First it was the minor premiership and tonight One New Zealand Warriors captain Kalani Going has made more history for the club by taking out the New South Wales Cup player of the year award.
On the back of the club winning the minor premiership for the first time, the 28-year-old Northlander has become the first Warriors player to be recognised as the season’s best player.
Acknowledged at the annual Brad Fittler Medal Awards night in Sydney, Going’s honour follows a campaign in which he made 23 consecutive appearances before missing the final match of the regular season last weekend when he was with the club’s NRL squad.
He has scored eight tries so far this season, averaged 114 metres and 27 tackles a game while he has a total of 56 tackle breaks.
Out of the Northland rugby union’s famed Going family – Brian Going is his grandfather – Kalani Going has now made 80 NSW Cup appearances, 72 of them for the Warriors over the last three seasons as he has helped the club to finish third, fourth and now first in the minor premiership. His durability has seen him miss just four of a possible 76 games.
This year he led the Warriors to one of the most remarkable performances in New South Wales Cup history.
They snared the minor premiership with three games to spare, along the way putting together an unbeaten run of 16 games, the best by a Warriors team across all grades and also among the best in NSW Cup history.
The Warriors finished with a record of 21 wins, a draw and just two losses giving them an incredible total of 47 points, a phenomenal 797 points scored and only 386 conceded for a differential of 411.