Hawkins, Ponga and Waaka win Golden Boot awards

Rob Hawkins was named Wheels of Steel winner - English rugby league's wheelchair player of the year - in September [SWPix]England's Rob Hawkins has won the International Rugby League's wheelchair Golden Boot award for the third year running.Hawkins, 25, is the first player in any form of rugby league to win three successive Golden Boots - awarded by the IRL to the best player in the world during the calendar year.He is only the second player in rugby league history, after Australia and Queensland great Johnathan Thurston, to win a Golden Boot three times.New Zealand full-back Kalyn Ponga won the men's Golden Boot award and New Zealand's Stacey Waaka the women's.Hawkins is set to be part of the England team who will seek to retain the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup when they face rivals France in Wollongong, Australia, on Friday at 08:45 BST.He saw off competition from England team-mate Joe Coyd, plus France trio Jeremy Bourson, Nicolas Clausells and Dany Denuwelaere, to win the award.Ireland captain Joe Calcott and Australia's Bayley McKenna and Adam Tannock were also nominated.Hawkins has scored 19 tries at the World Cup for England, including five as they thrashed Australia 86-28 in Tuesday's semi-final.Ponga, 28, produced a starring performance in New Zealand's 34-10 semi-final win over Tonga on Saturday - only 23 days after breaking his forearm.He also shone in last month's NRL Grand Final, despite being on the losing side as Newcastle Knights were beaten 19-18 by Sydney Roosters.Dual-code international Waaka, 31, scored a hat-trick in New Zealand's 32-0 semi-final victory over Samoa.Waaka won a bronze medal in rugby union at the 2025 World Cup to go with two Olympic golds and a Commonwealth Games title in sevens.The award winners were announced in Brisbane, with several greats of the game selected as inaugural inductees into the IRL Hall of Legends.They included Sir Billy Boston - the first rugby league player to be knighted - Ellery Hanley, Malcolm Reilly, Alex Murphy, Neil Fox, Roger Millward and Mick Sullivan, the only Englishman to have won two World Cups.How Hawkins overcame illness to star for EnglandKiwis reap rewards of gamble on 'freak of nature' PongaBoston: The winger who rewrote rugby league's record books