Gold Training under-20s team captain Shaun Hudson has taken away the NYC Player of the Year award after an outstanding season with Ben Woolf’s young team.
Hudson, in his last season in the NYC competition, was the team’s top point-scorer and most consistent player, scoring 100 points from 12 tries and 26 goals in his 20 matches.
The rugged utility back, who played most of the season at fullback, was an inspirational leader who competed hard on every play and thrust himself into the attack whether playing fullback or centre, playing a prominent role in many tries through his hard running or ball skills.
His season was a tribute to his attitude after missing the first half of the 2014 season after recovering from an ACL injury suffered the previous season.
“Huddo had a really consistent season and showed he was a very good leader whether it was from fullback or centre,” said coach Ben Woolf.
“He was it his best at fullback where he has a good knack of opening up a game with his ball playing; that’s where he was most crucial.
“It was pretty tight in the end with the voting but ‘Huddo’ is a deserving winner.”
Hudson polled 20 points in the 3-2-1 voting allocated by the coaching staff each week, just one point ahead of second-rower Hayden Schwass. Co-captain Parahi Wilson was third on 15, one point ahead or prop Oshae Tiuasau with fellow prop Max Elliott on 14 points.
Voting:
20 - Shaun Hudson
19 – Hayden Schwass
15 – Parahi Wilson
14 – Oshae Tuiasau
13 – Max Elliott
Previous NYC player of the year winners are:
2010 – Matt Srama
2011- Luke Page
2012 – Sam Irwin
2013 – Matthew Beddow
2014 – Anthony Colman
