Wellens completes awards hat-trick

St Helens full-back Paul Wellens on Tuesday night received further recognition for his outstanding season when he was named the Rugby League Writers' Association player of the year.

The Great Britain international, who on Tuesday flew out to Australia to link up with the rest of the Great Britain squad for the Tri-Nations Series, was last week named Man of Steel and the Super League players' player of the year.

The 26-year-old Wellens also won the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man of the match in Saturday's 26-4 Grand Final win over Hull and tonight completed a notable hat-trick of individual awards.

Former Wakefield MP David Hinchliffe, a driving force behind the All Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group which helped break down the barriers with rugby union, became the 25th winner of the RLWA order of merit for services to the game.

A special award was also made to Keith Macklin to mark his 50 years in broadcasting at the association's annual dinner in Leeds.