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IT was no surprise to anyone when Ben Horn’s name was read out as the Bathurst Bushrangers’ best and fairest winner for 2015 on Saturday night at the club’s George Park home.
The newcomer from Western Australia defeated Paul Long for the first grade honour, having been named as the best and fairest in the entire Central West AFL competition seven days earlier.
An on-baller, he had an impact from the moment he first pulled on the Bushrangers shirt. Despite a laid back exterior personified by his unmissable dreadlocks, Horn proved himself among the toughest midfielders in the competition.
“He’s a good guy,” club president Graeme Grundy said.
“He has fitted in so well since he got here, he looks like he will be in Bathurst for the foreseeable future, so that’s great news for us.
“When we went down to Bateman’s Bay at the start of the season for the competition down there before the CWAFL kicked off. He was a stand-out and we thought then that we’d picked up someone very good.
“It probably makes a fair bit of sense that he won this honour given that he was the best and fairest in the competition as well.”
The award may further ease the pain of defeat for Horn after he and his team-mates were pipped in the last minute of a classic grand final with Orange.
Meanwhile, Mick Phillips claimed the best and fairest award for the reserve grade side who narrowly missed a grand final appearance of their own when they were knocked over by eventual premiers Young in the preliminary final.
For the title-winning under 18s team, Michael Long went one better than his older brother and claimed the top award against a host of worthy rivals.
Women’s captain Kelsey Smith was a star throughout the season as her side went undefeated before smashing Orange in the grand final. She was given the best and fairest honour for her efforts.
In the other awards of note, key defender Jack Vogan was named first grade player of the finals, while Tom Regan and Matt Griffin were named joint winners of the club person of the year award.
“Those two have put a lot of work into the club, they’ve given a lot of their time and have helped out with things like coaching the under 12s, umpiring when needed and were very worthy recipients,” Grundy said.