Nullawil’s Matt Quigley capped off a remarkable season by winning the EG Hunt Medal as the Golden Rivers Football Netball League Seniors Best & Fairest on Tuesday night.
Quigley polled a remarkable 28 of a possible 33 votes and polled in every game except for the Maroon’s 93-point round four win over Wandella.
To highlight his impressive season, Quigley also took home the Senior Football Most Valuable Player as well as the Goal of the Year.
In his first season at Nullawil, Quigley was quick to heap praise on his teammates when he spoke to The Guardian following his win.
“I honestly thought the whole team played well all season, every game we played I thought you could hand the three or two votes to anybody in the team,” Quigley said.
“As I was watching on, I was pretty surprised that I was polling so well. “There were a few games where I wasn’t expecting votes; it was a bit humbling to be honest.” The EG Hunt Medal count quickly became a race of three throughout the early rounds, with Quigley, teammate Mitch Farmer and Murrabit’s Marc O’Neill all polling nine votes from the first four games.
From that moment on however, the evening belonged to Quigley, who would go on to record eight best on ground performances, while Farmer would fail to register another vote for the remainder of the season and O’Neill polling only three more.
Moulamein coach Heath Moloney would go on to finish Runner-Up on 14 votes, with Wandella veteran Justin Robinson one vote behind on 13.
O’Neill and Quambatook’s Tobie Cameron then rounded out the top five with 12 and 11 votes respectively.
Nullawil coach Kyle Doran was effusive in his praise for his midfield star and paid particular recognition for Quigley’s preparation each week.
“He was a 35+ possession, goal a week player that won games for us off his own boot regularly,” Doran said.
“It didn’t worry him when clubs tried to tag him, he didn’t change his game, he just stuck to his task – he’s clearly played a lot of high level footy, but probably the thing that stood out to me was his preparation for each game, which was really good for some of our younger guys to see.”
“He’s the most professional player that I’ve played with in terms of how he prepares; I’d ring him on a Monday and he would have already had a couple of recovery sessions and been in to see the physio,” Doran said.
Quigley came to Nullawil through his connection with ruckman Dean Putt, having played with the Southport Sharks in the NEAFL and more recently with St Albans in the WRFL.
“I had the opportunity to try something different pre-covid and come up to Nully and I just thought why not try a different challenge, but then covid hit last year and we didn’t play, so we came up this year instead and had a blast,” Quigley said.
And the news only gets better for Nullawil supporters, with their newest EG Hunt Medallist having a sense of unfinished business ahead of next season.
“When the season was cancelled, I was just shattered; hopefully it’s all good to go for next year and we can get a full season in and have a crack at the flag,” Quigley said.
“There’s definitely a bit of unfinished business there for next year – all the individual awards are great but you play to be a part of a premiership with your mates.
“We haven’t had a chat yet in an official capacity but I am 100% on board for next year,” said Quigley.
“The whole club were just fantastic – even down to how inviting the club were to my family, they honestly just exceeded my expectations.”
“I also have to thank my teammates and Kyle as they all made my job so much easier; and I can’t forget to thank Maddi (Quigley’s girlfriend) for all her help and support as well.”
