‘Had no idea’: Young gun’s shocked reaction to unlikely Dally M award
Out of all the Dally M award winners on Wednesday night, nobody was more shocked to hear their name read out than Hamish Stewart.
The young Dragons star, who has been tipped for higher honours and emerged as a future club captain, was the big surprise in the NRL Team of the Year.
Hamish Stewart has emerged as a future Dragons captain. NRL Imagery
Stewart was selected alongside Manly wrecking ball Haumole Olakau’atu for the back-row position, beating out some quality opposition including Hudson Young, Tallis Duncan, Kulikefu Finefueiaki, Jacob Preston and Leka Halasima.
It came as a huge shock, not because of Stewart’s ability, but due to the fact St George Illawarra finished with the wooden spoon and only won five games.
Speaking to nine.com.au just moments after the surprise win, Stewart was still coming to grips with the fact he has a Dally M award to his name, despite having played less than 50 first grade matches in the Red V jersey.
“I got told I was nominated, so I thought I better get a suit made up and come along for my first Dally Ms, but I had no idea this was coming until the camera flipped on me,” the 22-year-old Gerringong Lions junior said.
To make the award even more impressive for Stewart is the fact that he’s not even a back-rower by trade and still believes his future lies at lock.
Despite that, coach Dean Young showed faith in the local product to fill the crucial edge position and it paid off in spades, even if results didn’t go the Dragons’ way.
“This was only my second full year of first grade and I had a bigger role this year, but it definitely took me a while to get used to back-row,” Stewart said.
“I got thrown into that spot because I’m a lock by trade, but it has been really fun learning a new position and at the back-end of the year I found some form.
“I grew up playing in the halves and then got a bit bigger so I moved to lock, but I really feel like I can play anywhere on the field that Youngy needs me to.
“I’m comfortable at lock, but scoring tries in the back-row is good fun.”
Stewart finished the season with five tries and surprisingly, another nine try assists – more than halfback Kyle Flanagan and fullback Clint Gutherson – showing he has plenty of strings to his bow and is a genuine star of the future.
While victories have been few and far between for the Dragons recently, Stewart is confident the club is heading in the right direction, spearheaded by the young crop of forwards that also includes the Couchman twins, Loko Pasifiki Tonga, Dylan Egan and Jacob Halangahu, who all have bright futures.
During last weekend’s preliminary final between the Panthers and Knights, those young guns were in attendance alongside Young – an initiative designed to show the Dragons players what a post-season environment was like.
Stewart believes it should benefit the young guns moving into 2027, where many are tipping the Saints to make a long-awaited return to September.
“The idea behind that was to show us first of all, how cool it would be to play in a game like that, but also what it takes on the stage,” he said.
“Youngy send out a message after the game and asked what our main takeaways were and for me, it was just how connected the Knights looked.
“That level of brotherhood and connection is something we are striving for, because that only puts you in better places on the field.”
Stewart also lauded the Dragons’ recruitment for next year and couldn’t hide his excitement when asked about running out alongside players like Scott Drinkwater, Keaon Koloamatangi, Luke Metcalf, Connor Watson and Kodi Nikorima.
“The recruitment staff have done an unreal job,” he said.
“There’s still a lot of hard work between now and next season though. I’m going back to training on November 2 and ready to rip alongside them.”
