Voted on by New Zealand’s professional rugby players, the awards recognise the achievements of the nominated players by their peers during the 2007 season.

The winners will be announced at the NZRPA Corporate Day at Pine Harbour Marina Auckland on Friday December 7th.

NZRPA CEO Rob Nichol said the ING Player Awards are highly valued by the players.

“There is a level of respect and camaraderie amongst the players that the ING Player Awards both reflect and capture. To be acknowledged by your peers is rewarding for anyone. We congratulate all the nominees,” said Nichol.

Nichol added that the introduction this year of the Off Field Achievement of the Year Award is especially notable.

“There has been a focus by all those involved in New Zealand rugby in recent years of supporting, guiding and assisting professional rugby players in their off field personal and professional development. Rugby as a career can be especially rewarding but it is inherently uncertain and cannot last forever. In addition we firmly believe that players who are organised and stimulated off the field will produce better results on it. Players are now aware of how important this is and these awards celebrate those who have excelled and set examples in this area.”

The awards are sponsored for the third year by financial services company, ING (NZ) Limited. ING themselves are no strangers to awards, having won numerous funds management and insurance industry accolades.

Steven Giannoulis, General Manager Marketing and Investor Services for ING said his company was proud to be associated with the awards and with the NZRPA.

“This is a great opportunity to recognise and reward individual performance using criteria other than game scores and seasonal results. In business and in sport, there can be no greater tribute than the approval of your colleagues or peers. We congratulate all those who are nominated this year.