Moama’s Russell shares O’Dwyer Medal in Murray league night of nights

The presentation night, held on Sunday, September 15, saw awards go to the highest achievers across all football and netball grades.

For the first time since 2017, a Magpie received the seniors’ top honour, co-sharing it with a Tiger. Beasley is the first Tiger to win the O’Dwyer Medal since 2011.

Russell and Beasley, who captain each of their sides, received 22 votes apiece, while runner-up Jack Norman polled 19 votes of his own to narrowly miss out on the honour.

Beasley looked the frontrunner to take home the prize throughout the season, placing in the top three for voting 12 out of 18 times, but only received the maximum votes once in round 10.

Meanwhile, despite not placing as often (nine times), Russell was picked as the best-on-ground four times and picked up two votes in each of the other five rounds.

He appeared in all 18 season games for Moama and kicked 19 goals, while Beasley also played in every season game, kicked four goals and provided a strong defensive presence for his side.

Russell spoke about his love for the Moama Football Club and how proud he was to be able to captain the side through good and bad seasons.

He also voiced his pride in winning the award, even if he felt overwhelmed having received it.

“I got named as a co-captain a few years ago and at the time, the club wasn’t going that well, so to be there through the bad parts to now, the improvement in the last couple of years is something I’m proud of,” he said.

“It’s a good club to be a part of and I can’t do it without all the boys I play with. They let me do my thing and it’s a great place to be.

“There have been some super players named as winners of this medal in the past, so it feels a little bit uncomfortable to be named alongside them, but it’s a great award and I’m proud of it.”

Russell’s Moama was deemed the league’s champion club for an incredible fourth straight year after another strong overall performance in football and netball.

Three Magpies sides made it to the preliminary final stage in football, while in netball, five sides will feature on grand final day.

President Matt Lake said the champion club nod indicated overall success in all grades and honoured all of the hard work of people behind the scenes to make the club run smoothly.

“This is four years in a row for us winning this award and it’s a recognition of all the hard work that happens on and off the field,” he said.

“I know that the football and netball sides all strive for premiership success, but to win the club award means that there is a lot of good stuff going on.

“We’ve got fantastic people who are in charge of football and netball, we have great junior development programs in place for both, and winning this award proves that we are doing a lot of things right.”

Archie Teasdale just missed out on the under-17 best-and-fairest, his 29 votes one short of Cobram’s Alex Krause.

His teammate Max McCarty topped the league’s goal-kicking chart with 62 majors.

In netball, the Magpies were the best goal shooting team in all three junior divisions, while also possessing the best defence in 13-and-under.

A pair of best-and-fairest nods rounded out Moama’s award winners, with Coby Morgan’s 33 votes enough for the 17-and-under netball crown, while Evie Clarke tied on 27 votes with Cobram’s Emily Collins in 13-and-under.

For Tongala, Sienna Johnstone took out the B-grade best-and-fairest, while Tracey Hughes was runner-up in C-grade and Sam Tyler tied for runner-up in reserves football, while Tracey Hughes was the second-highest vote-getter in C-grade.

Echuca United’s Chloe Moyle polled 37 votes in the 15-and-under netball, just short of Mulwala’s Maisee Pell with 40.

Rumbalara’s Jessie Barnes-Hill stood peerless as the clear cut best-and-fairest winner in A-grade netball.

Barnes-Hill received 42 votes, due to her major role in Rumba’s dominance in the 2024 season, which led it to a chance at the flag in Saturday’s grand final against Moama.

The runner-up was Deniliquin Rams coach Rhiannan Maxwell, who tallied 28 votes.

Congupna’s Kyle Mueller took home the Les Mogg Cup for the seniors’ leading goal-kicker, nailing an impressive 95 maximums in the 2024 season.

Nathalia’s Kai Lundberg received the league’s rising star award in 2024, kicking 12 goals in 17 appearances and finding himself on his side’s best list 12 times.

Numurkah’s Jordan O’Dwyer received the Eagle I most valuable player award, as voted by the league’s clubs.