HEYWOOD senior footballer Nyawi Moore has taken out the South West District Football League’s highest individual honour, winning the league best and fairest award for the 2023 season with 25 votes.

The presentation was held on Sunday with clubs watching the count virtually via a video link.

Moore, who recently finished up his first season playing with the Lions after a loss to Coleraine in the preliminary final on Saturday, said he was pleased, albeit surprised, to have come away with the honour.

“It was a little bit of a surprise… I didn’t come in expecting to win,” Moore said.

“I’ve just been enjoying playing football here, (they’re) a good group of people who have been very welcoming.”

His impressive season at a young age was also acknowledged by Moore taking out the under-21 rising star award in the football ranks.

Moore has spent the vast majority of his now decade-long football journey playing for the Woorinen Football Netball Club, which plays in the Central Murray Football Netball League and is situated at the very top end of Victoria just a 15-minute drive from Swan Hill.

He also played a handful of games for Bendigo Pioneers in what is now known as the Coates Talent League (formerly the NAB League.)

Moore and the rest of his Heywood side’s season came to an end on Saturday after a valiant preliminary final effort which saw them go down to Coleraine by 10 points, but he said it’s been a productive 2023 season for the group.

“I think myself and all the boys got a lot out of it… they’re a great club with lots of good people, it was like a second family for me,” he said.

“I think we should be proud of our efforts.”

As for what the future holds for Moore, he said he’s unsure of where he will land for the 2024 season but said in the meantime, he will be making his way up to Darwin to play in the Northern Territory Football League.

“I’m not too sure where I’ll be next season… we’ll have to wait and see when I’m back in Victoria,” he said.

Coleraine’s Cody Deutscher came runner-up in the tally with 18 votes for the season, but he and the rest of his side will have their eyes on an even bigger prize with their grand final bout with Cavendish in just a few days.

In the other awards, Patrick Sinnott of the Maroons took out the league goal-kicking award with 62 goals for the season, besting Jordi Withers of Tyrendarra who had 59.

Cavendish’s Brodhi Carracher took out the Portland Observer/Hamilton Spectator MVP award with 22 votes, ahead of Dartmoor’s Kaleb Bowd who had 15 votes.

Hicks takes out reserves

Dartmoor’s Ben Hicks has taken out the reserves’ best and fairest honours for the season, with the Giants stalwart gearing up for a big grand final matchup on Saturday.

Hicks remarkably won the award despite playing just nine reserves games out of the 16-round season, having also played six games for Dartmoor’s seniors.

Hicks racked up 20 votes across the nine games, for an average of more than two votes per match.

Dartmoor president Ryan Childs said it was great recognition for someone who has been a consistent contributor at the club for a number of years.

“(Hicks) has been at the club for a fair while now… he’s a very handy footballer,” Childs said.

“He’s been a consistent performer for us and that was shown in that he ended up playing six senior games for the year… he’s a very classy footballer and good to have around the club as well.”

There were joint runners-up in the reserves competition, with Ryan Wilks of Cavendish and Clinton Foster of Heywood finishing up on 13 votes.

Alistair Lewis of Coleraine took out the Observer/Spectator award with 22 votes, with Lewis also claiming the reserves’ leading goal-kicker award with a remarkable 110 goals on the season.