Lilydale star and assistant coach Thane Bardenhagen was crowned the NTFA division one best and fairest at the annual awards on Saturday night.
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Having previously won the W.C. Curran Medal for the league's best in 2016 with Corey Bosworth, the dominant mid-forward added another award to his resume.
One of only two division one players to play in the 2019 representative team, Bardenhagen is a three-time premiership Demon, having skippered the 2017 side before handing the reins to Robert Blair in 2018.
Despite battling injury throughout the season, the two-time winner polled 21 votes as his battle with Old Scotch's John McKenzie (20) went into the final round.
McKenzie's teammate Charlie Eastoe polled 19 as Ethan Goldfinch (17) and Patrick Rodman and Sonny Whiting (12) rounded out the top five.
While confirmed at the end of the season, Lilydale forward Whiting was named the league's leading goal-kicker, booting 67 goals to better the efforts of St Pats' Jake King (65), Bridport's Matthew Taylor (48), Old Scotch's Eastoe (42) and teammate Bardenhagen (37).
Lilydale and Old Scotch led the way in the coach-selected team of the year, featuring five players each, with four East Coast and OLs players named as well as three St Pats and one from Bridport, while Colin Lockhart was named coach having won the flag.
TEAM OF THE DECADE
In addition to the regular formalities, the NTFA also named a team of the decade for its second division from 2011-2020.
Named division two for the first eight years of the decade before changing to division one following the introduction of the premier division in 2019, the league has seen some strong players come through it.
Twelve current division one players were named in the side, while five - Hilder, Stoltenberg, Chugg, Child and Bardenhagen - were selected in both teams announced on the night.
Old Scotch's Kim Curtis was named as the side's coach, with John Thompson selected as umpire in the team that would be skippered by Old Scotch veteran Tom Pedley.
Despite only joining the NTFA in 2017, East Coast were represented by six players in the side, as well as four-time decade premiers Old Scotch.
RESERVES AWARDS
Old Launcestonians' Aaron Hine took out the reserves' best and fairest award, while East Coast's Ned Hyland kicked the most goals.
Hine polled 21 votes, seeing off the challenges of John Bayles (13), Cameron Bailey (11) and Lilydale pair Tyrell Ponting and Kade Dwyer (both 10) to take out the award.
Former Swans senior coach Hyland took out the goal-kicking award in his first year not at the helm of East Coast, with team of the decade member Ellis trailing on 37 and Andrew Scolyer, Dylan Bayles and Jeremy Jackson all kicking 34.
- The NTFA women's award night will be on October 2, while the premier division night of nights is the following Saturday on October 9.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
