League: Players rewarded at prizegiving night

Benson Selwyn (Northern Swords 17s coach), Piri Croft (Otaua, Northern Swords 17s player of the year) and Alex Smits at the Northern Swords prizegiving.

Northern Swords players Solomone Palu, Piri Croft and Steele Kake have walked away with the top gongs at their end of year prizegiving.

Palu, who plays in the premier team, is in his first year of rugby league and has put his monster frame to work by dominating opposition teams on several occasions.

For a big man who is still learning the game, Palu is an exciting prospect for the future and will no doubt continue his high workrate from 2013.

The premier side had their best-ever season this year, finishing sixth in the Pirtek NZRL National Premier Competition and grabbing their first win ever in the competition with a resounding 40-22 win over the Central Vipers.

For Croft, he was the go-to man of the Swords 17s forward pack - always topping the hit up count and playing big minutes. He never took a backward step or shirked the responsibility of the go-forward even under tough circumstances.

The 17s, too, had a history-making year, winning four of their six games to finish third in the NZRL 17s National Championship.

Kake captained the 15s Swords at this year's Nationals.

Premiers: Player of the Year: Solomone Palu; Brotherhood Award: Desmond Reynolds; Forward of the Year: Jarom Wihongi-Henare; Back of the Year: Innocent Tuimavave.

17s: Player of the Year: Piri Croft; Brotherhood Award: Phadray Brown; Forward of the Year: James Dean Fisher-Harris; Back of the Year: Daniel Fulop.

15s: Player of the Year: Steele Kake; Brotherhood Award: Kayleb Mathews.