What a glittering night of nights as the players, sponsors, officials, fans and volunteers gathered to celebrate the season that had been completed and acknowledge the league recipients. The photo order in this article matches the award.
Best and Fairest Winner
The best and fairest voting was as always a tense
affair as the umpires in orange and green were the ultimate arbiters. In
the early rounds (Rounds 1-5) the bright start of the Stingrays was
recognised by the umpires with Jenna Linehan in the lead with 8 votes.
Hard on Jenna's heels is Una McKay from the Sydney University Bombers
and Natalie Redford.
In part 2 as the clubs started to find their form
by round 10, Natasha Devlin from Newtown and last year's winner was on
the lead in 12 votes, with teammate Natalie Redford close behind with
rookie sensation from the Stingrays Courtney Gum also polling well.
Michaela Ekman from the Western Wolves and Jackie Buckthought from the
Dockers were starting to climb the ladder.
In part 3, with the season well under way with each
club now playing at least once by round 14, Natasha Devlin from the
Breakaways was still in the lead with Natalie Redford still chasing her
with Courtney Gum from the Stingrays. Una McKay, Jackie Buckthought and
Wollongong Saints Captain Shellee Gibson were still in contention and
chasing hard.
In part 4, in the final four rounds - Natalie
received her 20th vote in Round 16 and Natasha Devlin was only two votes
behind on 18 votes. Una McKay and Courtney Gum could have theoretically
tied if they both received two best on fairest votes so it was a
tingling sense of anticipation amongst the crowd. In Round 17, the
Breakaways had a bye, but Una and Courtney were unable to make ground
meaning that only Natasha Devlin was in contention. In the very final
round and the last match to be announced of Newtown and Macquarie
University, anything was possible. Natasha got a vote but it was one
vote - just short by the smallest of margins. Natasha has polled many
second and third place-getters in the Best and Fairest in her fantastic
career.
With the conclusion of the Round 18 votes, Natalie
Redford was declared the 2010 Best and Fairest Winner of SWAFL. This
caps of an amazing year for Natalie who is also the premiership captain,
playing on the MCG this year as part of the AFL High Performance
Academy and being deemed by her peers in the AFL High Performance
Academy as the Shannon McFerran Medallist for showing leadership
qualities and personal development. In 2007, she also won this award
making her the third player to win twice with Nicki Richards (Sydney
Uni/Newtown) and Steph Foster (Newtown).
Natalie polled 6 Best on Ground Votes (3 votes), 0 x2 votes and 2 x1 votes which is amazing. Well done Natalie!
The best players by club were Balmain: Jackie
Buckthought, Bondi: Kate Woodlands, Macquarie University: Melita Van
Steel, Newtown: Natalie Redford, Southern Power: Christine Coles and
Rebekah Lucas, Sydney University: Marie Keating, UNSW Stingrays:
Courtney Gum, Western Wolves: Cynthia Dufaut and Wollongong: Shellee
Gibson.
The top ten finishers were:
1st (20 votes) Natalie Redford - Newtown, 2nd (19 votes) Natasha Devlin - Newtown, 3rd (15 votes) tie between Marie Keating - Sydney University, Jackie Buckthought - Balmain, 5th (14 votes) tie between Courtney Gum - UNSW Stingrays and Una McKay - Sydney University, 7th (11 votes) tie between Shellee Gibson - Wollongong, Kate Woodlands - Bondi, Cynthia Dufaut - Wests, 10th (10 votes) tie between Emma Yuen - Sydney University and Jenna Linehan - UNSW Stingrays.
SWAFL Rookie of the Year
This award will go to a player in their first year
of senior football in Australia. This year winner is Balmain Dockers / Coleambally's finest (located in the beautiful NSW Riverina region): Tracey Robinson. Tracey is a gun midfielder with a background in running and has made the transition to AFL very easily having grown up with the Sherrin. We look forward to many years of play out of Tracey in the future.
Yvette Andrews Players Player Award
This award is decided by all the members of the
opposition team after each match. Being the only peer voted award, it is
a very prestigious award. Named after Yvette Andrews (Wests) who was
one of the founders of the league, league secretary/premiership
player/premiership coach/state player.
This year's winner is: Cynthia Dufuat from the Western Wolves. Cynthia who
may have retired this year is the only player to win the players player
award three times and a very popular winner.
Golden Boot Award
This is awarded to the player who has kicked the
most goals in the home and away season. This year winner by a clear
margin was Balmain's Full-Forward Belinda Pride who set a new league
record of 102 in the regular season (previous record - Marie Keating who
had 93 with the Western Wolves in 2008). The overall record including
finals for Belinda Pride for 2010 is 112 goals breaking the old record
of 98 also set by Marie Keating in the same year.
Golden Whistle Umpiring Award
This is an award given to the best umpire that is
voted by coaches and captains and was first awarded in 2009. The Golden Whistle is awarded to last year's winner John Van Den Ham to make it two in a row.
Coach of the Year
Tracey Kick, the coach of the undefeated Balmain Dockers during the home and away season was the very worthy recipient of Coach of the Year Award.
Volunteer of the Year Award
Founder of the Talented Player Program and worthy winner of the Volunteer of the Year is Lisa Roper. The award was accepted by her daughter Larissa Roper.
Last Modified on 20/09/2010 23:10