Dhara Kerr Award
| Dhara Kerr Award | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | The best and fairest player in the WAFL Women's |
| Country | Australia |
| Presented by | WAFLW |
| First awarded | 2019 |
| Currently held by | Jayme Harken (Claremont) |
| Website | https://www.wafl.com.au  |
The Dhara Kerr Medal is awarded to the best and fairest player in the WAFL Women's (WAFLW) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game. The award was part of the original West Australian Women's Football League competition and was carried over to the WAFLW when it commenced in 2019. Kerr was born in Warrnambool, Victoria in 1971 and died in Perth in 1995, three years after she had relocated to Western Australia and begun playing football for Innaloo.[1]
Criteria
Voting procedure
To determine the best player, the three field umpires (not the goal umpires or boundary umpires) confer after each home-and-away match and award three votes, two votes and one vote to the players they regard as the best, second-best and third-best in the match, respectively. On the awards night, the votes from each match are tallied, and the player or players with the highest number of votes is awarded the medal (subject to eligibility – see below).
The current voting system, which is the same as that of similar awards such as the Australian Football League (AFL)'s Brownlow Medal or the AFL Women's best and fairest, has been used since the award's inception in the WAFLW. If two or more eligible players score the equal highest number of votes, each wins the medal.
Ineligibility
The fairest component of the trophy is achieved by making ineligible any player who is suspended by the WAFL Tribunal during the home-and-away season. An ineligible player cannot win the award, regardless of the number of votes she has received.
A player remains eligible for the award under the following circumstances:
- she is suspended during the finals or pre-season;
- she serves a suspension in the current season which carried on from, or was earned for an offence committed in, the previous season;
- she receives any sort of club-imposed suspension which is not recognised by the VFL Tribunal;
- she is found guilty by the VFL Tribunal of an offence which attracts only a financial penalty.
Umpires cast their votes for each game independent of eligibility criteria of the players; i.e. umpires can cast votes for players who have already been suspended during that season if they perceive them to be amongst the best on the ground.
Winners
| Season | Player | Club | Votes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Hayley Miller | Subiaco | 13 | [2] |
| Danika Pisconeri | Subiaco | |||
| 2020 | Danika Pisconeri (2) | Subiaco | 9 | [3] |
| 2021 | Ella Smith | Claremont | 15 | [4] |
| 2022 | Sharon Wong | East Fremantle | 18 | [5] |
| 2023 | Jayme Harken | Claremont | 24 | [6][7] |
| 2024 | Jayme Harken (2) | Claremont | 27 | [8] |
Records
Winners who also won a premiership in the same season
- Jayme Harken, Claremont (2024)
Winners who also led the league goalkicking in the same season
- None
See also
References
- ^ "Inaugural WAFL Women's awards". WA Football Commission. 5 September 2019. Archived from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- ^ "Subiaco leaders share Dhara Kerr Award spoils". WA Football Commission. 9 September 2019. Archived from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- ^ "Pisconeri goes back-to-back in Dhara Kerr Medal". WA Football Commission. 29 September 2020.
- ^ "Ella Smith claims 2021 Dhara Kerr Medal". WA Football Commission. 14 July 2021.
- ^ "Sharon Wong claims 2022 Dhara Kerr Medal". WA Football Commission. 28 June 2022. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
- ^ "Claremont's Jayme Harken wins Dhara Kerr Medal". WA Football Commission. 11 July 2023. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ Woodcock, Mitchell (10 July 2023). "WAFLW 2023: Claremont star recruit Jayme Harken claims Dhara Kerr Medal after move from Subiaco". thewest.com.au. Seven West Media. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ "Claremont's Jayme Harken wins second Dhara Kerr Medal". WA Football Commission. 1 July 2024. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.