Israel Folau won the biggest prize but Melbourne Rebels backrower Sean McMahon confirmed his growing status by collecting the most gongs on the major awards night of the Australian rugby calendar.

While dazzling fullback Folau won the John Eales Medal and shared the Australian Super Rugby player of the year prize with his Wallabies and Waratahs teammate Michael Hooper, 20-year-old McMahon walked away on Thursday evening with three awards across different platforms.

He was named Australian under 20s player of the year, Australia’s Super Rugby rookie of the year, and the Melbourne Rising forward was the inaugural National Rugby Championship player of the series.

McMahon’s frequent trips to the stage became a topic of mirth as the evening at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse progressed.

Some presenters joked they should dispense with the formality of opening the envelope containing the name of the next award winner and just invite McMahon up.

The awards, coming on top of being named on Wednesday in the Wallabies squad for their European tour, continued a ‘dream’ week for McMahon.

He paid tribute to Rebels coach Tony McGahan for helping accelerate his development.

“The opportunities given me by Tony and the Melbourne Rebels, without them, I wouldn’t have had the year I’ve had this year, it’s been amazing,” McMahon said.

Graduating to a first Wallaby cap now seems inevitable: “Since I was a boy, playing for the Wallabies is what I want to do and that’s what I’m working towards.”

He enjoyed a breakthrough year at senor level in 2014 but his emergence as a rising star is hardly a surprise.

At 17, McMahon was the youngest player to be picked in an Australian sevens squad.

The Australian schoolboys representative was part of the bronze-medal winning sevens team at the recent Commonwealth Games.

He was captain and a standout player in this year’s Australian under 20 team at the junior world championship, having already played in the 2013 tournament.

McMahon then put his stamp on the senior ranks, playing 13 games of Super Rugby and winning the Rebels 2014 rookie of the year award.