Territory’s rising talent recognised at Thunder Club Champs

31 August 2018 08:22pm

Three of the NT Thunder Academy and School Sport winners

Eight of the Territory’s most talented footy youngsters have been recognised for their performances and awarded respectively, at the 2018 NT Thunder Club Champions presentation night.

Alice Springs youngster Deacon Braun cleaned up in the NT Thunder Men’s Academy Under 16s division. Currently attending boarding school in Adelaide, Braun was recognised by both the coaches and his fellow players by being awarded the Under 16 McCasker Award and McAdam Medal.

During the national academy series, Braun became known for a great show of aggression and his ability to fight in a contested ball situation.

Going up one age-group, Under 18 NT Thunder Men’s Academy captain Rodney Baird was voted in by his teammates for the McCasker Award, while Stephen Cumming picked up the McLean Medal for his consistent showing while representing the NT.

On the women’s academy side, promising talent and ThunderW rookie Tabitha May was recognised by the coaches as the Under 18 NT Thunder Women’s Most Valuable Player, while Tayla Hart-Aluni received the players' votes and was the McCasker Award recipient.

J’Noemi Anderson earned herself All Australian selection at the Under 15 School Sports Carnival back in July, and this evening she was awarded the School Sport NT Under 15 Girls Medal.

Participating in the same carnival and showing great promise on the boys’ side, Riley Stone was the winner of the School Sport NT Under 15 Long Medal.

In only the second year of the AFLNT inclusion program, Byron Mayo was justly recognised for the contribution he made to the success of the NT team when they travelled to Tasmania in June and knocked over more experienced and imposing state teams.

Find the full list of awards and recipents from the night here (link to NT Thunder website article)