The Students will be searching for further glory when it takes on East Coast Eagles in the Premier Division Grand Final this Saturday at Blacktown Olympic Park, 2.30pm. The club also play in the earlier Division One and U18 Premier Cup grand finals.
Headlining the night, was midfielder Alex Lee winning the Phelan Medal as the competition’s best and fairest player for 2010.
The 25 year old polled 19 votes to win from Uni team-mate Ben Mankarious and St George captain Declan Donohue (17 votes). East Coast’s Damien Bowles finished on 21 votes but was ineligible due to suspension.
Alex Lee is just the club’s third winner of the prestigious award following on from Brydon Coles in 2009 and Michael Davis in 1990.
Mankarious finished another terrific year with his third successive top 5 finish and team mates Tom Elkington and captain Mark Egan polled strongly also.
Senior coach Roger Moten was named Coach of the Year alongside team of the year inclusions Egan (as Captain), Mankarious, Lee and Adam McConnochie.
Reserve grade captain Tim Air won the Snow Medal (B&F in Division One) and Colt Monty Krochmal the Kealy Medal (U18 Premier Cup B&F). Gabe Robbie was the leading Goal Kicker for the U18 Premier Cup competition.
Other Highlights:
> Sydney University is in just its fourth season since re-admission to the top flight Sydney AFL Premier Division in 2007. Finishing 7th (2007), 6th (2008), 6th (2009) and minor premiers this season. The last period of time in this competition was 1988-1994.
> Sydney University won its one and only Premier Division (then Sydney Football League) flag in 1992 under the leadership of former Swan/Lion coach Rod Carter and captain Tim Driscoll.
> Alex Lee is in his fourth season with Sydney University and finished runner up in the Phelan Medal in 2008. He also won the Snow Medal playing for Manly Warringah in 2005.
> Ben Mankarious was the club’s Best & Fairest player in 2009.
> Of noted award winners, Mark Egan, Adam McConnochie, Ben Mankarious, Tom Elkington are all supported by the Sydney University Sport & Fitness Elite Athlete Program with sporting-academic scholarships – the latter three are SUSF-Trust Company AFL Scholarship recipients.
> Sydney University finished third in the Club Championship despite its strong showing across the divisions with lower division club UTS able to take out that award. SUANFC was the best placed Premier Division club.
> Tim Air is just the fourth Snow medallist for the club – others were Tim Driscoll in 1987, Peter Moggach in 1979 and Peter Sadler 1971.
> It is understood that Monty Krochmal is the club’s Kealy Medallist. The establishment of the “Uni Colts” in 2009 has already resulted in one premiership, a chance of a second this year and the development of a number of potential senior players and even AFL Draft prospects.
> Adam Clark finished with a respectable top 10 finish in the Sanders Medal (Division Two) and Todd Considine was sixth in the Kealy Medal (U18 Premier Cup)
For further details, contact:
Brett Pettersen
General Manager, SUANFC
0416 095 042
[email protected]
