Since the Kelvin Tremain Memorial Trophy was first awarded to Zinzan Brooke in 1994, two wings have taken out the award in the male-only sequence of winners.
Jonah Lomu won the next year for his World Cup deeds in South Africa and freakish Bledisloe Cup work then Jeff Wilson two years later.
In the history of the awards, the honours have gone to 15 forwards and eight backs with loose-forwards winning the majority of the judging acclaim with 10 titles between them.
The award for the women's players of the year has been running for the same length of time without any citation there for Woodman although she won the sevens award in her debut 2013 season.
The Black Ferns have been led superbly at the World Cup by skipper Fiao'o Faamausili who brings an accuracy about her play and the indomitable spirit which characterised the work of Farah Palmer and Sean Fitzpatrick who were legends of the sport.
Where Faamausili is the relentless heartbeat, Woodman is the cobra.
The team will need those two at their sharpest and the rest in tune if they are to regain their global crown against England in the Sunday conclusion to the tournament.
The hosts are a strong, well-organised side who wear down rivals while the Ferns hang tough and look to strike through Kendra Cocksedge, Kelly Brazier, Selica Winiata and Woodman.
Like all multiple try-scorers in a team sport, Woodman deflects praise to the efforts of those doing the hard work through the middle of the park and says she adds the trimmings to their industry.
Sometimes she is given the overlap and has a clear run to the line but often she has much more to do.
Her tournament try tally is 13 and more than double the next best player after a four-try collect in the semifinal victory against the United States.
One of those touchdowns would be the envy of any rugby player.
Woodman used her pace and evasion to break past four defenders in a scorching 40m run as she fended away tacklers with either hand and demonstrated her great balance, power and instincts for the game.
Her pedigree is strong with father Kawhena and her uncle Fred both All Blacks in the 80s and she was a strong netballer until she changed codes to make her test debut in 2013 then making a huge impression in sevens.
Woodman was unsure whether her sporting switch would be permanent.
But the more she played and the greater spread of the women's game, the more it claimed her interest.
She liked the chess-like combination of attack and defence and the chances to show her athletic skills and defensive clout and every game adds to her experience.
Injuries have tested her resilience and torn ankle ligaments wiped out one season, ribs and a back problem hampered her too.
But there's an edge about her play to match the easy speed which hurts most of her rivals.
Her natural athletic gifts are enhanced by a rigorous training programme designed to add more power and resilience without affecting any of the speed and poise which make Woodman such a threat to any defenders.
Her parents hit the onomatopoeia jackpot when they named her Portia, now we'll see if the speedster can help the Black Ferns regain their global crown and break the NZR glass ceiling.
