Stephan Van Gruting has been recognized for his stellar season for the Bulldogs with two of the top awards, (and a third minor award) including the Niki Dow Trophy for Best and Fairest as well as being honoured with the Courage Award donated by Jared 'Doc' Kilday. First year player and revelation Jarred Percival was awarded Best Young Pup (despite being a veteran of 22 years) and was second in the voting to Van Gruting for top honours (despite polling less votes than Wayne Sullivan in the CAFL Best and Fairest).
Third in the voting was Toby Foley(despite also polling less votes than W.Sullivan in CAFL B and F) after a strong season which saw him float between a running defender and a defensive midfielder.
Coaches award was deservingly presented to another first year player, Brad 'Monster' Mavor, who nailed down the Centre Half Forward position as if he was born there(there is a rumour he was actually born in the water trough of his dad's property).
Leading goalkicker for the season and predictably named 'Best Forward' was the ever reliable Todd Andrews, racking up 26 goals for the year. 'Defender of the Year' went to Grand Final absentee (exam for some unknown topic) Sam Burdett.
Young masterchef Tom Smith was the 'Most Improved' recipient, showing that even 38 kilograms of body weight has enough force when thrown into a contest fast enough.
The award every top bloke aspires to receive 'the Jason Beck Award' was fittingly handed to Wayne Sullivan for 'Best Clubman', paying the ultimate respect to his excellent work on the Bulldogs website, his willingness to pass on his vast knowledge of the game to younger players, his side splittingly hilarious editing on the 2014 player profiles, his unmatched false modesty and all the hard work he has put into his physique. He was frequently described as the perfect role model and example and was praised for his ability to help less fortunate Bulldogs get talking to women out on the town.
List of recipients:
Christchurch Bulldogs Best and Fairest: Stephan Van Gruting
Runner Up Best and Fairest: Jarred Percival
Second Runner Up Best and Fairest: Toby John Foley
Courage Award: Stephan Van Gruting
Leading Goalkicker: Todd Andrews
Coach's Award: Brad Mavor
Captain's Award: Jonty 'Pornstar' Hall
Best Defender: Sam Burdett
Best Forward: Todd Andrews
Best Onballer: Stephan Van Gruting
Most Improved: Tom Smith
Best Young Pup: Jarred Percival
Best Clubman: Wayne Sullivan
Article By Wayne Sullivan
Last Modified on 10/11/2014 13:13