Sport
13 September, 2024
Wust and Hurse share in MCDFNL spoils
It was a night to remember on Monday for Maldon’s Damian Wust and Carisbrook’s Laura Hurse, taking home the Berry Powell Medal and the Nalder Tracey Trophy respectively at the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League (MCDFNL) night of nights at the Maryborough Highland Society.
For Wust, he is the fifth Don to win the Berry Powell, and the first since Tommy Horne in 2021, while for Hurse, her success marks a third Nalder Tracey Trophy, having previously won the award in 2018 and 2022.
BERRY POWELL MEDAL
There was some drama in the Berry Powell count, with Trentham’s Joel Cowan polling the most votes with 28, but was subsequently ruled ineligible after he was suspended in round 16.
That left Wust to pick up the pieces, and the new Dons recruit, who joined from Maiden Gully in the off-season, was able to seal victory with 23 votes, despite missing three games with injury.
Harcourt’s Cameron Anderson made a late bid for the title, but fell one vote short, while Dunolly’s departing playing-coach Bailey Goodwin finished third on 18 votes.
Wust only learned of Cowan’s ineligibility as he arrived on Monday night, but nevertheless, despite the initial shock, Wust was honoured to deliver Maldon another medalist.
“I’m lost for words, really. I never gave myself a chance when I got to around round 14, missing three games through injury, so I thought I would have got pipped by one or two votes, but it’s a great honour to win, and I’m very honoured to win it for Maldon — it’s more for them than it is for me,” he said.
Wust was quick to also praise those around the club for helping him settle in.
“It’s for all the people who put in all the hard work who don’t get recognised, the committee and the supporters,” he said.
“The club is just so well-run, and this goes to them and to my old man, who’s been running me around since I was a little kid. Still, to this day, I’m 31, but he comes to the footy every week.”
Wust is more excited about the potential of the Dons in the future, with an exciting junior system yielding another grand final appearance in the under 17.5 competition tomorrow.
“The junior program at Maldon is really good, and that’s what excites me for next year and beyond to stick around and get them to the level of what we expect in senior football,” he said.
That includes a potential rise to the top four in 2025, which Wust believes wasn’t far off this season, if not for a little more luck.
“We aren’t far off. I think we were a top four team, even though we dropped two early games against Lexton and Carisbrook by a kick, and then we lost a few later games in the second half of the year,” he said.
“We had our chances to cement a top four spot, but we caved in and didn’t get the job done. It’s definitely there and the future looks bright.
“If we all stick together, and play more senior football together, it will pay off for years to come.”
Wust also paid tribute to those that makes up the Dons’ midfield and provides him with the support he needed throughout the season.
“I think we have a good spread of players. Alex Farrow is one who goes unnoticed through half back, he gets around 30 touches every week, and Seb Greene is a good player who does his bit every week,” he said.
“We have a lot of other blokes like Matty Gray as well, who doesn’t get recognised for his work as much. He’s probably stiff to not make the team of the year, and Adam Robinson is another one as well.”
NALDER TRACEY TROPHY
It came down to the last vote, but Laura Hurse is a three-time Nalder Tracey Trophy winner for Carisbrook.
Hurse polled 31 votes to hold off opposing grand final coaches, Avoca’s Maddy Egan and Natte Bealiba’s Emma Ryan, who was equal-second on 28 votes, while Ruby Saunder marked a spectacular first season with the Maryborough Giants by finishing fourth on 25 votes.
Hurse was pleasantly surprised with the win, despite Carisbrook undergoing a season of enormous change across the board, with a number of departures and injury forcing the Redbacks to blood new players into the A grade setup.
“My role in the team is a lot of guiding and mentoring. My role as the centre is to direct the play, and I’m a bit renowned for my talk that I provide on the court,” she said.
“So, with that, that’s offering advice to the girls, where to go and a bit of positional stuff. That’s a key area of my game that I feel like I have to offer to a young group, which I enjoy doing too.
“To be honest, I haven’t overtrained this year, I’ve kept it consistent, trying to reduce and minimise injuries with Sherriden Byrne doing her ankle and needing a reconstruction midway through the year, and Andrea Schafer breaking her arm, so we needed that stability to try to get us through.
“Hopefully in the next couple of years, people like myself can start playing that mentor role and not so much play a central role, as it would be great to see these kids coming through.
“The ultimate success would be to get that A grade success which has been building for a long time. They don’t come around very often, so hopefully we can come back bigger and stronger and playing on the last day of the finals series.”
Hurse paid tribute to the systems in place that allows the netballers to succeed at Carisbrook.
“Netball is a team sport, I always say that, there’s no I in team, and you wouldn’t be able to do this without all the other girls around you,” she said.
“I play the game for the friendships and the joy you get out of doing it. You do need to do a bit of individual training, but if you don’t band together as a team, you won’t get that success, so ultimately, you are only as good as your weakest link in the team.
“I’ve always been fortunate to be with a great bunch of girls to play with, a great bunch of juniors and great coaches and mentors too, which always helps.
“Our junior programs are flying, we have great policies and systems in place, and we don’t say no to anyone.
“We have rotation policies — every kid with our netball juniors got on the court during the finals, and that’s what it’s all about, you don’t learn unless you get a go.
“We’re super lucky to have some great leaders at our club and great coaches that works on the junior skills and development, and nurturing the culture that we have at the club.”
MCDFNL AWARDS
Across the board, it was a celebration for all throughout the night.
Natte Bealiba picked up their first ever Carlton Trophy after a stellar season which has yielded five grand finals, including the senior football and A grade netball.
Rookies of the year went to Natte Bealiba’s Jai Howell, who was a strong poller in the Berry Powell count with 15 votes, while Dom Roche won the netball rookie of the year, helping Talbot make their first finals in 15 years and polling 19 votes in the Nalder Tracey Trophy.
Leading goalkicker awards were presented to Trentham’s James Regan and Newstead’s Jonty Entwistle in seniors and reserves respectively.
In B grade, it was a double dose of joy for Carisbrook, with Justine Carroll winning the title with 27 votes, holding out Avoca’s Kodie Smith by two votes.
It was a little less complicated in C grade, with Avoca’s Matilda Davis dominating the count to score 41 votes, winning by 16 votes from Natte Bealiba’s Amanda Parkinson.
In the reserves competition, Trentham’s Chris Whelan was the winner, scoring 20 votes to win from Newstead’s Brendan McDougall, who was a vote behind.
In the administrative awards, life membership was awarded to Richard ‘Gus’ Logue and Alison Picken, while the Max Martin Administrator of the Year went to Trentham president Tim White.