Less than a week after arguably the greatest grand final ever, the stars of the Steeline Bendigo Bank Limestone Coast Football Association will put rivalries aside to dress up for the presentations night.
The special event will take place at the Commondore tonight (Friday) from 6pm where the best and fairests will be crowned after the biggest home and away season to date.
Everyone will still be likely talking about the grand finals weekend where almost every game went down to the wire.
Despite the ice-cold conditions the on pitch action was red-hot with Blue Lake edging out Apollo in a hard-fought Senior Women’s grand final.
Then everyone’s heart rate went through the roof during a classic Senior Men’s decider where Centrals and International went deep into extra time and still could not be split forcing the flag to be decided on penalties.
For the second time in a row the Lions emerged victorious and some may not have finished the celebrations by the time presentations roll around.
But all eyes will now be on who will be crowned as the best and fairest winners.
Last year the department of youth had the power with the men’s and women’s best and fairests all aged 21 or under.
One man who will not be able to defend his crown is Connor Prior, who, since receiving the top gong for International in 2021, has moved to Adelaide for sporting and studying commitments.
But the joint winner Say Wah has remained in the Blue Lake city and continued scoring goals for Apollo this year alongside Shar Nay Than.
The boys in orange cannot be discounted after their stunning premiership with Sam Shoemark, Cam Saint, Jake Blackwell and Lewis March big contributors.
The team that finished second best are never short of big names with star striker Matthew Bueti a near certainty to score another golden boot award having kicked 50 goals in 2022.
The likes of Sam Bueti, Christian Cella and Tyler Michielan also had their moments.
Naracoorte sneaked into finals and made an impression thanks to the impressive efforts of Ciaran Shouksmith and Brad Pilven at the opposite ends of the pitch.
Blue Lake and Millicent fell short of finals, but the likes of Lay Bae Htoo, Tristan Guess and Isaac Veron never stopped fighting.
The player the Senior Women will be trying to stop from going back to back is Blue Lake’s Lauren Frost, who is fresh from guiding her team to the ultimate glory.
Frost was yet again an extremely consistent contributor and will be near the top alongside teammates Chelsea Frost, Aimee Brooks and Jasmine White.
Apollo enjoyed the biggest rise as a group this year and this improvement was fronted by Bec Peters, Zoe Brooksby and Daylia Daylia.
For much of the season International was the team to beat with Ella Doody leading the scoring charge with April Hockey and Tess Andrews alongside.
The spirited efforts of Darcey Allen, Emma Lang and Lana Shepherd were rewarded with a finals appearance and they could all feature, especially with the former claiming the runners-up best and fairest award 12 months ago.
Although Gambier Centrals slipped down the pecking order, some players such as Wanita Robinson, Rose Irakoze and Olivia Gwilym impressed as some of the others battled to play all the games.
It was another tough season for Naracoorte, but Hayley Fulton helped kick half of her team’s goals and may be able to steal the odd vote or two.
The presentations will kick off from 6pm and conclude an eventful 2022 season.
