Rugby Union SAs Annual Awards was held 15th August and was a celebration of the inclusive and diverse rugby community that we have in South Australia, from women, culture and abilities with coaches, players, volunteers and administrators all attending.
13 Female Elders of the game in South Australia were consulted and the unnamed womens trophies were given names in honour of women from our community who have gone above and beyond. The Minor Round Trophy will now be known as the Kim Evans Cup, awarded this year to Woodville. The womens top team tries award has been around since 2004, will now be known as the Lee Fata Cup, with Woodville also taking home the prize. The final unnamed trophy was for the Best U21 Female, was named after a strong South Australian ambassador competing on the world stage with the Wallaroos in Eva Karpani, announcing that this years recipient was Jade Woonton from Adelaide University.
Jade Pilkington took home the Edna Reilly Medal for the best and fairest player in the female grade with Samantha Cooper from Old Collegians being named runner up, while Aidan Flynn narrowly took out the Don Smith award for best and fairest Premier Grade player over Rafe Liebers from Adelaide University.
Steve Porter from Wheelchair Rugby SA spoke of his love of rugby, that at 54 years, rugby is hard to get it out of his system and can’t see a time where he will give it up. “I do love to impart knowledge on the team and players, and still go out and play hard amongst these same players.”
Coach Andy Phillips noted “At the National Championships earlier this year, we invited the Club Presidents to be a part of the award ceremony, this meant the world for the wheelchair community to be a part of a bigger community and we look forward to seeing you all come out next year to see the game live.”
In closing, new Rugby SA President David Pyper spoke on the “sense of community, of working together for the betterment of rugby in SA. We need to extend this feeling to all members of the community – In the heat of competition, its easy to forget that behind every fierce rivalry, there’s a shared respect and humanity that defines the true spirit of rugby.”
FULL LIST OF ALL WINNERS:
- Tamaki Cup Minor Premiers, Premier Grade: Brighton
- Kim Evans Cup Minor Premiers, Womens Competition: Woodville
- Coopers Club Champion: Brighton
- Volunteer of the Year: Jarrod Chave
- Darryl Ryan Best Grounds and Facilities: Onkaparinga
- HJ Rogers Administrative Services: Fiona Brady, Judiciary
- Lee Fata Cup Highest Try Scoring Womens Team: Woodville
- Bob Hogarth Cup Highest Try Scoring Mens Team: Brighton Premier
- Wheelchair Rugby Player of the Year: Will Taheny
- Wheelchair Rugby Club Person of the Year: Steve Porter
- Neil Charter Junior Development: Amanda Brunton, Barossa
- Ray Rosser Coach of the Year: Tupu-Jonty Maualaivao, Burnside
- U18 Best Tackler: Angus Stuart, Uni-Bulls + Liam Ramsay, Brighton + Stoffel Venter, Woodville
- Meredith Knowler Womens Tackling Trophy: Samantha Cooper, Old Collegians
- Sir Norman Jude Mens Tackler: Lee Hunter, Brighton
- Junior Maualaivao U18 Best & Fairest: Wyatt van Dongen, Old Collegians
- Eva Karpani U21 Best & Fairest Female: Jade Woonton, Adelaide University
- Ray Herde U21 Best & Fairest Male: Aidan Flynn, Brighton
- Best Female Forward: Samantha Cooper, Old Collegians
- Best Female Back: Jade Pilkington, Onkaparinga
- Edna Reilly Best & Fairest Female: Jade Pilkington, Onkaparinga
- Best Male Forward: Aidan Flynn, Brighton
- Best Male Back: Rafe Liebers, Adelaide University
- Don Smith Best & Fairest Male: Aidan Flynn, Brighton
Referee Awards presented:
- Quentin Fleischfresser Outstanding Junior Referee: Daniel Bird
- Most Improved Referee: Brendan Brown
- Referee Encouragement Award: Irene Dinning
- Outstanding Contribution to Referees: Jamie Wilson
