Gleeson and Stanton take out top honours at 2023 Awards Night

Marty Gleeson has taken out the 2023 Woodrow Medal, while Kate Stanton was named the women’s best and fairest at Wednesday’s VAFA Awards Night held at Marvel Stadium.

In an exciting William Buck Premier Men’s best & fairest vote count, the Uni Blues stared with three votes in the final round of the season (finishing on 19 votes) to overtake Dave Mirra (18) and Tom Fisher (16) to claim the highest individual honour in the VAFA. See below to view full VAFA best & fairest votes.

It was a similar story in the William Buck Premier Women’s vote count, with three votes to Kate Stanton in round 18 meaning she overtook her teammate Sarah Betts to claim the newly-named Shona MacInnes Medal with 17 votes.

It was a wonderful night at Marvel Stadium’s Victory Room with almost 350 people in attendance for the 2023 VAFA Awards Night. All the best & fairest winners who were announced on last week’s Awards Show streamed on the VAFA website and RSN received their awards, as did the Sherrin leading goal kickers across all sections.

The 2023 Anytime Fitness Rising Stars were announced, with Tahlia Limburg from Old Yarra Cobras winning the women’s award, and Bailey Payze from Old Peninsula claiming the men’s award.

The Carruthers Coaches of the Year were also announced, with Thomas Ingham from Old Xaverians named as the men’s coach of the year, and Marnee Silver from West Brunswick the women’s coach of the year.

The Australian Venue Co. Volunteer of the Year award was won by Lou Belli from Aquinas. Read more about the Coaches and Volunteer awards here.

2023 Best & Fairest Votes

• Men’s Senior Best and Fairest Votes
• Women’s Best and Fairest Winners
• Under 19s Best and Fairest Winners