"Not so much [it hasn't sunk in]," said Tuivasa-Sheck.
"That's why it's good to come back and take it all in and sit back and think. Hopefully it can inspire more kids to take the rugby league path and take the journey I've taken and help rugby league more and more here in New Zealand."
Tuivasa-Sheck's victorious evening came after he topped the tally in a tense final round of voting, polling 29 points after collecting three points from the Warriors final regular season game against Canberra.
That was enough for him to overtake Newcastle young gun Kalyn Ponga who had led the standings throughout the evening, along with Cronulla fullback Valentine Holmes and Wests Tigers halfback Luke Brooks. Just four points separated the top four players in the final voting.
"It was pretty nerve wracking," he said.
"Leading into it the boys were all 'bro, you're the favourite, you're going to get this' and I was just trying to push them away.
"Once it started you saw Kalyn Ponga 10 points ahead of everyone and I was like 'shut the gate, he's got this and he deserves it.'
"Then in the back end I was just creeping up and getting a couple of points at the end there. I was really nervous and excited at the same time."
In an evening of celebration for the entire club, Warriors wing David Fusitu'a received the Ken Irvine Medal as the Top Try Scorer (22) and versatile forward Jazz Tevaga took out the Interchange Player of the Year.
Recognition for Tuivasa-Sheck comes after he scored three tries, and made eight try assists in 22 appearances throughout the regular season.
The Warriors' Player of the Year finished the regular season with a total of 4058 metres, averaging 184 metres a game including 1093 post-contact metres. In the round 23 win over Newcastle, he produced a whopping 338 run metres, while he was first among all players for most kick return metres (1330) and fifth for most tackle breaks (109).
He was equally as brilliant in defence, making a number of try-saving tackles and showing an uncanny ability to strip the ball to prevent what looked like certain four-pointers.
Ever humble, Tuivasa-Sheck downplayed his individual awards and paid tribute to the collective efforts that saw the Warriors defy their critics to enjoy the club's best season since 2011.
"It's not really a personal achievement, it's just our club in general, that's what I'm proud of. Just the way the boys have really stepped up and changed our way.
"We had a lot of things going against us but just the way that we've stuck in and stuck to our circle and kept the noise (outside) and just focused on playing footy and having fun.
"We got some good results but I'm hoping to go further next year."
