SIX of the Illawarra Steelers top junior prospects have been rewarded for their outstanding years on the field - a season which saw the club win both the Tarsha Gale and SG Ball premierships.
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This season was a breakthrough one for Daniel Lacey and his Tarsha Gale side, which featured Group Seven's Keele Browne, Meg Buchanan (both Milton-Ulladulla), Teagan Berry and Riley Scott (both Stingrays), as they won their maiden premiership, defeating Newcastle 24-12 in the final.
On the back of this success, Lacey presented Maddison Weatherall (player of the year) and Viena Tinao (coaches award) with the team's award for 2019, at the recent club presentation held on July 3 at the Collegians Club Wollongong.
Not to be outdone was Ben Linde's SG Ball side, who ended a 23-year title drought this season, by defeating Manly-Warringah 34-23 in the grand final.
At the presentation, Linde highlighted the play of Jayden Sullivan and Zach Herring by naming them as the team's player of the year and coaches award recipients respectively.
In 2019, Linde's side included a host of Group Seven juniors such as Blake Dowel (Warilla-Lake South), Oscar Fitzpatrick (Warilla-Lake South), Sam Hooper (Warilla-Lake South), Oliver Parrish (Berry-Shoalhaven Heads) and Joshua Coric (Albion Park-Oak Flats).
Finally, Jono Dallas' Harold Matthews side, who were knocked out in the semi-finals, saw their awards go to Ben Lavender (player of the year) and Ed Pierce (coaches award).
During the season, Dallas side contained Stingrays' Toby Peters, Jarvis Polley and Coleby Smith, Milton-Ulladulla's Jye Hendire and Nowra's Jonah Longbottom from Group Seven.