Nathan Smith has won his first Hampton Rovers senior Best & Fairest award, ahead of Leigh Fletcher and Christian Carnovale at Thursday’s Presentation Night.
It was a great night at True South in Black Rock, with the venue sold-out, 110 in attendance and a great atmosphere that is the norm at all Hampton Rovers social functions.
Smith finished on 162 votes and led for the majority of the season. Holding a big lead early on, Fletcher (146) and Carnovale (135) finished strong. Nath Smith was also awarded most consistent and Christian Carnovale most determined.
Outgoing senior coach Owen Lalor spoke about his four years at the Rovers and his love of the club. He mentioned how tough the decision was, but the time was right to move on to something completely different, as he moves across to the Sandringham Zebras where he’ll coach the development league team, but won’t be a stranger and will visit the club when he can.
The Reserves was an exciting vote count with only a few votes in it. Rory Lynch had 10 votes in the final round to overtake Adam Power and claim the Dom Devola Medal by three votes. Vincent Camera won most consistent, Jesse Rees most reliable and Shem Curry most valuable.
The Under 19s had their vote count a couple of weeks back but Scott Ebbott received the McGregor Medal for claiming the B&F, capping off a great year in which he also won the league best & fairest. Sam Gall was runner-up and Matt Oswald third. Matt Rieniets was awarded most determined and Cameron Cullis was awarded the Mark Johannsen Memorial Trophy for best team man.
The Best Clubman award this year was shared between two legends of the club – Gary Nash and Tony Naumoff. Both contribute so much to the club, putting in countless hours week after week to make the club tick. Its volunteers like these for which the club couldn’t operate without.
Allan Jones and Dean Lovig were the latest proud recipients of Life Membership of the Hampton Rovers Football Club. Allan has been involved at the club since 2000 and has performed numerous duties across the junior and senior sections of the club, particularly as team manager and this year did the stats for the U19s. While Dean’s playing days were at the Bloods, his involvement at the Rovers began in 2005 as an U15 assistant coach, joined the senior committee in 2010 and a role that has stood out over the past four years is supporter liaison and running the Thursday night dinners at the club.
Congratulations to all award winners and thanks to everyone who supported the night – what a great way to conclude the 2016 season.
Full season B&F votes will be available on the Rovers website in the coming days and more photos will be posted on the club Facebook page.
