards at Wests. Who knows how much better he might look at international level in a more dominant pack. (Having said that I wouldn't want to place him above their current second row internationals.)

Agreed.

Ellis is a better player than Burgess too. Burgess spends too much time on the injury lists, granted he's a huge talent and puts in some massive hits but I'd have ellis in my side before him.

Who else would West Tigers nominate?
They are the Hull FC of the NRL
Benji Marshall has been up there so often so a new face was needed.
It was Ellis or Heighington as the best of the rest.

Your argument might hold true for the first or second year, but if it's a question of needing new faces a third consecutive award would be pretty unlikely.
Having seen video of his performances (particularly 2009-10) Ellis looks every bit worth the accolades.