TRAVIS Bubb capped a stellar debut season in the Group 10 premier league competition by being named Orange Hawks’ best and fairest player last week.
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But the workaholic lock wasn’t banking on receiving any accolades in his first year in the top grade.
So much so, he didn’t make the two blues presentation night.
“I already had a trip planned to Wollongong and it all fell on the same day,” Bubb said, edging out a crack field of Hawks that included representative gun Arty Shead.
“I didn’t expect anything like this. I went on to Facebook and on our strapper’s page I found out I’d won the award.
“I was pretty shocked.”
Bubb was easily the two blues’ best throughout a Group 10 campaign that ebbed and flowed like no other.
Winless throughout the first five weeks of the competition, Tim Mortimer’s men re-grouped mid-year to enjoy a nine-game winning streak, before suffering elimination in the first week of the semi-finals against a red-hot Bathurst Panthers.
Bubb said it “felt great” to have come out on top in the best and fairest stakes.
“There’s so many good players in the team, Brock (McGarity) had a good year in at five-eighth and Arty Shead was a stand-out each game he played with us,” the 18-year-old added, Shead winning the players’ player vote, while backrower Lawrence Fogg took home Mortimer’s coach’s award.
“We beat every other side in the top five, so we knew we had the ability to do well, it just got the semi-finals and we didn’t put enough on the table.”.
In other two blues awards handed out at the club’s presentation night, Deryne McKenzie and Jedd Kennedy won the Geoff White Trophy after both made the Western Division under 18s, the Mick Fitzgerald Award for outstanding premiere league debut season was predictably won by gun halfback Keegan Harding.
The Dave Clifford Memorial Award went to Jake Martin and Dylan Dean, premier league hooker Mitch Hurford won the Roy Hurford Award for club player of the year and the Hawks’ club person of the year went to Dave Martin.
McKenzie won the club’s under 18s best and fairest with Brodie Christopherson (coach’s award) and Jye Barrow (players’ player) also honoured, while Toby Wright cleaned up in first division, winning the players’ player and best and fairest awards. Dylan Dean won the coach’s award.
Gemma Kelly won the league tag best and fairest, while Emma Dillon (players’ player) and Emily McDonald (coach’s award) were also recognised.
Hawkette player of the year went to Haley Butcherine.
