Reds and Wallaby scrumhalf Will Genia has won his first prestigious Pilecki Medal as “the players’ player” of the Reds’ 2010 season and was also voted the fans’ favourite.
The Pilecki Medal and People’s Choice Awards were announced in front of a capacity audience of 600 guests at the black tie Reds Gala at the Sofitel Hotel in Brisbane.
Genia, 22, took over as captain after James Horwill was injured in Round 2 and accumulated 209 Pilecki medal votes during the Super 14 season to finish 32 votes clear of Quade Cooper (177), with hooker Saia Faingaa and prop Ben Daley tied on 141. All will be part of the Reds’ campaign in 2011.
Both Faingaa and Daley have since gone on to win their first Wallaby caps, while flyhalf Cooper has cemented his place as the Wallaby No 10. Genia is currently sidelined with a broken thumb.
Voted by the players on a 3-2-1 basis after each game, the medal is named after legendary prop Stan Pilecki who played 122 times in the Queensland front row and who was on hand to present the award to Genia tonight.
The People’s Choice Award, new to the Reds this year, was decided on the votes of fans and was presented by Andrew Fox of the Sunshine Coast, who won the honour of handing over the award by taking part in the online voting process.
Genia was again a clear winner, garnering 338 votes, ahead of Cooper’s 231, followed by Saia Faingaa (43), Scott Higginbotham (41) and Anthony Faingaa (33).
Cooper, recently voted the Australian player of the 2010 Super 14 tournament, collected the highest number of Pilecki Medal votes in five of his 13 games (v Crusaders, Force, Sharks, Lions and Highlanders), compared to Genia’s three majors (Waratahs, Blues and Hurricanes).
However Genia led the running tally for all bar one round after polling votes in every one of the 13 games he played.
“Will took on the additional responsibility of the on-field captaincy when James was injured and led by example for the whole season. He didn’t miss a beat,” said Reds’ Head Coach Ewen McKenzie.
“The consistency of his performances is what we need to achieve as a team and the group we have assembled for 2011 is capable of that,” McKenzie said.
In other presentations, Daley won the Spirit of the Reds award; Cooper collected the Try of the Season for the ensemble effort he started and finished against the Crusaders in Round 2, a five pointer which also won the Super 14 Australian Try of the Year award; and QAS Reds Academy graduate Jake Schatz won Reds’ Rookie of the Year.
Nineteen year old Schatz made his debut at blindside flanker against the Crusaders in Round 2 and also played openside flanker and No 8 in his five starting appearances from a total of nine games during the season.
He recently captained the Australian Under 20 team to the final of the iRB Junior World Championship in Argentina.
“It was a very impressive debut year for Jake. He had a few challenges thrown at him, being asked to play in all three backrow positions during the season. But as with Will, nothing fazed him, he just went out there and did the job.
“The Spirit of the Reds award (won by Daley) recognises the player who demonstrates consistently the types of behaviours and attributes that are the hallmarks of the team. He should epitomise the behaviours and actions we expect of every member of the Reds,” McKenzie said.
“This award was pretty hotly contested, but Ben was selected because of his consistent contribution to the team culture on and off the field. By maintaining the standard week in, week out, Ben epitomised what it should mean to be a Reds player in the professional era.”
The Gala night, which had been sold out for weeks, also featured a tribute to hooker Sean Hardman, who retired this year as the Reds’ most capped player on 148.
Genia is the 14th Queensland player to win the Pilecki Medal since it was introduced in 1992. Fullback Chris Latham has won the honour four times, John Eales, Jason Little and David Croft twice.
2010 Votes:
Will Genia 209 (13 games)
Quade Cooper 177 (13)
Ben Daley 141 (12)
Saia Faingaa 141 (12)
Daniel Braid 134 (10)
Anthony Faingaa 121 (12)
Scott Higginbotham 104 (12)
Digby Ioane 101 (12)
Laurie Weeks 81 (10)
Van Humphries 67 (10)
Robert Simmons 49 (10)
Rod Davies 48 (8)
Peter Hynes 48 (12)
Greg Holmes 33 (11)
Adam Byrnes 30 (8)
Will Chambers 30 (12)
Leroy Houston 28 (12)
Sean Hardman 24 (11)
James Horwill 23 (2)
Poutasi Luafutu 20 (1)
Jake Schatz 19 (9)
Radike Samo 18 (2)
James Slipper 12 (3)
Ezra Taylor 7 (7)
Morgan Turinui 6 (5)
Ben Lucas 5 (6)
Eddie Quirk 5 (1)
Jack Kennedy 4 (3)
Ben Tapuai 1 (3)
Previous Pilecki Medal winners:
2009 Digby Ioane
2008 David Croft
2007 David Croft
2006 Rodney Blake
2005 Nathan Sharpe
2004 Chris Latham
2003 Julian Huxley
2002 Chris Latham
2001 Toutai Kefu
2000 Chris Latham
1999 Chris Latham/Daniel Herbert
1998 John Eales
1997 John Eales
1996 Jason Little
1995 Jason Little
1994 Matthew Pini
1993 Rod McCall
1992 Peter Slattery