LEONGATHA’S Ben Harding has taken out the Gippsland League’s best and fairest award for 2025, the Trood Award and Rodda Medal, in his first season in the region’s top football competition.
However, while he was both surprised and delighted to come out on top in Sunday’s online vote count, he’s no stranger to winning club and even league best and fairest awards.
Back in 2017, as an 18-year-old, he won the West Australian Football League’s Reserves Best and Fairest Award, the Prendergast Medal, having previously won the A Grade Amateurs best and first in Perth.
He played 13 Senior WAFL games with East Fremantle, Peel Thunder and Claremont between 2017 and 2022, before relocating to Melbourne in 2023 where he played with Old Melburnians in the VAFA, winning two club best awards before looking to relocate to the country.
“I was looking to move to a well-run, family-oriented club in the country and after making contact with Leongatha, I had a few conversations with Matt Mansfield (premiership playing coach of the Leongatha Football Club in 1997) and made the move,” said Ben Harding this week.
“I feel like I had a pretty consistent year, and I had it on at home (the count), but I never expected to win it. It was a bit of a shock, for sure.
“Prior to coming to Leongatha, I’d played a lot in the midfield, but I had a few chats with Trent (Leongatha coach Trent McMicking) and we talked about playing on the wing, which I’ve really enjoyed.
“We’ve got a lot of good midfielders and the opportunity to play a little bit more on the outside has been good.
“I’ve never played in a grand final though, so the focus is definitely there, but yeah, it’s an honour and a surprise,” he said.
Harding has been avalanched with congratulations from teammates, and others around the club, as well as sharing the news with family back in Perth and friends.
He polled votes in eight games across the 2025 season, scoring best on ground votes in six including in Round 2 (Leongatha v Sale), Round 6 ( Warragul v Leongatha), Round 13 (Moe v Leongatha), Round 15 (Leongatha v Warragul), Round 16 (Drouin v Leongatha) and finally in Round 18 (Leongatha v Maffra). There were two-vote games against Maffra in Round 9 and Sale in Round 11, for a total of 22 votes, four clear of Bairnsdale’s Will Mitchell and Warragul’s Tom Hobbs.
The final leaders’ board reads as follows: Ben Harding Leongatha 22, Will Mitchell Bairnsdale 18, Tom Hobbs Warragul 18, Anthony Rosato Morwell 17, Myles Poholke 16, Ben Crocker 15, Boyd Bailey Morwell 14, Luis D’Angelo Traralgon 14, Luke Bowman Leongatha 13, Josh Bates Wonthaggi 12, Noah Christy Maffra 12, Tristan Waack 12, Chris Prowse 11, Ryan Sparkes 11, Sam Whibley Warragul 11, Sean Masterson Warragul 11, Isaac Abas Morwell 11 and Alex Carr Maffra 11.
Parrots and Power feature in netball awards
JUST as Wonthaggi and Leongatha went neck and neck, in a nail-biting C Grade Grand Final, going into extra time at Sale on Saturday, before the Power girls got up by one goal, the contest for individual honours was just as hot in the league vote counting on Sunday.
While Leongatha’s Ben Harding claimed the Trood Award and Rodda Medal in the seniors football and Renee Nobelius the corresponding medal in the A Grade netball, Leongatha and Wonthaggi players figured strongly in the other netball grades.
In the C Grade award, two Leongatha players Georgia Maskell and Kate McCarthy shared the award on 22 votes, with Kate claiming best-on-court votes in the last round of the season to catch her teammate at the last moment.
Wonthaggi’s Elise De Santis 21 and Bec Farrell 19 had been right up there throughout with Elise claiming best votes in Round 15 and 16 but neither player collected votes in the last two roounds.
In the B Grade count, some of Courtney Blair’s main competition came from teammate Jess Blair who scored two votes in the last round to close to within one vote of Young, before Courtney clinched the win with three votes in that same game against Moe, winning by three from the Lions’ Elise Demczuk, Young 26, Demczuk 25 and Blair 24.
Other local success came in the Under 13 netball where Bradley Finlay claimed the league’s best award.
In other results, Tye Hourigan of Traralgon was the season’s MVP and Sienna Green of Warragul the MVP in A Grade netball.
