Sevens superstar Maddison Levi is soaking in her first World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year award after capping off her dream year with the highest honour in the sport.
Levi beat out New Zealand duo Michaela Blyde and Jorja Miller for the honour, joining the likes of Charlotte Caslick and Emilee Barton (née Cherry) in winning the award.
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“I think I was shaking a little bit,” Levi said on receiving the award.
“When you come up against such good competition in Michaela and Jorja, they were outstanding in their performances this year and they challenged me to be better.
“I think any one of us deserves that award.”
For Levi, it was third time’s the charm after her nomination in 2022 and 2023.
Levi was bested by teammate Caslick after a dream debut season before her record-breaking efforts last year were overlooked for Tyla King’s (née Nathan-Wong) heroics in NZ’s World Series success.
“It's been three years coming I've been nominated, so to finally secure one, it's pretty awesome,” Levi added.
The 22-year-old will have little time to celebrate her honour, heading straight to Dubai for the opening round of the 2024-25 SVNS world series starting this Saturday.
With the side ravaged by ACL injuries over the past 12 months, it shapes as a new era of the Sevens program post-Paris Olympics, which excited the flyer.
“We’re all ready to go again and feeling confident,” Levi believes.
“We've got a couple of debutants which is exciting because the growth of Rugby in Australia just keeps skyrocketing and I think it's exciting for them to come and experience Sevens and obviously have a go.
“For me, each year I put more pressure on myself so it's just about the basics (like) if I catch the ball and then showcase what I've been working on to keep getting better every year.”
