A CLUB best and fairest is an honour bestowed on only the top local footballers, but one footballer has claimed two of the awards in a single year.
Towering Moulamein ruckman Heath Moloney has been one of the Golden Rivers’ most dominant big-men across the league’s senior competition in his four years with the club.
But this year, Moloney’s love for the sport and his club led him to put his hand up to help out the reserves side when they were left without a ruckman.
And help out he did.
Running out for the Swans twice each Saturday, Moloney was rewarded by claiming both the club’s senior and reserve best and fairest awards.
Moloney told The Guardian he thought he’d play a game or two in the twos but it turned out he played all but a single quarter for the season
“This wasn’t something I was ever planning to do,” he said.
“I had a couple of mates who wanted to have a bit of a run-around in the reserves here at Moulamein.
“I thought it’d be a bit of fun to have a kick with them while still doing my job in the senior side.
“Somehow it went from one game to two and then turned into playing both for the rest of the season.”
Moloney, who grew up in Terang in the Western District, said he had displayed his competitive spirit in the ruck for his entire football journey.
“This year I’d often tell myself to take it a bit easier through a game, but once that ball gets thrown up it all changes for me,” he said.
“I’m always trying to win the tap or the ball as best as I can and was able to get my hands on it a little bit in both teams.
“This year we’ve asked a lot of the juniors and they’ve been great helping out in the senior grades.
“I thought that if we were asking them to do it, why couldn’t I do the same.
“Doing it helped me feel young all the way up until the start of the second game but then I’d feel like a bit of an old man.
“I wouldn’t feel too sore afterwards, but that depended on the grounds and conditions.
“There were only a couple of games where I was a bit slow on a Sunday.”
Moloney said he was always willing to help out the club that had looked after him since his arrival in 2021.
“Moulamein is a great club, with some great people,” he said.
“We’re a very small town, and the more people we can get around the club the stronger we will be out on the field.
“Everyone has shown a fair amount of commitment this season and we’ve seen a lot of guys recommit for next year.
“We’ll have a month or so off and then we’ll be straight back into the pre-season to hopefully make a return to finals next year.”
