U16 & U18 Best and Fairest

The Norwood Football Club hosted the U16 and U18 Best and Fairest evenings at the club’s Wolf Blass Community Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Norwood U18 Captain Jacob Jones took out the Best and Fairest Award with 68 Votes, while Jaidyn Mead finished second on 67 and Grant Catalano third on 58 in what was a close count.

Jones played 12 U18s matches and nine Reserves matches in 2023, with an average of 25.5 disposals, 6.6 tackles and 4.7 clearances for his U18 games.

The midfielder was consistent throughout the year (not dipping below 24 disposals in his last eight U18 matches) and tore the competition apart through Rounds 7 to 9 when he averaged 33 disposals. In Round 8 against West Adelaide he had 36 disposals, nine tackles, seven clearances and seven marks.

Jones averaged 13 disposals and six tackles at Reserves level.

Runner Up Mead also spent time the Reserves this year (four games), but played 16 U18 matches for the Redlegs. The running defender averaged 21.3 disposals, five marks and 8.1 rebound 50s in 2023.

Catalano played 17 games for Norwood’s U18s side, averaging 15.5 disposals and five tackles.

Luke Scott was recognized as the U18 2023 FORTIS Player of the Year, and ruckman Eamon Ziersch-O’Connor as the Most Improved.

Jay Polkinghorne won the goal kicking trophy with 26 goals from 11 games. He was fourth on the League’s goal kicking tally.

Darcy Speyer took out Norwood’s U16 Best and Fairest award with 55 votes in a runaway count, ahead of Jim Kelly on 27 and Jack Hayter on 26.

Speyer played all 18 matches this season, averaging 24 disposals and 3.3 tackles per game. He polled votes in 16 games and was Best on Ground on three occasions.

The midfielder had a season high 41 disposals in the Round 17 game against South Adelaide.

Kelly played just eight matches (in between college football commitments) but polled votes on seven occasions. Kelly averaged 25.3 disposals and four tackles per game. His disposal efficiency was 91%.

Patrick Bowden won the Most Improved trophy, while Bailey Stringer came away with the Coaches Trophy, and Duan Lee the Best Team Man Award. Micah Kretschmer was recognized as the Trademark player for season 2023.

Robert Varcoe won the Leading Goal kicker trophy with 24 goals from his 17 matches, sitting sixth on the League’s goal kicking tally.