Pisconeri goes back-to-back in Dhara Kerr Medal

IT was a Subiaco double act at the top of the Dhara Kerr Medal leaderboard with a fast starter and strong finisher with Lions star Danika Pisconeri again claiming the WAFLW's fairest and best award just ahead of teammate Abbey Dowrick.

Subiaco put together a second straight tremendous season in the WAFLW competition claiming the minor premiership and then reaching their first Grand Final, and that was recognised in the voting of the Dhara Kerr Medal at the Crown Ballroom on Tuesday night.

In the end, it was Pisconeri who claimed the Dhara Kerr Medal for 2020 to make it back to back triumphs as the fairest and best player in the WAFLW competition after she shared the award with teammate and captain Hayley Miller in 2019.

Now this year the West Coast Eagles ruck who played three AFLW games in 2020 is an outright winner finishing with seven votes to claim the medal two votes ahead of teammate Dowrick.

To already twice be named the league's fairest and best player in two years of the WAFLW competition says a lot about the 18 months of football that Pisconeri has produced in a Subiaco team that has also claimed back-to-back minor premierships.

Pisconeri made a flying start in the vote with three best on ground performances in the opening three games. She might not have polled another vote, but those nine votes proved to be enough.

It has been a significant and successful period for Pisconeri who had been also juggling her state league basketball career racking up 126 games at several clubs including winning a championship at the Perry Lakes Hawks in 2018 alongside East Fremantle star Gabby O'Sullivan.

Since focusing on football, she is now a dual Dhara Kerr Medallist, has played in the AFLW and whether it's a shared award with a teammate or winning on her, she's equally as proud and humbled.

"It means a bit of shock to be honest, but it is a great honour especially as you can see by the level of competition this year," Pisconeri said. 

"You look at all the young girls that are coming through that are phenomenal talents. I'm very humbled and I'm glad I actually got off to a great start and I couldn’t quite maintain that, but that's OK. I'm really happy.

"It's very different this year and I don’t mind public speaking so that part of it was OK, but I just genuinely didn’t expect it. Last year I worked my butt off and I was trying to get that aspirations of playing AFLW, and I didn’t expect to win but I knew I had worked really hard. 

"Whereas this year I wasn’t really sure of what was to come. It was a very different feeling to last year and I didn’t care about sharing with Hayley, I thought that was actually a nice thing. It is nice to get it by yourself but either way it's still a great honour."

Her Subiaco teammate Dowrick claimed five votes in the last four rounds to end up finishing second with seven votes for the count.

Peel Thunder claimed the WAFLW premiership in stunning fashion coming from last in 2019 to secure the triumph and Chloe Wrigley backed up her brilliant Grand Final game by claiming six votes in the Dhara Kerr Medal vote count.

Claremont's Ella Smith also claimed six votes, Swan Districts' Jessica Cox six and Subiaco vice-captain Tiah Haynes five.

South Fremantle was playing its first season in the WAFLW competition and their best performer in the vote count was Lauren Vecchio with four votes.

2020 DHARA KERR MEDAL LEADERBOARD
9 – Danika Pisconeri (Subiaco)
7 – Abbey Dowrick (Subiaco)
6 – Chloe Wrigley (Peel Thunder) 
6 – Ella    Smith (Claremont)
6 – Jessica Cox    (Swan Districts)
5 – Tiah Haynes (Subiaco)
4 – Kimberley Bowey (East Fremantle)
4 – Kira    Phillips    (Peel Thunder)
4 – Abby Barnden (Peel Thunder) 
4 – Emily McGuire (Swan Districts)
4 – Gabrielle O'Sullivan    (East Fremantle)
4 – Hayley Miller (Subiaco)
4 – Lara Filocamo (Subiaco)
4 – Mikayla Hyde (Swan Districts)
4 – Lauren Vecchio (South Fremantle)