The 2024 RugbyWA Grand Finals Award Breakfast was held this Wednesday, September 4 at Rendezvous Hotel Perth Scarborough, to honour and recognise the incredible accomplishments of the RugbyWA sporting community.
A celebration of the 2024 rugby season, the Awards Breakfast saw members of the community acknowledged for their contributions to their teams throughout the year.
PG Hampshire Award for Men’s Player of the Year - Matty Lansdown
The PG Hampshire Award is the top honour for Fortescue Premier Grade players, and is voted by matchday referees on a 3-2-1 basis throughout the Fortescue Premier Grade Round matches.
The award is named after Percy George Hampshire, a longtime passionate promoter of rugby. Mr. Hampshire served as an administrator and President of RugbyWA after moving to Western Australia from New South Wales in 1919. He completed six terms as President (1946-51) and 23 years as Patron (1946-68).
The first PG Hampshire Award was presented in 1949.
The PG Hampshire Award is voted by matchday referees on a 3-2-1 basis throughout the Fortescue Premier Grade Round matches.
The winner of RugbyWA’s Men’s 2024 Best and Fairest, the PG Hampshire Award, is Nedlands’ Fly-Half, Matty Lansdown.
In close competition, Lansdown charged ahead with 18 points, three points ahead of Associates’ Cristiano Tizzano on 15, who sat just one point ahead of third place Jacob Whitaker from Wanneroo.
“I’m extremely honoured,” Lansdown said about his win. “I’ve loved just getting back into the game, with a new bunch of boys. They really made this easy, along with the coaches. I was just there enjoying my time.”
A former New Zealand international player, Lansdown’s 2024 season was an incredible show of talent. Across the season, Lansdown started in seventeen of Nedlands’ Fortescue Premier Grade matches, scoring a total of 214 points for the side, including nine tries, 63 conversions, twelve penalty goals and one field goal. His highest scoring game was during Round Thirteen, with three tries and eight conversions, scoring a combined 31-points.
During the Rendezvous Scarborough Challenge Cup, Lansdown saw 47-points scored in Nedlands’ three-game preseason run, with five tries and eleven conversions.
The highlight of Lansdown’s season wasn’t these incredible scores, however. It was joining the Fortescue Premier Grade team at Nedlands for the first time.
“The highlight was moving here. It’s my first year here, I moved here from New Zealand in February,” Lansdown said.
“The highlight was just meeting a great bunch of young men, a great bunch of coaches, I’ve made some friends for life here, and I’m not going to be leaving anytime soon.”
Lansdown has been a beacon of confidence and composure throughout the 2024 Fortescue Premier Grade season. His ability to step up in pressure situations, whether through his precise kicking or finding the try line, demonstrates not just skill but an unshakable belief in his abilities.
It’s this confidence and composure that also saw Lansdown win the Men’s Top Point Scorer for 2024.
“That’s another shock,” he said. “I haven’t touched a kicking tee in a few years now, and to be going in and put the ball on the tee and give it my best crack, I found some form early in the season.”
“I’m extremely grateful for any opportunity I get to wear the Nedlands jersey. I’m just a part of their story, I guess, I just do my bit where I can.”
In all his achievements this season, Lansdown attributes the success to the club he’s stepped into, with the culture at Nedlands playing a role in his ability to succeed.
“I was quite lucky, I came over here with one of my mates, who also played at Nedlands, so it made the transition quite easy.”
“The first time I was down at Nedlands, it was straight away a real welcoming club, all the old boys, all the players, they always come up to you for a yarn.”
“There’s a real family-based environment there, I love it there. I’ll keep going back and putting the boots on.
Lansdown received his award at Wednesday’s RugbyWA Grand Final Breakfast.
Sue Roberts Trophy for Women's Player of the Year - Anneka Stephens (Wanneroo)
The winner of RugbyWA’s 2024 Women’s Player of the Year, the Sue Roberts Trophy, is Anneka Stephens, from the Wanneroo Divaz.
Stephens was humble after receiving the award, citing the achievements of other teams and players in the competition who she saw as deserving of the honour.
“[I’m feeling] Pretty blessed,” she said. “There’s a lot of girls out there that could’ve got this. I’m just lucky, I think.”
I’m just lucky because there’s Kalamunda, that has a lot of good players, there’s Palmyra, who’ve got a lot of good players, and there’s also Wests, with Valuese [Tiakia] and Brooklyn [Teki-Joyce] who have been standouts for them. Could’ve gone to anyone, but I’m grateful.”
