Wallaroos back-rower Tabua Tuinakauvadra has continued her meteoric rise with her maiden Wallaroos Player of the Year honour.
At 22, Tuinakauvadra becomes the youngest ever to take out the award and the first Brumbies player to do so.
Follow all the action from the 2025 Rugby Australia Awards at Rugby.com.au
The Orange-born product bested fellow nominees Deisree Miller and Cecilia Smith after an excellent 12 months in the gold jersey, stunned at receiving the award after arriving back in the country at the start of the week after staying in Europe following the World Cup.
"Seeing the list, I was like 'Oh, Desi's got this in the bag, I'm so fine.' I'm just here for a good time and to catch up with everyone," she said and laughed.
"But to be able to be recognised and to be able to get the award in another sense definitely doesn't feel real right now."
Tuinakauvadra was the measure of consistency throughout the year, featuring in all 11 games in 2025, starting in nine.
This includes every game of the Pacific Four Series and the O’Reilly Cup, having won her spot off the back of a breakout WXV 2 campaign to finish 2024.
Tuinakauvadra’s standout performances came especially against Wales, with her two-try effort in Sydney receiving rave reviews.
She started the first two World Cup games against Samoa and USA and would prove a valuable super-sub against England and Canada, who would contest the Final.
The Brumby is the first back-rower since Grace Hamilton in 2019 to be named Wallaroos Player of the Year, proud to inspire the next generation of talent ahead of a home World Cup.
"I think not only the little girls and boys that are watching,but also the women that are aspiring to put themselves out there and try something new or be a part of something that can uplift them and challenge themselves to put themselves in an area where they're not exactly comfortable," she explained.
"I think rugby is the perfect space where you can do that. No matter the age, no matter the skill level, you can see this World Cup that we just played in...you can do whatever you want.
"You can join the local rugby team, you can play in a team that's majority boys, you can play in a team that won't have many round games because of participation, and that's fine,but it's for the love of the game and it's for the bigger picture."
Further honours on the night saw Georgina Friedrichs named Super Rugby Women’s Player of the Year.
Friedrichs was influential in the Waratahs’ rise to back-to-back titles, cementing their dominance over the competition.
She becomes the first Waratah to take out the award since Shanice Parker in 2018, with Miller and Reds’ lock Tiarah Minns also up for the honour.
