Loose forward Micheal Luck has been named the New Zealand Warriors' player of the year.
At Thursday night's annual awards dinner, the 27-year-old Luck's consistency especially in defence during the National Rugby League season earned him the supreme accolade ahead of the other finalists, prop Sam Rapira and winger Manu Vatuvei.
Also captaining the side on numerous occasions, Luck, clubman of the year in 2006 and 2007, has established himself as one of the NRL's pre-eminent defenders since joining the Warriors after a 76-game stint with North Queensland.
In both 2007 (959) and 2008 (957), he was the NRL's top tackler and this year he broke new ground by reaching the 1000-tackle barrier to lead all comers with a total of 1053.
19-year-old prop Russell Packer was named the young player of the year ahead of Kevin Locke, who scored 60 points in 12 NRL games this year, and back rower Lewis Brown, another first-grade debutant this season who went on to play 15 games for the Warriors.
Rapira picked up the clubman of the year award and will now take on the mantle of the club's One Community ambassador, a title Vatuvei had this year after winning the clubman accolade in 2008.
