Football Stars Honoured at Prestigious NNSW Awards Night
The Northern NSW Football community came together on Friday night to celebrate its brightest talents at the annual Van Egmond Jennings Awards, held at NEX. The event saw Maitland's Braedyn Crowley claim the prestigious Graham Jennings Medal for the NPL Men's player of the year for a remarkable third time, while New Lambton's Tara Andrews earned the top Emily van Egmond Medal for the NPL Women's competition.
Coaching Talent Shines Alongside On-Field Excellence
While Andrews was being recognised for her outstanding playing season, her impact off the field was also making waves. Newcastle Jets coach Stephen Hoyle spoke glowingly about Andrews' recent addition to his A-League Women's staff as a second assistant coach, describing her contribution as "invaluable". Hoyle even admitted to considering trying to convince the twice-capped Matilda to make a playing comeback after witnessing her skills firsthand during training sessions.
Andrews, who announced her A-League retirement two-and-a-half years ago after 131 appearances across 13 seasons with the Jets, remains the club's most prolific goalscorer with 45 goals. At 31, the technically gifted striker continues to dominate in NPLW Northern NSW, amassing an impressive 32 goals across 19 outings for New Lambton this season to also claim the competition's golden boot.
Complete Award Winners List from Celebratory Evening
The awards ceremony recognised excellence across both the men's and women's competitions. In the NPL Men's category, Maitland striker Braedyn Crowley not only claimed the player of the year honour but also finished as the league's leading scorer with 22 goals.
Other notable winners included Maitland's Annabella Thornton, who earned the Debra Carlin Goalkeeper of the Year award for the second successive year, while outgoing coach Joseph Wright was voted coaches' coach. Sophie Nenadovic completed Maitland's strong showing by claiming both the players' player accolade and media award.
In the men's competition, Edgeworth's Peter McGuinness was named NPLM coaches' coach for the second consecutive year, Eagles shot-stopper Ben Conway received the Bill Mahoney award for goalkeeper of the year, and Weston's Burke Fahling was voted players' player. James Cresnar from Broadmeadow was recognised as NPLM young player of the year.
The NPLW young player of the year award resulted in a three-way tie between Eva Donnelly from Adamstown, Milan Hammond from Lake Macquarie City, and Maddy Howard from Olympic.
