Jazz Tevaga’s impressive 2018 NRL campaign has been capped with his naming tonight as the interchange player of the year at the annual Dally M Awards in Sydney.
The 23-year-old Vodafone Warriors hooker-loose forward beat off Vodafone Warriors-bound Leeson Ah Mau (St George Illawarra), Cameron Murray (South Sydney), Alex Twal (Wests Tigers) and Aaron Woods (Cronulla) to claim the title.
After missing the opening two matches of the season, Tevaga went on to appear in 20 of the next 23 games to complete by far his busiest NRL campaign since his debut in 2016.
The Christchurch-born, Papakura-raised dynamo took his career tally to 35 appearances this season, averaging 56 minutes, 10 runs, 85 metres and 37 tackles a game. He consistently provided a huge injection of energy, passion and aggression every time he came off the bench.
Tevaga was one of seven Vodafone Warriors among finalists at the 2018 Dally M Awards.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was up for both fullback and captain of the year as well as being a leading contender for the Dally M Medal as the player of the year. David Fusitu'a was in attendance to collect the top try scorer award (22 tries in the regular season) and was also nominated for the winger of the year while Tohu Harris (second rower) and Issac Luke (hooker) were the others nominated for positional awards.
Stephen Kearney was a finalist for the coach of the year and Krystal Rota was a finalist for the Dally M women's player of the year. Warriors women's captain Laura Mariu and her partner and team-mate Hilda Mariu were also at the dinner along with Vodafone Warriors CEO Cameron George.
