#KiwiNRL x 2017 RLPA Players' Champion Awards

You can be in the Players' 13 Dream Team errr year tho.

The Rugby League Players' Association held their awards dinner earlier this week and as you'd expect of the righteous Niche Cache, we're going to have a geeze at the award winners through our #KiwiNRL lens. I prefer the RLPA Players' Champion awards over the NRL Dally Ms as the Players Champion award (MVP) for example is voted on by the players - players dish out three votes each week to opposition players.

Compare this to the Dally M awards where silly media folk hold the power and I don't think it's crazy to view the Players' Champion awards as holding more weight. Of course, they don't quite have the same prestige via the weight of history, but don't sleep on the Players' Champion awards slowly gather momentum as the premier awards event of the NRL. There is also the interesting wrinkle in this of the RLPA taking on the NRL in the boardroom as players fight for their rights. 

The Players' Champion awards show how the RLPA and NRL are working together in harmony, yet they also show that the RLPA is a force. The Players' Champion award has been dished out since 2004 and we're only really starting to appreciate this award in the last few years, that's because the RLPA has built far greater support from the players in recent years. Thanks to the likes of Cameron Smith and Jonathan Thurston, the RLPA has come together to actually hold some power, chur.

For the record; James Tedesco won the 2017 Players' Champion award, Jason Taumalolo won it last year.

Let's start with the Players' 13 Dream Team and after this was named, a certain Australian media outlet came out with their 'snubbed' Dream Team. That's kinda silly because anyone can name three or four different 'Dream Teams' such is the depth of talent in the NRL and what I love about the Players' 13 Dream Team is that it's actually like a dream team, it's a team that I would want to see play together; not necessarily the best players squeezed into one team.

There's another reason why I love the Players' 13 Dream Team which is solely based on the selection of Konrad Hurell. Hurrell was named at centre and this is fair reward for Hurrell's fantastic season with Gold Coast Titans, no surprise that since Hurrell was ruled out for the season via injury, Gold Coast then lost every game. Hurrell was immense for the Titans as he was responsible for much of their go-forward and sat near the top of Gold Coast's running stats, chillin' with props Jarrod Wallace and Ryan James. 

Hurrell did so while playing less games than Wallace and James, offering greater efficiency with his carries; 9.65m/carry vs James (7.93m/carry) and Wallace (9.05m/carry). As well as leading the Titans in tackle busts (54 in just 16 games), finishing 4th in offloads, 2nd in line breaks and 2nd in tries.

What an awesome guy @koni_hurrell is. Was more than willing to have a photo with me. Can't say the same about @jarrydhayne38 who ducked away.

8 Likes, 1 Comments - Matt Farley (@mtfarley75) on Instagram: "What an awesome guy @koni_hurrell is. Was more than willing to have a photo with me. Can't say the..."

Also named in the Players' 13 Dream Team were Jordan Rapana and Jason Taumalolo. Rapana's selection is understandable as he would have been one of Canberra Raiders' best each week, while Taumalolo's selection is far less contentious than Rapana's (there's so many good wingers). The funk is in Taumalolo's position as Sam Burgess got the nod at lock, pushing Taumalolo to an edge. This is another sign of the flexibility of the Players' 13 Dream Team as Taumalolo's got to be in any MVP type of team and they can slide him to an edge to allow room for another MVP-calibre lock Sam Burgess.

Taumalolo did start his career on an edge for the Cowboys and merely pondering a team with Taumalolo on one edge and Wade Graham on the other, has me frothing. This also points to an intriguing narrative as Taumalolo's career continues because it's near-impossible to imagine Taumalolo keeping his current work up as a middle forward, for the next 5-10 years. If Taumalolo does that, he'll go down in history as an undisputed great, although he could also move to an edge in a few years to prolong his career.

There was also a Aotearoa Representative Player award for Taumalolo, in what was a reasonably crap 12 months for Aotearoa's Kiwis. Taumalalo is the best #KiwiNRL player, thus making him the ideal candidate for the Aotearoa Rep MVP, however it's hard to celebrate an individual when the performances of the Kiwis have been so underwhelming.

Sarina Fiso won the Aotearoa Women's Representative award, after Fiso won her third NZRL Aotearoa Player of the Year award earlier this year. Fiso is a fullback who captains Aotearoa's Kiwi Ferns, plays out of Manurewa Wahine/Counties Manukau Stingrays and Fiso will be an integral part of the Kiwi Ferns' World Cup campaign later this year.

Regular readers will note that I keep raising the topic of there being a slither of negativity surrounding Adam Blair's likely move to the Warriors. When this is official I will break it down as I view it as a damn good signing and winning the Pasifika Laedership and Excellence award only adds to my positivity. Blair is the only kiwi on the RLPA Board of Directors where he joins fellow players Tim Mannah, Jeremy Latimore, James Maloney, Cameron Smith and Eloni Vunakece.

When you apply this to a Warriors context, the Warriors aren't just signing Blair for on-field reasons, they are signing someone who works extensively off the field with Maori. He's not just the leader of Aotearoa as Kiwis captain, Blair is a leader of Aotearoa rugby league and within the NRL, as well as within his community. 

Ava Seumanufagai was the only #KiwiNRL rep in the NRL Academic Team of the Year and I'm eagerly anticipating Seumanufagai's move to Cronulla Sharks next season. In the NYC Academic Team of the Year we've got Dane Aukafolau who is a centre for Parramatta Eels' Under 20s team and played for the Junior Kiwis this year, along with Junior Warriors utility Eiden Ackland.

Peace and love 27.

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Written by Scott Miller On Tagged