Equal Best & Fairest – Will Macafee

In the last 3 years, Will has finished 2nd, 2nd, 3rd in the B&F, and is now the only player to finish top 3 in all 4 seasons, which is a credit to his consistency and hard work. In an incredibly close year, Will and Chris.K. pipped Dan by a single vote to win this year’s award. He had ‘only’ 2 BOG games, but received votes in 11 of 13 games.

Will is tough in and under the packs, fast and clever out wide in space and carries the ball as far as anyone in the comp. He has worked extremely hard at training, and on his own, at his kicking. His disposal really stood out this year, and he was one player who consistently hit targets when he got the ball (which was often). One thing that stood out looking at the voting was that Will played his best games against the top teams. An extremely good season again and a well deserved award Willo!

Will was also invited to the YJFL presentation evening, so his form was acknowledged by the umpires also. We wish him luck in the league B&F count.

Equal Best & Fairest – Chris Kerdemelidis

This is a genuinely great story, and one of my favourite as a coach. If anyone had told me 3 years ago that Chris would win a B&F I would not have believed them. Not only did he figure, he polled in a team best 12 out of 13 games and was BOG twice.
He has always given 100%, but lacked some skill and didn’t get much of the ball until the 2nd half of last year when he started showing he could play on the ball consistently. This year he played on ball and across half back – and was awesome all year.

nbelievably courageous, Chris’ head is always down over the ball, and when he is in a pack he is NEVER beaten for the ball. He runs head-on and keeps the ball in front and, while very quiet, is a real on-field leader for our team. He probably came off the ground 6 or 7 times this year with a blood nose, only to reappear and hit the packs as hard as ever.

Chris trains extremely hard, listens to instructions, is just as happy getting his own ball or playing a team role. He is pretty much the perfect team player. Congrats Chris, this award is extremely well deserved and a real credit to all the hard work you have put in since Auskick!!

Runner Up: Best & Fairest – Dan Waters

Dan was new to footy this year after coming across from soccer and started with a real bang. Best on ground for the opposition medal in his first ever game of footy was a pretty unbelievable start! And it was no fluke. Dan is very fit, reads the play better than most players, and carries the ball consistently from half back and through the middle. He got votes in 10 of 13 games, including 4 ‘BOG’s’, and represented the club in the YJFL game where they defeated the DJFL easily.

Dan is one of our best trainers, running hard and giving 100% at training. He is always asking questions, and generally just embracing the game and trying to improve all the time. He is an absolute delight to coach.

His game in the last round, when asked to ‘mind’ an opponent who was tearing us apart, was outstanding and one of the individual highlights of the year. Not only did he shut his opponent down, he stood firm down back, got his own ball, and played a huge part in winning the game.

Unfortunately Dan’s year didn’t end well with a broken collarbone filling in for the Under 13’s in the last round. However I know he will recover strongly and be bigger and better than ever with a year’s footy under his belt. Great effort Dan!

3rd: Best & Fairest – Nick Kent

Kenta has won the past 2 B&F’s, so probably didn’t have as good a year as last year, but he shouldn’t be too disappointed. More midfielders in the team meant he was moved around more. He filled in for Johnno at CHB when he was injured, went forward mid-season when we were struggling for goals, and also played in the ruck when required. Nick easily won our goal kicking for the year. His good games were just as good as they ever have been, and his BOG game in the ruck in the last round was one of the best played by any player in my 3 years as coach, and a great way to finish the year.

Coaches Award (James Presutto Memorial Award*) – Ben Corboy

I’m really pleased to be able to give this award to Corbs this year. Ben has always been a great guy to coach, quiet but determined, and always happy to play any role for the team without a word of complaint. He has had a tendency in past years to cruise a bit and not really push himself.

This year he took his game to a new level. He trained harder, ran harder, worked on his kicking and developed into an excellent overhead mark. Corbs played mostly at full back, but also did some great work across half back and played some really important quarters in the ruck when giving Lucas a rest.

He attacked the ball harder and was prepared to back himself as he gained confidence through the year. He became one of our most valuable players, and one the coaches could always trust to do any job asked of him. His game against Park.

*The James Presutto Memorial Award is named in honour of former Under 12s player James Presutto who was tragically killed in 2004

Most Improved – Pierce Mulvey

Pierce had a good season last year playing mostly on a wing, where he positioned himself well and got quite a bit of the ball. He started there again this year, but after a few games was put down to the backline in one game as a ‘trial’ – and what a trial it turned out to be.

His performances down back over the last 10 games were inspirational. Pierce adopted the attitude that if he got the ball first his opponent would never get it. He played in front, attacked the ball, and kept running forward into oncoming traffic. The ball rarely got past him, and he saved the team on many occasions as the last man standing between our opponents and the goals.

He also played smart footy, playing deeper into the wind and higher when we kicked with it – basically he showed a great understanding of the game and where the ball was going next. Pierce became one of the most important players in the side and was definitely deserving of most improved. He also did all of this while having to leave training after the warm ups each week!