The Proten Cup Presentation Night was held on Saturday at the Griffith Leagues Club.

Barellan’s Noah Forbutt was awarded the Player of the Year award, coming first in the 3-2-1 votes conducted every week in the regular season. It is the second best and fairest award Forbutt has won, first winning in his debut year in 2021.

Barellan has now won four player of the year awards, with Ben Evans in 2018 and Oswald Herrmann in 2024 winning as well.

In the women’s competition Tilly Heath from Rankins Springs took out the Player of the Year, capping a remarkable rise after debuting last year and winning the Rookie of the Year award.

Other award winners include Noah Forbutt and Adam Thomas as Coaches of the Year for leading Barellan to the premiership, and Jed Webster as women’s coach of the year for his first year in charge of Hillston’s girls team.

Full Winners:

Women’s

Player of the Year – Tilly Heath (Rankins Springs)

Coach of the Year – Jed Webster (Hillston)

Best Back – Shailyn Williams (Ivanhoe)

Best Forward – Brooke Streat (Rankins Springs)

Most Improved – Falesiu Chauncy-Moli (Ivanhoe)

Rookies of the Year – Melanie Hedditch (Rankins Springs), Brenda McKinnon (Goolgowi) & Aimee McGuckin (Ivanhoe)

Top Tryscorers – Sophia Kelsey (Barellan) & Sophie Taylor (Barellan)

Top Pointscorer – Monique Higgins (Barellan)

Team of the Year – Tilly Heath, Shailyn Williams, Brooke Streat, Falesiu Chauncy-Moli, Sophie Taylor (Barellan), Melissa Nilsen (Hillston), Nicola Blight-McKeon (Hillston), Amber Clarke-Baldock (Hillston), McKenzie Dowell (Goolgowi), Aimee McGuckin (Ivanhoe)

Men’s

Player of the Year – Noah Forbutt (Barellan)

Coaches of the Year – Noah Forbutt & Adam Thomas (Barellan)

Best Back – Billy Vearing (Rankins Springs)

Best Forward – Drew Hinkley (Deniliquin)

Most Improved – Joshua Johnston (Rankins Springs) & Robert Clark Jr (Ivanhoe)

Rookie of the Year – Ratu Ketewai (Hillston)

Top Tryscorer – Noah Forbutt (Barellan)

Top Pointscorer – Noah Forbutt (Barellan)

Team of the Year –

Fullback – Henry Taylor (Goolgowi)

Wing – Tale Delai (Hillston)

Centre – Billy Vearing (Rankins Springs)

Five-eighth – Brayden Davis (Hillston)

Halfback – Damian Walker (Rankins Springs)

Prop – Drew Hinkley (Deniliquin)

Hooker – Noah Forbutt (Barellan)

Second Row – Thomas Lyons (Narrandera)

Lock – Malek Afuamua-Lyons (Narrandera)

Outside of the players, female referee Savera Tunavasa was awarded the Match Official of the Year, and Deniliquin President Kurt Longford was awarded the Club Official of the Year for his role in bringing back the Deniliquin Blue Heelers to rugby league.

GEOFF HALE AND JAMIE PARSONS INDUCTED AS LIFE MEMBERS

For the first time since it’s foundation, the Proten Cup Committee decided to award life memberships to two of its volunteers who have exemplified the competition’s community spirit. Goolgowi’s Geoff Hale and Rankins Springs’ Jamie Parsons were the two who began the idea of reforming Group 17 in late 2017. Geoff first talked about the idea at Yenda’s Mad Monday, where Jamie and Geoff’s son Billy played for the Blueheelers. Geoff continued with the idea and sent emails to Rankins Springs, Hillston and Barellan about forming a small pub comp to have footy back in our communities.

With a few meetings later the idea was brought to the CRL and a later meeting with David Skinner and Group 20 at Goolgowi let to the Western Riverina Community Cup forming, with Proten soon coming on board as major sponsor.

Jamie became secretary of the first committee, with Geoff acting as treasurer. Over the next months they were the major drivers in setting up the competition, including the incorporation, the draw, the bank account, the jerseys, the social media and promotion, the safeplay rules and the relationship with Group 20. Their two teams met in the Grand Final that year, with Geoff Goolgowi’s president and Jamie as Rankins Springs’ vice-president and captain/co-coach on the field. Jamie continued in the secretary role until 2022, also serving as treasurer in 2021 & 2022. Geoff stayed on the board until 2020 and then returned in 2022, taking over Jamie’s secretary/treasurer role for the 2023 season. Both still serve on the board today, with Geoff a director and Jamie publicity officer. Geoff and Jamie have both served seven years on the Proten Cup board, with Geoff also Treasurer for three years and Secretary for one year, and Jamie four years as Secretary, three years as Treasurer and the past two years as Publicity Officer. Both have won Carrathool Shire’s Citizen of the Year largely for their roles in the football community, Geoff in 2018 and Jamie in 2023. Geoff has also been recognised as NSWRL’s Volunteer of the Year for the Riverina Region in 2022.

Geoff was inducted as the Western Riverina Community Cup’s first life member, and Jamie was inducted as it’s second on Saturday night. Unfortunately Geoff couldn’t be there due to prior commitments, with Jamie speaking about the competition’s foundation and all the good it has brought to the communities involved over the past eight years.

Images: ProTen Community Cup