New Zealand Rugby League has finished its 2023 on a superb high with James Fisher-Harris and Georgia Hale winning the respective men's and women's Golden Boot awards this afternoon.
Fisher-Harris and Hale were up against some of their top teammates as well as other international stars but in the end took out two of the three major awards, while France's Jeremy Bourson won the wheelchair category.
While Hale and Bourson were unable to attend the event in Sydney today with both based in the Northern Hemisphere, Fisher-Harris received his award from two-time World Cup winner and 2000 recipient Brad Fittler.
Fisher-Harris was flooded with congratulatory messages from previous Golden Boot winners Stacey Jones, Shaun Johnson, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Joey Manu as well as others after winning, having led the Kiwis this year to the Pacific Championships title after stunning the world champion Kangaroos 30-0 in the final in Hamilton.
Now-former Kiwis coach Michael Maguire also sung his former skipper's praises.
"I can't think of a better bloke to take out such a prestigious award, it's thoroughly deserved," Maguire said.
"In our time together, over the years, I have watched you grow from that young player to winning grand finals and now leading the Kiwis to an emphatic win against Australia, and creating a bit of history.
"You led right from the front, right from the time you walked into the month of the campaign that we had together. You're an absolute champion and with the way you go about things, and there's a lot of reasons why you're such a success in rugby league.
"What an award to have. You have now created a little piece of history for yourself in the international space, along with such a great win."
Kiwi Ferns coach Ricky Henry gave a similar appraisal of Hale after she was chosen for an equally impressive season in which the Kiwi Ferns ended a seven-year drought against the Jillaroos with a gritty 12-6 win.
"I don't think this award could go to a player more deserving than Georgia," Henry said. "She is a professional on and off the field.
"Georgia does the things that other players don't want to do on the footy field; the things that people don't get rewarded for or recognised for.
"We know that she is a really hard worker but the biggest growth in her game has been her football IQ and that has made her the player she is today.
"This is a reward for everything you have done for rugby league, for yourself, for your family and for us in the Kiwi Ferns environment. You are a massive role model for all the young girls playing rugby league in New Zealand and Australia."
The wins build streaks for New Zealand winners with Fisher-Harris the third-straight Kiwi to win it after Joey Manu [2022] and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck [2019] while Hale made it two-in-a-row after Raecene McGregor's award last year.
No Golden Boots were awarded in 2020 or 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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