Deakyn Smith and Shree Fairchild have been awarded the best and fairest for the Casey Demons VFL and VFLW sides in 2023.
The awards night was held at Melbourne Art Centre on Thursday 5th October, with players staff, family and friends attending the event.
VFL
Smith has been a solid contributor for the entire season, his football smarts were pivotal in the defence with plenty of intercepts and dash of the half-back line.
Polling votes in every round of the season, with a final total of 122, Smith's contributions each week certainly were noticed by the coaching staff, and deserving of winning the Gardner Clark Medal.
Following Smith were Roan Steele (119 Votes) and Luke Dunstan (111 Votes). Steele and Dunstan had sensational seasons, with Steele polling in every round whilst Dunstan steamed home, only not to poll in the final game due to injury.
Retiring stalwart and superstar James ‘Jimmy’ Munro took out the Trademark Values Award, whilst first-year player Ned Moodie was awarded the Rising Star.
See below for the top 10 for the VFL:
1 - Deakyn Smith: 122 Votes
2 - Roan Steele: 119 Votes
3 - Luke Dunstan: 111 Votes
4 - Andy Moniz-Wakefield: 110 Votes
5 - Bailey Laurie: 108 Votes
6 - George Grey: 105 Votes
7 - James Munro: 98 Votes
8 - Mitch White: 95 Votes
9 - Josh Schache: 93 Votes
10 - Matt Jefferson: 87 Votes
VFLW
Shree Fairchild polled in 10 of the possible 14 rounds with a total of 125 votes. Fairchild, better known to her teammates as Shaq, had a blistering season, seeing her game go to another level.
The usual traits of fierce tackling or feeding the ball out from the bottom of the pack, just got better as the season went on.
Fairchild also notched up her 50th VFLW game, alongside captain Ally Kirkwood and vice-captain Mel Hogg.
Following Fairchild was the Casey Demons' latest AFLW draftee Shannon Dankert on 113 votes. Dankert like Fairchild, polled in 10 of the 14 rounds, not missing a beat from round 5 onwards.
The midfielder was sensational and proved some real driving force behind the team's second half of the season wins. Thus providing Dankert with the opportunity to train with Richmond before being selected for her first game the weekend of Awards Night.
Third for the VFLW was Marla Neal with 71 votes. It’s certainly easy to spot Neal on the field with her rainbow helmet and enthusiastic goal celebrations, she was a fantastic addition to the Demons lineup in 2023.
Round out the award winners saw Tylah Burn take home the Rising Star and Ella Morris won the Trademark and Values Award.
The Casey Demons also paid tribute to outgoing VFLW coach Peter Mercoulia for his contributions to the women's program over the past 4 years.
See below for the top 10 for the VFLW:
1 - Shree Fairchild: 125 Votes
2 - Shannon Dankert: 113 Votes
3 - Marla Neal: 71 Votes
4 - Belinda Woolcock: 64 Votes
5 - Tylah Burn: 58 Votes
6 - Ally Kirkwood: 57 Votes
7 - Niamh Oneill: 42 Votes
8 - Leah Swain: 41 Votes
9 - Megan Fitzsimon: 40 Votes
10 - Ciara Burke: 37 Votes
