2023 - SENIOR PRESENTATION NIGHT - FRIDAY OCTOBER 6
Andrew Thomson
The Senior Presentation Night incorporating the Bill Peirce Medal & Deidre Jakavicius Medal Counts was held on Friday the 6th of October at the stunning Victoria Park Marquee Venue.
With over 200 guests in attendance, it was the first time the prestigious event had been held ‘off site’ and the evening as a fantastic success, with MC Pat O’Neill putting on a great show.
Over 2,000 photos from the night are available at the below links:
It was a fantastic evening with in excess of 20 Life Members in attendance, great representation from the board, major sponsors and the broader playing group across 6 x Senior Teams.
Major achievements throughout 2023 included the following:
4 out of 6 Senior Teams played finals, including 3 making the Preliminary Final. Current and former Magpie coaches continued to excel, including Drew Mitchell who was the midfield coach for the Allies historic undefeated national title and Brisbane Lions Academy Level 3 Midfield Coach. Mitch Merritt and James Harrison assisted with Brisbane Lions Academy Level 1 and Level 2 programs and Paul Grentell was part of the QAFL State Team coaching panel and finally Brett McEvoy continued his long term role as the QLD Schoolboys u12 coach.
Two former Magpies played against each other in the AFL with Samson Ryan at Richmond taking on Jaspa Fletcher at Brisbane at the GABBA and Jaspa remarkably went all the way to the AFL Grand Final in his first season of AFL footy. Our current Magpies also featured at VFL level, with Bruce Reville, Riley Greene, Owen Collins, Josh Cooper and Elijah Glass all continuing the Magpies commitment to player development. Jaspa Fletcher wasn’t the only Magpie on the MCG on Grand Final day, with Tom Gillett playing in the AFL Futures u17 game earlier in the day and performing incredibly well. Earlier in the year, Tom was joined by Ryan Gilder and Will Munro in the QLD u17 side who took on Victoria in a nailbiting loss after the siren.
Club Captain Will Fletcher joined Bruce Reville in the QAFL State side, while Emma McDonald was selected in the QLD South representative team for the annual intrastate game.
In the Brisbane Lions Level 3 Academy program the Magpies had Jacinta Baldwick, Georgia Lwin, Ryan Gilder, Tom Gillett, Jules Cruice, Owen Collins, Elijah Glass and Jayden McCaulay featuring, while Liam Hude and Tristen Meekin also would have been prominent had it not been for season ending injury.
In the Level 2 Lions Academy Program, Jack Harrison, Jack Slater, Will Munro and Harrison Bridge featured in the national carnival, while Isaac Olver was selected but missed out due to injury and Harry Thomson missed final selection. Stella Scott, Daisy Minz and Sophie David also featured with both teams securing the national title. Special mention to Harrison Bridge, who was selected in the u16 All-Australian Team and made his QAFL Senior debut aged just 15. Stella Scott was selected in the QLD u15 Schoogirls team, while Harry Thomson fought through serious injury to still manage selection in the QLD u15 Schoolboys squad as a shadow player.
Finally, a huge thanks to everyone involved in the club in 2023, with special mentions to our volunteer grounds crew of Greg Adams, Rob Lawson, John Green, Mel Beswick, Bill Taylor and Will Pearce as the regulars alongside a broad mix of helpers. Doc Thompson for his continuing support of the club, Lindsay Trigar and Cody Fullarton and their support crews, Kev Kluver, David Bartlett, Des Lashman and the rest of the ‘Magpie Mafia’ and of course the match day support of Craig Nipperess, Mark Spry, Jess Barker, Pat O’Neill, Damian & Lachie Haber, Phil Kelemen and Chris Fozard.
Finally a very special acknowledgement of Maurie MacNamee, Gary Shaw, Bill Peirce and Warren Selvage who were inducted into the AFLQ Hall of Fame, and the famous Sherwood side of 1975-82 who were inducted as a team after a remarkable 8 Premierships in a row.
Bill Peirce Medal (189 Votes) - QAFL Senior Best & Fairest
Will Fletcher
deidre jakavicius medal (88 Votes) - Qfaw Senior Best & Fairest
abigail ashford
jb medal - QAFL reserves Best & Fairest
tom kearney
lyn vowles medal - Qfaw reserves Best & Fairest
emmerson folan-murphy
maurie macnamee medal - QAFL colts Best & Fairest
ryleigh utting
nipperess medal - woodsmen Best & Fairest
drew mitchell
A special mention to Will Fletcher who won his 4th consecutive senior Best & Fairest, the first 4 time winner in club history and naturally this also means the first person ever to win 4 in a row.
Russell Green Memorial Trophy - Coach of the Year
Ben Finlayson
With 4 of 6 teams playing finals, and 3 making it to a Prelim, it was a hot field in 2023 for this award. It’s also a hot field, because we have been so successful in continually being able to attract high quality and committed coaches to our club.
This guy joined the club in 2022, never had anything to do with the Magpies, but turned up for a kick and ended up a Premiership player, and he even managed to get his picture on the wall!
In 2023, he embarked on a new journey, volunteering his time to join our Womens program as an assistant coach. It quickly became apparent that he was ideally suited to the role, with his ability to pass on his knowledge in an easily understood and clear/concise manner. Feedback from players and fellow coaches speaks volumes for his positive impact.
