Best and fairest: Shaun Atley's one, and possibly only, season with Rochester Football Netball Club was rewarded with the club's senior best and fairest award. He missed six games during the season while travelling Europe, but won the award in a close count from Christopher Jansen. Photo: Bruce Povey
Photo by
BrucePoveyPhotos.com 2022
Six weeks of international travel failed to impact Shaun Atley’s 2022 Goulburn Valley league season and he was rewarded on Saturday evening with the Rochester club’s senior football best and fairest award.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Atley, 30, returned to the Tigers after 234 AFL games with the Kangaroos and stormed home in the count to win by 19 votes from Chris Jansen. He polled 282 votes from his 12 games, while Jansen finished on 261 votes from 15 games.
Atley spent six weeks travelling Europe with his wife between rounds seven and 12 and when he rejoined the count in round 13 he was in fourth place — 28 votes behind eventual runner-up Chris Jansen.
Spoils of victory: Shaun Atley on Saturday evening after winning the Tigers’ best and fairest.
Atley, who will join his wife in Sweden later this month, polled votes in all of the Tigers’ final six home-and-away games — and its final — to win from Jansen, Jordan Harper and tough tackling mid-fielder Adam McPhee.
Playing alongside his two younger brothers, Joe and Jacob, for the first time Shaun Atley’s round 13 return to Rochester was rewarded with a “perfect game’’ against Rochester.
Three vote cards were distributed for every game, with five players awarded a maximum of 10 and minimum of six votes on a weekly basis.
Jansen didn’t poll a vote in the final three home-and-away rounds, missing the last half of the Tigers round 16 match with United and then sitting out both the final home-and-away rounds.
He took the lead, from prolific running winger Jordan Harper, in the count after polling votes 85 (of a possibly 90) votes between round 13-15.
At that point Jansen had 233 votes and Atley was on 199 votes.
A perfect game from Hugh Hamilton, when he kicked a bag of seven goals, in round 16 and Mitch Cricelli’s 15 disposal-five goal round 17 game meant the Jansen and Atley were tied with one home-and-away game — and the final to be played.
Shaun Atley polled 27 votes in the round 18 win against Shepparton Bears and followed that up with 22 votes in the final — Jansen polling 19 — to claim the win.
Harper held on for third, polling in only one of the final seven games, with 172 votes and McPhee also slowed considerably toward the end of the season — finishing fourth with 164 votes.
Mitch Cricelli’s 44 goal season was rewarded with fifth position (162), while Hugh Hamilton was fifth — polling top votes in the final — with 150 votes,
Behind the top six were Nathan Kay (117), Steve Stroobants (116), Mitch Bright (107) and Joe Atley, who played just four games, was 10th with 94 votes.
Bright won the Gary Appleby Most Determined, Cricelli most consistent and Fraser Cleary most improved.
Quinlan family best and fairest: Christine Hooppell and Lorraine Quinlan with Rochester netball's A-grade best and fairest Bridgette Holt and runner-up Teal Hocking at the club's vote count and presentation evening on Saturday.
A thrilling vote count in the Quinlan family A-grade netball best and fairest was won by Bridgette Holt after she polled best on court in the final home-and-away match of the season.
After 17 rounds she and teenager superstar Teal Hocking were both on 29 votes.
Hocking polled one vote to take the lead, albeit momentarily, as defender Holt picked up maximum votes for a two vote win.
Holt and Hocking missed best on court honours in only six of the 18 matches for the season, Morgan Dingwall and Maddie Egglestone twice earning that distinction, while Tess Ringin and Ellie Cuttriss earned top votes in one game.
Cuttriss was third in the award with 15 votes, while Egglestone rounded out the top four placegetters with 10 votes.
The award is named in honour of Lorraine Quinlan and her daughters Christine Hooppell and Jennifer Auld.
Lorraine Quinlan coached the A and B-grade teams to premierships, while Hooppell holds the Goulburn Valley leaguye record of 525 games and Auld won six A-grade best and fairests.
