ACM's Peter McDonald Premiership end-of-season awards | Part two

We'll take a look at some of those players here in part two of our end-of-season awards.

After picking out our player, coach, game of the year and much more in part one yesterday, today we'll also pick out the standout league tag player, the biggest shock and look ahead to season 2024.

It's hard to go past Harry as the standout player in the under 18s division. While Lithgow's Eli Morris took home player of the year at the Group 10 awards night, Wald has taken his game to another level this year.

Blessed with height and strength beyond his 17 years of age, Wald looks like a giant playing for Hawks' under 18 side. He was the point-scorer in the Group 10 pool, made his first grade debut in 2023 and regularly backed up to play reserve grade where he not only didn't look out of place, but was a handful for defences.

One of those players footy fans in the west will watch with great interest as his career progresses.

Honourable mentions: Here's a taste of why the previously mentioned Eli Morris from Lithgow is so promising. During a break in play in a first grade game against Mudgee, halfback Morris took a chance to chat to Jack Littlejohn about the way he kicks in general play. Littlejohn, a former NRL half, was more than obliging in his advice too, passing on some tips. Great stuff all-round.

Elsewhere, Ryan Goodsell starred in the halves for Parkes and also scored four tries in one first grade match, and the Dubbo CYMS pair of Jodan Porter and Latrell Fing, and Morris' teammate Tallan Egan are others worthy of praise.

Erin Naden undoubtedly still holds the crown for best player in the Peter McDonald Premiership but our player of the year goes to a relative newcomer: Georgie Barrett.

The Orange CYMS fullback has made the step-up in her first full year of league tag and has fast become one of the green and gold's best players.

She scored seven tries and scored the fourth-highest amount of points with 106.

Such is her influence captain Tori Moore says her presence in the side will be key to any hope of victory in their preliminary final against Bathurst St Pat's.

Honourable mentions: India Draper's move from Parkes to Forbes was a controversial one but it didn't slow the speedster down as she scored 25 tries and almost single-handedly dragged Forbes into the finals. Katie Kelly played a big role in Macquarie's rise this season while Naden can easily fit in here as a mention alongside her teammate Meredith Jones.

Who saw this coming at the start of 2023? It's not often you get a former Australian representative and State of Origin player running around in the bush but that's what Wellington had this year.

There were whispers after a couple of rounds Ferguson could be back and his first game in Cowboys colours since his junior days was something special. There was a huge crowd at Kennard Park for the round four meeting with Forbes and Ferguson didn't disappoint as he threw himself into the contest.

The NRL premiership winner was, as expected, a huge weapon for the Cowboys and being back in Wellington has been great for him, as well. So much so, he's not ruling out sticking around for the 2024 season.

"Forbes are always tough."

That was the talk from rivals in pre-season as they fully expected the Magpies to be firmly in the mix after winning the 2022 title. In truth, Forbes never really looked capable of playing finals, let alone a premiership contender.

The loss of a number of experienced stars impacted them more than they probably expected while injuries and suspension didn't help as the Magpies won just three games in 2023. It was a baptism of fire for rookie captain-coaches Nick Greenhalgh and Mitch Andrews and it looks like it might have put them off leading the team again next season.

Honourable mentions: The rise of smaller towns was a welcome surprise this season. Wellington and Nyngan missed finals last year but finished in Group 11's top four this year ahead of the fancied pair of Macquarie and Forbes. Lithgow may not have played finals, but there was real development there in 2023 and there's a bit of excitement building at the foot of the mountains.

There was excitement around the arrival of 'Tau' at Parkes but he was a bit of an unknown. He was the 2022 Victorian Player of the Year, but surely the standard down there isn't great?

Wrong.

Mapapalangi was a wrecking ball this season and formed an outstanding front-row partnership with Jack Buchanan. He's bumped off some of the best players in the competition for fun week after week while he has the kind of skills and athleticism that a big man just shouldn't have.

A Group 11 representative this year, Mapapalangi will again be key for Parkes in this weekend's preliminary final.

When it was announced years ago Group 11 and Group 10 would be coming together, the draw was going to be the biggest issue.

Jump ahead to now, with two PMP seasons almost in the books, and we're in the same boat.

The amount of time it took to get the 2023 draw was laughable and it can't be the same next time around.

Playing just two teams from the opposite pool remains a problem and can create real advantages or disadvantages depending on who you draw, while Group 10 first grade teams playing away from their reserve grades just shouldn't have happened this year.

Let's make it simple. Twelve rounds. Play every team once for 11 rounds, and then another to ensure two marquee derbies get played, and we're sorted. Flip it the next year in terms of home and away.

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