RUGBY LEAGUE
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Kandos’ prop Cody Strickland had to share the Centennial Coal Cup (CCC) Player of the year award despite the Waratahs dominating the entire season.
Strickland and Charles Sturt University Yellow player Steve Gibbs were named winners of the prize at the Group 10 Player of the Year awards at Bathurst on Friday.
Both CCC players polled 18 votes throughout the season.
Strickland has been the beneficiary of Kandos’ domination during their games as he scored 212 points from 92 goals and eight tries.
Teammate Ben Thompson was third in the voting with 17 votes after he bagged 37 tries, which included him scoring five tries on three separate occasions this season.
Thompson and Strickland took points off each other in several matches, which prevented the pair from polling more votes.
Also Kandos did not play two games because of opposition forfeits which prevented them from getting more votes.
Villages United Trent Guihot was named CCC Coach of the Year.
Orange CYMS’ five-eighth Ben McAlpine completed a rare Country Rugby League double, taking home this year’s Group 10 Player of the Year gong 12 months after earning the same award with Young in Group Nine.
A worthy recipient of the best-player-in-the-Group tag, McAlpine was equally dominant in his year-long stint in the halves with the Cherrypickers in Group Nine, earning the 2012 Weissel Medal.
McAlpine scored three votes in the final round of the Group 10 season to edge out a quality field.
Based on 3-2-1 votes throughout the season, McAlpine got 21 votes, one better than Lithgow hooker Jamie Clark (second).
Bathurst St Pat’s five-eighth Tim Holman was third on 19 votes and Hawks prop Terawhiti Cooper was fourth on 18.
Jack Afamasaga was the best placed Mudgee Dragons player, polling 11 votes to be equalled ninth.
It is the third time in four seasons a CYMS player has been given the top gong – Mick Sullivan in 2010 and Tim Bassmann last year.
McAlpine finished the year as the premier league competition’s leading point scorer with 178 points from 14 tries and 61 goals.
Jono Van Veen scored a remarkable 20 four-pointers to lead all try scorers in the competition for the second year running.
Orange Hawks captain-coach Tim Mortimer won the Coach of the Year gong after steering the two blues to their first premier league grand final appearance in a decade.
CYMS league tag coach Matt King won the women’s Coach of the Year prize.
St Pat’s first division mentor Dane Fisher and Cowra’s under 18s coach Steve Sutton took home their respective Coach of the Year awards, both guiding their side’s to grand final appearances this Sunday at Wade Park.
Lower grade players of the year were Cowra’s captain-coach Dan McGann (first division), Lithgow and Western Division prop Luke Morris (under 18s) and Lithgow’s Chrissie West (league tag).