He'd rather be playing next week but Dragons skipper Ben Creagh could be in line for an end-of-season sweetner after being nominated for the prestigious Ken Stephen Medal for the second straight season.

The medal, first awarded in 1988, recognises the many hours of community work players put in off the field, with Creagh's work with the Graduates of League program - which he co-founded in 2011 - earning him a second nomination after he was runner-up last year.

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"I was lucky enough to be nominated last year and it's a huge honour. It's not something you expect to be recognised for but it's a nice thing," Creagh said.

The Graduates of League program in partnership with the University of Wollongong supported just eight players in its first year but in 2014 it's nationally sponsored by the NRL and supports over 180 players across all 16 clubs.

It has seen failure rates drop from 40 per cent to just two per cent.

Creagh said founding the program came out of his own struggles with balancing study with a full-time NRL career.

"When we first started it I'd had my own personal struggles trying to manage footy and uni but I also saw a lot of other intelligent guys who'd started uni dropping out because the pressure of managing footy and study became too much," Creagh said.

Creagh said study away from football had huge benefits, particularly for young players, on and off the field.