In her first year back in rugby since 2021, Anneka had a stellar season in the 2024, consistently proving her prowess on the field. Her ability to not only find the try line but also her ability to provide defensive pressure, was a clear standout throughout the season. Across the 2024 season - even with a stint off with a broken nose - Anneka contributed a combined 53 points for Wanneroo Divaz, scoring seven tries and nine conversions in her five appearances for the club.
In Round Eleven, Stephens scored an incredible 22 points in one singular game – which also happened to be her 100th Cap for Wanneroo in the side's monumental 135-point win over UWA.
“I was thankful enough that Wanneroo had room, and I jumped back in with my old club,” she shared about her return to rugby.
“The highlight was just being back out there, playing footy, I’m normally a 7, but I’ve been playing 10, so I’m happy that the club has let me play there, because I like kicking the ball every now and then."
Stephens has seen an incredible rugby career, spanning local, domestic, and international competitions. She represented the Cook Islands in 2016 at the Rugby World Women’s Sevens Olympic Repechage Tournament, played for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL Women’s Premiership for the 2018 season, and is currently a member of the history-making Western Force SuperW team. This year, she was also the recipient of NRLWA’s Women’s Player of the Year.
“That’s another luck thing, I think!” Stephens said about her dual wins.
“It’s pretty cool to win both. I don’t really look at that stuff, I just do what I can for my team.”
Stephens will appear for Wanneroo Divaz in their Grand Final squad this Saturday, as they come up against Palmyra.
Fortescue N.E.G.U. Award
The Fortescue Never Ever Give Up Award is a celebration of tenacity, commitment and determination. It is awarded to a member of the community, based on submissions made by the clubs, who has proven to consistently show their dedication to the sport, and their willingness to fight through hardship.
The 2024 recipient of the Fortescue N.E.G.U. Award was Cottesloe’s Ethan Cayless.
Cayless has exemplified resilience and determination by returning to rugby after battling cancer.
Starting at Rockingham as an Under 6, he joined Cottesloe in 2017 as a Colt, and quickly advanced to Premier Grade. After a two-year return to Rockingham, he rejoined Cottesloe in 2023, becoming Vice-Captain.
In December 2023, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which had spread. Despite undergoing chemotherapy, he stayed involved with the club, motivating and coaching even when he couldn't fully participate. Cleared of cancer in May, Cayless made a strong comeback in Round 5, resuming his role in Premier Grade with the same toughness and leadership he's known for.
Cayless embodies the spirit of rugby and the core values of the sport: resilience, leadership, and mateship.
Award Winners
PG Hampshire Award - Matty Lansdown (Nedlands)
Sue Roberts Trophy - Anneka Stephens (Wanneroo)
Men’s Top Try Scorer – Rewita Biddle (16 tries; Palmyra)
Women’s Top Try Scorer – Majesty Pomare (12 tries; Wanneroo)
Men’s Top Point Scorer – Matty Lansdown (214 points; Nedlands)
Women’s Top Point Scorer - Valuese Tiakia (78 points; Wests Scarborough)
George Newstead Award – Carlos Kata (Wanneroo)
Coach of the Year – Damien Elton (Wests Scarborough)
Match Official of the Year – Jordan Kaminski
Volunteer of the Year – Sarah Rangiwai (Kalamunda Districts)
Senior Club Champion - Palmyra
Fortescue N.E.G.U. Award – Ethan Cayless (Cottesloe)
Stephen Fink Award – Ellenbrook Vipers
RugbyWA Cup - Associates
Rendezvous Hotel Perth Scarborough Challenge Cup MVP - Malachi Te-Muunu (Kalamunda)
Healthway’s Champions of Rugby; Healthy Club of the Year – Kalamunda Districts
RugbyWA Life Member Inductee - Debbie Marie Carley
Minor Premiership Winners
Under 12 – Kwinana Wolves
Under 13 – Kalamunda Districts
Under 14 Swan – Perth Bayswater
Under 14 Gold - Palmyra
Under 15 - Nedlands
Under 15 Girls – Wanneroo Districts
Under 16 – Joondalup Brothers (Blue)
Under 18 – Cottesloe
Belt Up Colts – Wanneroo Districts
Community Grade – Bunbury Barbarians
Championship Grade - Mandurah Pirates (Blue)
Fourth Grade - Palmyra
Third Grade - Palmyra
Reserve Grade - Palmyra
Fortescue Women’s Premier Grade – Wanneroo Divaz
Fortescue Men’s Premier Grade - Palmyra
