Corowa-Rutherglen coach Georgie Bruce has seen Sophie Hanrahan grow as a player and leader on the court since she arrived at the club as a teenager, but Bruce admits the defender has always been a star.
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Hanrahan now has another award to add to her trophy cabinet after being crowned the Roos' A-grade best and fairest winner at the club's presentation night on Friday.
It's the third time she's received the honour, having also been a runner-up on two occasions.
The back-to-back Toni Wilson Medallist had another impressive season, helping the Roos finish the shortened Ovens and Murray competition on top of the ladder.
Hanrahan also displayed her leadership skills as the club's C-grade coach this year.
Bruce praised the talented 23-year-old for her efforts.
"We all think of her as being old because she's been playing for so long now, but we forget that she started when she was so young," Bruce said.
"She came from Coreen when she was about 16 and she was a superstar out there."
Hanrahan edged out runner-up Grace Senior, who scored 533 goals for the Roos this season.
Senior averaged 41 goals per game, with her consistency seeing her shoot at 76 per cent accuracy.
"It was fantastic for both of them to be acknowledged for a great year," Bruce said.
Midcourt player Liv Sinclair took out the A-grade coaches award, while Emily Laracy was crowned most consistent,
"She (Laracy) has come through the ranks and has just become better and better every year," Bruce said.
While Hanrahan has been a co-captain for Corowa-Rutherglen in the past, this year the role was shared among all of the A-grade players.
Bruce said it enabled the team to help develop their netball and life skills.
"Whilst we didn't have a consistent captain in the A-grade, we had a revolving captain, which was something that we had never done before," she said.
"We always talk about blooding players at a senior level, or in a grade that's higher than their playing group, but we never really do the same with players acquiring leadership skills.
"Everyone has leadership qualities, they just express them differently, and we thought that was a good way of giving them that opportunity."
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Zali Spencer claimed the club's B-grade best and fairest award, with Lily Sharp named runner-up.
Bec Kuschert is now a two-time winner after claiming the award for C-grade, edging out Lily Hanrahan.
Grace Kennedy was rewarded in the under-17s, with Steph Sutcliffe finishing second in the tally.
After a tumultuous season, Bruce said it was pleasing to see players recognised for the time and effort they had put in, despite no finals being played.
Bruce said the side has been able to find some silver linings.
"The time away and the break between the season ending and the presentation has given me time to see that there's a lot of positives to come out of it," she said.
"It's given us the time to look back and see that we've been consistent for three years, and we've been aiming for sustainability."
The Roos start their senior netball pre-season training on November 9, with the first of the under-17 trials to be held on November 4.
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