Māori league stars Jahrome Hughes (Ngāpuhi) and Olivia Kendrick (Ngāpuhi, Tapuika, Wiradjuri) have won the 2024 Dally M medals in Sydney on Wednesday night.
The prestigious awards recognise the best male and female players in the NRL and NRLW competitions this season.
Hughes, a standout at halfback for the Kiwis and Melbourne Storm, won the medal in an awards cliffhanger.
Three tries, four linebreaks and two try assists in the final round of the regular season against the Brisbane Broncos, saw him clinch the medal by a solitary point from Sydney Roosters fullback James Tedesco.
“I’m kind of speechless,” Hughes said during his awards kōrero.
“It’s quite surreal to be honest. I didn’t think I would ever get the opportunity to win this award, and I’ve sort of got butterflies at the moment.
“I’m so honoured to be able to win it.”
A key figure in helping propel the Storm into this weekend’s NRL final against the Penrith Panthers on Sunday, Hughes was last month voted the league’s best halfback by his fellow players.
“I never thought I’d be a halfback in the NRL,” Hughes, who started out as a fullback, said last night.
The 30-year-old thanked his whānau for “everything”.
“My family - my mum, dad, my sisters, my nieces and nephews - they’ve been such a massive support.
“There were a few times I wasn’t keen to carry on the rugby league dream when I was younger, and they kept me at it.
“So, I need to thank them for everything they’ve done.
“My beautiful wife, Molly, she’s been with me through it as well. I definitely wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”
‘My number one supporter’
Kendrick said she was “caught off guard” winning the medal.
“I definitely didn’t expect that this year,” she said during a televised broadcast.
“Really, grateful and honoured to get this award.”
The 23-year-old, who played every minute this season, acknowledged her Māori mum at the awards.
“She’s my number one supporter, loves coming to all my games and she’s a massive footie fan.”
Kendrick first represented the Indigenous All Stars in 2021 before switching to play for the Māori All Stars the following year.
“My mum’s Māori and dad is Aboriginal on his side – so if it came down to my decision, it felt like I would be choosing one side of my family over the other.
“So I’ve always just decided that, whoever asks first, is who I’ll play for,” Kendrick told the Sydney Roosters media team in February 2022.
She also shared a few insights about growing up between Māori and Aboriginal cultures.
“I grew up going through primary school and learning about my Aboriginal heritage – not so much my Māori heritage,” she said.
“I was involved in dance groups when I was younger called kapa haka, but I kind of lost touch with that. Mum’s been here in Australia for so long as well, so I feel like I wasn’t as involved with my Māori side.
“I’ve grown up with a little bit of the Māori language around me. When I go back home to New Zealand my aunties definitely spoke it, and it was always spoken at weddings and funerals.”
Kendrick told the Roosters that playing for the All-Star teams had helped her a great deal.
“It’s reconnected me to myself and my family.”
The achievements of the awards winners were celebrated with a haka.