Matthew Byrne, Ian Payne, Kristin Poti, Kit Drury, John O’Connor, Coach Bryn Hansen, Mark Salansky
On Friday, November 16th, Dockers friends and family gathered for the Awards Gala to close out the team’s successful first season. Congratulations to the award winners for the Dockers’ 2018 championship season!
The Rookie of the Year award goes to the best first-year player. Several new players were eligible, and Dockers coach Bryn Hansen faced a difficult decision to pick just one player. The 2018 award goes to John O’Connor.
The Clubman of the Year award goes annually to the person who has contributed the most to the overall life of club, and has best exemplified the Docker spirit. The 2018 award goes to Matthew Byrne.
The Coach’s Award, selected by Dockers coach Bryn Hansen, goes to the player who has demonstrated the best team spirit and set the best example to their teammates. The 2018 Coach’s award goes to Kit Drury.
The Women’s Best and Fairest Award goes to the player from the Dockers’ women’s team, the Baltimore-Washington Lady Eagles, who has played the best and has best demonstrated the spirit of fair play. The 2018 award goes to Kristin Poti.
Before the top award of the night, club president Ian Payne presented a special award for team spirit and service to the club. The award went to players who have always gone above and beyond in their generosity and enthusiasm on and off the field. But since these two are best mates and we always see them together, the board had no choice but to give the special award to both Kit Drury and Mark “Ski” Salansky. Thank you both for everything you do for the club!
The final award of the night, as per Australian sporting tradition, is the Men’s Team Best and Fairest Award, to the player who has contributed most on the field while exemplifying true Docker spirit. At the end of each match, the two match umpires select and rank the best three players that day. At the postseason awards gala, the votes are publicly counted, round by round – three points for first, two for second, and one for third. The player with the highest point total wins the Best and Fairest award. After the final tally, the 2018 winner was… Dockers President Ian Payne.
Congratulations to Ian and all the 2018 winners, and thanks to all the Dockers players, friends, and family for a successful 2018 awards gala!
