The 2020 Atropa Pharmacy Hull FC Player of the Year Carlos Tuimavave has reflected on a memorable night having picked up three awards at last night’s virtual end-of-season awards ceremony.
On top of the main award, the centre also claimed the SS Testing Try of the Season award for his effort against St Helens in February, and the Jacuzzi® Players Player of the Year award, which he believes is the best award available having earned the plaudits of his peers within the first-team squad.
Speaking to hullfc.com after receiving his three awards, Tuimavave said: “I’m buzzing to come away with three awards – really delighted, after what has been a really challenging season for everyone.
“To have that recognition from the coaching staff for the Player of the Year award shows that my efforts aren’t going unnoticed, and the coaches are seeing that I turn up every day at the training ground and take my job seriously, as well as doing my bit on the weekend too.
“But probably out of all three award, the most pleasing one to win is the Players Player award.
“To get the vote from my peers is really special and a big achievement too. To have their respect every day means a lot to me – I really enjoy playing with this team and a big thanks to them for their efforts in return.”
Relfecting on 2020 and looking ahead to playing under a new coach in the form of Brett Hodgson next season, he continued: “Even though it has been challenging off the field, on the field I’ve been really happy.
“The season has been stop-start but that’s not under our control and I’ve just been pleased to manage to keep that consistency that I’v shown throughout the year.
“Working under Brett in 2021 is really exciting for me – as a back, I hope I can learn plenty from him as he was a top player during his playing career. I’ll be keen to pick up a few things off him once pre-season training gets underway and I can’t wait to work with him.”
The possibility of the centre representing Samoa at next year’s Rugby League World Cup has also been mooted, however Tuimavave says his focus is on his club rugby at the moment.
“I’ve always put my hand up to represent Samoa, so if I got the call I’d be honoured to play.
“But my focus now is on Hull FC – international recognition comes on the back of that. If I perform well for my club, then we can talk about the chances of playing in the World Cup.”
Find out more about our 2020 Player of the Year Awards, in association with CCT Infotech, by clicking here
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