Yesterday that empty cupboard of recognition was filled with the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal for man of the match in a grand final. And indirectly, Kite believes being sidelined by the NSW State of Origin selectors had helped him and the club during yesterday's torrid fast paced match.

''I am a front rower and front rowers don't get those sort of awards,'' Kite said yesterday, cradling the medal and still disbelieving of receiving the honour in a team that featured Jamie Lyon, Matt Orford, Josh Perry, Glenn Stewart and Michael Robertson, and still shaking his head at the extent of the Manly triumph.

But Kite didn't want to be singled out, and several times noted that he accepted the award on behalf of all of his teammates.

On stage, in front of more than 80,000 people including the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Kite cuddled his three-year-old daughter Georgina and said of his mates ''I love youse all''.

But the Queanbeyan junior's deeds were on the field, not behind the microphone. Kite scored a second-half try to cement Manly's shellacking of the Melbourne Storm: pure icing on the cake of a performance that featured inspirational line breaks.

The selectors, who nominated the man of the match, were obviously taken with Kite's blockbusting running, taking the ball up 20 times to head his side's hit up statistics.

He made serious indentations in the Storm defence, attracting a huge gathering of defenders and allowing space for his colleagues to open up the Storm defence out wide.

But it must have been a close decision. For Kite's forward teammate Glenn Stewart made a stunning 38 tackles and 18 hit ups, and the Manly man out wide, winger Michael Robertson scored a hat-trick of tries to establish the Sea Eagle dominance. But selectors being selectors and the game's foundations built on the tough traditions of the big men, it was always going to be difficult for a winger, even one as fast as Robertson, to usurp a front-rower.

Robertson picked up two tries in the narrowest of gaps to the corner post, and to cement his place in the hearts of the Manly Sea Eagle fans, Robertson then set up a try for the club's departing golden boy Steve Menzies.

Kite said being snubbed by the Origin selectors after playing in the Centenary Test did not motivate him to prove a point. Instead he said missing three tough matches as gruelling as any grand final meant that he was physically fresh at the back end of the season.

''Not putting my body through the equivalent of three grand finals was a blessing in disguise, and it happened for a reason,'' Kite said.

''I didn't hold my breath after not being selected for the first one, I was obviously out of favour. But I don't need any more motivation [to win a premiership] than knowing what losing a grand final is like.'' Kite said the impact of Josh Perry and everyone's experience of last year's loss was critical.

''Glenn Stewart said he didn't feel that he was playing any better this year and I felt the same, but I think it was just that we were all trying to be more effective. I would take a run when we needed it rather than just do a hit up for a hit up's sake,'' he said.

Immediately after the match Kite said that the Storm was not going to beat his team because emotionally the Sea Eagles were primed. He said the team had come together in the past month, hitting form at the right time.

''They weren't going to beat us today, no one was going to beat us today. We hadn't put it together all season except for the past couple of weeks, which was fantastic. It has actually been just awesome,'' he said.

Kite, who attributed the Sea Eagles' strong preparation to Steve Menzies, should be named in the World Cup side, named tomorrow.