Madi’s a modern great

By Nick Creely

SOUTH EAST FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE

2018 PRESENTATION EVENING

Premierships and league best and fairest medals seem to go hand in hand for Berwick star Madi Andrews.

The Wickers skipper will be hoping he can make it three from three after claiming the Norm Walker Medal at the South East Football Netball League presentation evening on Monday evening at the Cranbourne Racecourse.

Andrews – who is certain to return for the grand final on Saturday against Narre Warren after being injured the last month – took out the SEFNL’s top honour for the third time, just edging out Magpies legend Michael Collins by a single vote.

Ironically, Andrews won the medal in 2015 and the Wickers went on to claim a premiership, and then last year, the champ achieved the very same feat.

Andrews played 15 home and away matches this season, and despite a slow start to the year, managed to claim the maximum votes on four occasions, finishing on 20 votes.

His gut-running and incredible ability to win the football was on show for all to see in 2018, and as he slowly warmed into the season, Andrews once again proved his standing as the best player in the competition. His best on ground performances came in Round 4, 10, 13 and 14, and also polled votes in Round 1, 2, 8, 9 and 11.

Travis Tuck (17 votes), Ryan Jones (15) and Bryce Rutherford (13) rounded out the top five in the count.

Berwick president Glenn Gambetta accepted the award on his superstars behalf, with Andrews unable to attend the awards.

Andrews told the Gazette on Tuesday that he is humbled to win the award for the third time.

“I was a bit shocked – I thought there was probably a few of my mates at Berwick that had better years, but it’s a great honour,” he said.

“It was a bit of a disrupted year, I popped my shoulder out a few times, but I’m proud of the season.”

While Andrews acknowledges the incredible achievement of winning a third Norm Walker Medal, winning a premiership on Saturday with his mates is the only thing that matters.

“I’m definitely proud of it (winning the medal) – but for me, I only play footy for three reasons, to play footy with my mates, have fun and to win premierships,” he said.

“A few things went wrong this year, but as a group, we’re relentless, and its how we have got through this year.”

Andrews also confirmed that he will take his place in the grand final after missing almost a month with injury. He said he can’t wait to get out there and lead his team.

“I probably could have played a bit earlier, but there was a risk of re-doing the injury,” he said.

“I’ve been working extremely hard in rehab, and I’m ready to go.”

Another star of the competition to be recognised for his achievements was Cranbourne legend Marc Holt, with the league celebrating his years of service and his 1000th goal as an Eagle, which was crossed in 2018.

With Holt also unable to attend the presentation evening, Cranbourne football director Manny Vella spoke about the impact the lion-hearted spearhead has had on the competition, praising his loyalty, consistency and impact on community football in the region.

Other major football awards on the night went to Doveton youngster Mitch Cotter, who capped his team of the year selection with the MVP award, while Hayden McLardy and Nick Russo shared the reserves best and fairest award and Max Sheppard – the under 19 leading goal kicker – took out the top gong in the Under 19s.

In the A Grade netball league best and fairest, there was a three way tie, with Cranbourne star Tara Cecil, Beaconsfield’s Danielle Cameron and Tooradin-Dalmore’s Jess Cox sharing the award on 16 votes.

Cecil – who now has four medals next to her name – told the crowd she wasn’t expecting to once again be crowned the winner.

“I went away to Europe for four weeks, so I didn’t really expect to win it,” she said.

But she wanted to thank her club for their support over a number of years.

“It’s a lot of the girls I’ve played with over the years, a lot of them are the same girls,” she said.

“They bring me up each game – I’d like to thank everyone from the Cranbourne Football and Netball Club, everything they do is amazing, and my amazing team.”

Cameron was also awarded for an unbelievably consistent season for the Eagles, and deservingly shared the medal, while Cox – who was unable to attend on the night – was a colossal for the reigning A Grade premiers, and will be a key player in the grand final on Saturday.