The 2015 season was Ah Mau’s seventh in the NRL but the Samoan International found another level after switching from the edge to middle of the field, regularly cutting a swathe through defensive lines.

A man of few words at the best of times, Ah Mau didn’t want to go into detail about the conversation he had with his older brother but said it was the major factor in unlocking his best form.

‘‘Probably the biggest thing was an honest conversation with my older brother, ’’Ah Mau said.

‘‘It kind of flicked a switch for me. He’s a realist and he tells it how it is.

‘‘There was a few things I didn’t like hearing when he was telling me but I needed to hear them.

‘‘We had a really good personal conversation and from there it all really kicked on.

He said embracing the switch into the engine room was also a big factor in his stellar season but he never expected it to result in picking up the club’s top individual gong.‘‘It’s still a bit surreal for me,’’ he said.

‘‘I haven’t thought about it too much because we got straight back into preseason but it was big shock and a big honour at the same time.

‘‘You definitely don’t think about that during the year. I’m just out there to do my job for the boys and do what’s best for the team.

‘‘It’s all about what’s best for the team and me playing in the middle was the best thing for the team so so I put my hand up to play there.

‘‘Mary [Paul McGregor] instilled a lot of confidence in me.

‘‘Every time I turned up I knew my role and what Mary expected of me.

‘‘With the faith he put in me I just tried to repay him every time I took the field.’’

Still only 26, Ah Mau is looking forward to taking things up another notch in 2016 and will have a couple of childhood mates along for the ride with former junior teammates Russell Packer and Mose Masoe joining the club.

The trio all played together growing up in New Zealand and Ah Mau is looking forward to re-uniting on the field this year.‘‘I haven’t played with Russ since Under 20s so it’s been a fair while,’’ Ah Mau said.

‘‘We’ve been really really good mates for a while.

‘‘We played in the younger grades with and against each other since we were 14-15.‘‘Mos was there to so it’s weird for us three to all end up at the same club.

‘‘I spoke to both of them about coming here and told them how great a club this is and we were just keen to link back up.

‘‘We’ve got some big boys now and I’m looking forward to seeing them out there.’’