Devon Meadows co-captain and midfield gun Joel Hillis has taken out the George Osborne Medal for the second consecutive year in MPFNL Division 2.
Hillis polled 25 votes this year after winning the award in a tie last season with 27 votes.
It has never been about individual accolades for the humble star, and it never will be.
While he was honoured to receive the award, – he was quick to shift the focus to his team.
“(It was) not the main goal, hopefully we can tick that one off this Saturday, but I am also very grateful to be recognised amongst such a talented group of players,” he said.
“I think I’ve had a good consistent year compared to last year, where I had some massive games but then the odd below-par game.”
Hillis leads by example, putting his body on the line and courageously giving his team an inspirational lift each week.
“For a captain, I’m probably not the best group speaker so I look to my co-captain Nick Battle to help me out a fair bit with that, but it’s definitely something I’m slowly getting better at,” he said.
“I would say my leadership is more talking individually with teammates, trying to lead from the front on game days and training at a high standard.”
Hillis went back-to-back in the vote count, but it was a different feeling this year … sitting at the table drinking water, with the premiership cup still up for grabs.
“This year has honestly been amazing, to be running out in the club’s first senior grand final in 28 years, with such a great group of mates and a club that I love,” he said.
“Losing a fair group of senior players from the previous year, it was a bit of an unknown how we would go, but we definitely had belief going into the season that we could be thereabouts.
“We have built an environment where everyone is loving their footy and willing to work hard for each other … to win on Saturday would be a dream come true.”
The Panthers superstar was also named as the captain of the Division 2 Team of the Year, as a starting midfielder for the side, while his dynamic duo in Battle was named on the interchange.
There were also four Pearcedale players to make the team including Cruiz West (forward pocket), Brett Eddy (full forward), Huw Jones and Kaolan Thornton (both interchange).
