In her first season in rugby league, 2016 Olympic Games sevens rugby union gold medallist Evania Pelite has been named the Warriors’ 2020 NRLW player of the year.
Three major player awards were made after the Warriors wound up their campaign with a resounding 22-10 win over St George Illawarra on Saturday.
As rugby league rookies, Pelite (25) and her Olympic sevens teammate Ellia Green were both impressive on the Warriors’ left edge with Pelite proving an absolute standout.
She scored a try on debut against Brisbane on October 3 and backed up with another try against the Sydney Roosters and a third in as many games against St George Illawarra.
Pelite also laid on a debut try for Green against the Broncos and another against the Dragons while making four line breaks, four offloads and no fewer than 22 tackle breaks (10 against St George Illawarra). She made 108 metres from eight runs against Brisbane, 165 from 13 against the Roosters and 142 from 10 against the Dragons. On defence she amassed a total of 39 tackles with only three missed.
Wollongong-born forward Stephanie Ball, still only 19, was singled out as the team’s NRLW rookie of the year; Ball was one of 11 players in the squad who made their NRLW debuts during the campaign.
And hooker Micheala Peck, who played in the second and third games, was named the club person of the year.
