Lauren Ahrens has been crowned the 2021 AFLW Club Champion after a stellar season in defence for the SUNS.
Ahrens led the vote-count from Round 2 onwards and wouldn’t relinquish the lead to finish on 238 votes.
The 29-year-old was one of the club’s most consistent players this season and finished ranked third in the league in marks and equal-third in intercept possessions.
2021 new recruit Alison Drennan finished five votes shy of Ahrens in second place and challenged the defender for the crown, with the two unable to be split after Round 4.
Young defender Daisy D’Arcy capped off a stunning debut season to finish in third place on 201 votes.
D’Arcy’s honours didn’t end there, with the 18-year-old also taking out the Players’ Player award which is voted on after each game by the playing group then allocated on a 3, 2, 1 basis.
Inspiring defender Emma Pittman won the Coach’s Award after making her comeback from an ACL injury to play the final two matches of the season.
Coming in for her debut season at the age of 29, Bess Keaney was awarded Most Professional which was decided based on the way a player approaches all aspects of the program and voted on by club staff.
Also finishing in the top 10 for the Club Champion were first-year breakout players Lucy Single (fourth) and Maddison Levi (10th).
They were joined by an exciting young core of players who will continue to drive the club forward including Serene Watson (sixth), Kalinda Howarth (eighth) and Lauren Bella (ninth), with experienced players Kate Surman (fifth) and Bess Keaney (seventh) rounding out the top 10.
All the Winners:
Club Champion: Lauren Ahrens
Club Champion Runner-Up: Alison Drennan
Club Champion Third Place: Daisy D’Arcy
Players’ Player: Daisy D’Arcy
Coach’s Award: Emma Pittman
Most Professional: Bess Keaney
Club Champion Top 10:
1st: Lauren Ahrens (238)
2nd: Alison Drennan (233)
3rd: Daisy D’Arcy (201)
4th: Lucy Single (188)
5th: Kate Surman (181)
6th: Serene Watson (177)
7th: Bess Keaney (167)
8th: Kalinda Howarth (166)
9th: Lauren Bella (163)
10th: Maddison Levi (162)
All players are given votes by the coaching staff (Head Coach and three assistants) on a scale of one to 10 for each match. As such, the maximum a player can poll in each game is 40 votes.