Being an astute thinker and having decades of playing experience don’t mean anything unless you are able to impart this knowledge in a positive way, and we’re pleased to confirm that Ben Finlayson was certainly able to do this.
Shane Bridley Memorial Shield - Senior Club Player of the Year
Abigail Ashford
The Magpies are thrilled to confirm this year that it was one of the most difficult decisions to find a winner for this award. This is incredibly pleasing, as it means the volume of players going above and beyond to support the club is growing.
Our 2022 winner Connor Bulley was back in the mix, taking on the head coaching role of u15 Division 1 and leading them from Division 2 in 2022, into the finals and a Top 6 finish in Division 1, 2023.
Sarah Grant did an incredible job with the u11 Girls team, Olivia Bell was again a huge presence across Auskick, under 15s and generally helping out with youth girls teams. Stella Gracey was fantastic as an assistant coach for the u17 Div 1 girls and a big pat on the back to the Senior women’s group in general for being so supportive of junior girls footy at Sherwood.
Our senior mens captain Will Fletcher, dragged himself out of bed regularly on Sunday after being bashed around stoppages for 2 hours on a Saturday afternoon to help with the u17Div 1 team as a runner, coach and mentor. Deng Arok turned up to assist in various age groups and before he knew it, was handed a whistle and was umpiring u13 games and Aidan D’Roza was spotted a few times keeping stats for our talented youth teams and of course Jack James and Brady Allen who spent almost all of the season injured, but turned up to training and match days almost without fail to support the lads in a tough year.
However, there had to be a winner from all these great contenders and this year we landed on someone we think is incredibly worthy. From turning up regularly to u15 and u17 girls games to provide support and guidance, making appearances at Auskick, appearing in promo shoots for sponsors or media at a moments notice, regularly cleaning the dressing rooms with some of her teammates on a Friday arvo and she was also a wonderful coach and mentor to our u13 Division1 girls team who after a very tough start to the year, pushed all the way to the Grand Final only to lose by less than a kick in a heart stopper.
Kevin Kluver Award - Senior Club Person of the Year
Patrick O’Neill
“MC Pat” as he is now known, was a workhorse for the club in 2023. His 4th season with the unenviable task of taking on the Manager duties for the Woodsmen, he has somehow managed to turn a shambolic group of keen footballers into a somewhat organised group of lads. However, his role at the club in 2023 went far beyond this, culminating in a fantastic “Big Freeze” day where he took it upon himself to both generate, and then subsequently entertain a huge home crowd to cheers us home in a 1 point win vs the Morningside Panthers in the QAFL Senior game. Pat researched and profiled all the senior players across the Men’s and Women’s squads for the day, acted as ground announced and entertainer and rallied the troops to cheer us home for a fantastic win.
qafl seniors
R/Up Best & Fairest - Bruce Reville & Luke Mitchell
Joe Schaffert & Kevin Garner Memorial Trophy - Most Consistent Player - Will Cruice
BG Award - Courage & Commitment - Dan Edwards
Paul Grentell Medal - Coach’s Award - Jack Austin
Best Team Player - Luke Mitchell
Chris Mihalopoulos Medal - Rising Star - Ryan Gilder
Allan Giffard Medal - Leading Goalkicker - Patrick McCarthy
Top 10 Best & Fairest
Will Fletcher
Bruce Reville / Luke Mitchell
Owen Collins
Ryan Gilder
Dan Edwards
Jack Austin
Darcy Prest
Will Cruice
Toara Marango
Josh Cooper
qfaw seniors
R/Up Best & Fairest - Emma MacDonald
Most Consistent - Kelly Nguy
Coach’s Award - Brittney Withers
Cherie Morrison Medal - Courage & Commitment - Samara Mahoney
Best Team Player - Georgia Kerr
Players Player - Samara Mahoney
Rising Star - Emmea MacDonald
Best in Finals - Emma MacDonald
Leading Goalkicker - Izzy O’Hara
Top 10 Best & Fairest
Abi Ashford
Emma MacDonald
Stella Gracey
Samara Mahoney
Lucy Walters
Alicia Withers
Izzy O’Hara
Christine Okesene
Ryleigh Wotherspoon
Britney Withers
qafl reserves
R/Up Best & Fairest - Peter Kilroy
Most Consistent - Henry Cox
Coach’s Award - Morgan Smith
Best Team Player - Sam Hartog
Leading Goalkicker - Alex Dickfos
qfaw reserves
R/Up Best & Fairest - Harpah Baldwick
Most Consistent - Deanna Iovenitti
Coach’s Award - Rachel Jackson
Best Team Player - Chelsea Bulley
Player’s Player - Emerson Folan-Murphy
Best in Finals - Allie Dennis
Leading Goalkicker - Abby Sydes
qafl colts
R/Up Best & Fairest - Will Munro
Most Consistent - Henry Spry
Coach’s Award - Billy Bougoure
Best Team Player - Will Draper
Best in Finals - Jack Gersekowski
Leading Goalkicker - Zack Bidgood & Angus Parnell
woodsmen
R/Up Best & Fairest - Hamish Campbell
Solid Wood - Coach’s Award - Don Borgia
Rising Woody - Best First Year Player - Kai Mountney
Hard Wood - Most Courageous - Brenton Saunders
Lots of Wood - Leading Goalkicker - Tim Martin
Woody’s Woody - Player’s Player - Hamish Campbell