After three enthralling grand finals decided the best teams of the 2026 season, the leading individual performances were acknowledged at the Wimmera Hockey Association Awards Presentation function in the evening.
For some recipients, this was not their first acceptance speech, but new names also appeared on several trophies, and all six clubs were represented among the winners.
Open
Yanac Tigers’ Bradley Alexander won his fourth Aitken-Findlay Trophy as the Open Best and Fairest player, with 43 votes, just three ahead of runner-up, Warrack Hoops’ Ben Williamson, who polled 40 votes. The next best were Nhill Rangers’ pair Lachlan Mills and Jason Reichelt, with 28 votes each.
Alexander received his award from Iain Aitken, one of two former Wimmera players the trophy is named after. Aitken, who played for Horsham, and former Yanac and Nhill player Grant Findlay were both influential in forming the Men’s (now Open) competition in the mid-1980s.
Two players scored eleven goals to lead the goalscoring in this division, with Bradley Alexander winning the trophy for the second time and Todd Alexander for a fourth.
The top three in the Open Goalkeeper of the Year were separated by only six points, with Nhill’s Henry Gill polling 58 votes to win the award for the second time, two ahead of Horsham Hurricanes’ Lars Simmons, and Kaniva Cobras’ Thomas Ady just two points back. Yanac’s Alister Dickinson came next with 30 votes.
Women
Yanac’s Erin Alexander won the Noreen Wheaton award for the Women’s Best and Fairest player in the Women’s competition for a record-extending ninth time. Although she finished 28 votes ahead of the field with 75, the next four were only separated by ten points. Kaniva’s Imogen Dickinson came runner-up with 47 votes, leading a pack of handy players, including former winners Dimboola’s Jennie Hauselberger and Brooke McMaster and last year’s Under 16 winner Warracknabeal’s Ellie Williamson.
Pictured above - Women’s Best and Fairest, Erin Alexander (Yanac) and Runner-up, Imogen Dickinson (Kaniva).
Erin Alexander was also the division’s leading goal scorer with 21, one ahead of Jennie Hauselberger.
In a busy season playing in goal for both the Revengers in the Under 16 competition and Warracknabeal in the Women’s, Madisson Bentley was named Women’s Goalkeeper of the
Year with two more votes than Nhill Thunderbirds’ Erin Wallace. Madisson also came third in the equivalent award in the Under 16s, an award she had previously won in 2024.
Under 16
Some new names appeared on the Under 16 awards, with Yanac Warriors’ Annabella Zanker winning the Girls’ Best and Fairest ahead of Kaniva Raiders’ Delta Stimson, and Kaniva’s Jonas Beattie receiving the Boys’ award, with the Dimboola Kangaroos’ Roary Hadzig as runner-up.
Daniel Bee (Nhill) and Henry Zanker (Yanac) were joint leading Boys’ goalscorers, each scoring 28 goals, while Delta Stimson (Kaniva) received the Girls’ award with five goals.
In her last season in the Under 16s, Dimboola’s Rebecca-May Williams received Junior Goalkeeper of the Year for the second time, and the Annie Anderson Memorial Goalkeeper Encouragement Award went to Nile Krelle of the Nhill Leopards.
Other awards presented included the Under 16 Encouragement Awards, which acknowledge those who contribute to the Association beyond just playing for their home teams; these went to Olive Curtis (Kaniva) and Barrett Clark (Nhill), while the Senior Recognition Award went to Yanac’s Shaun Alexander.
Officials also played a key role in the Association’s operations, and the Umpires’ Encouragement Award went to Logan Krelle (Kaniva), while Warracknabeal’s Alice Flannery was acknowledged for her contribution as a tech bench official, as the only one to fill this role in all fifteen rounds.
Pictured above - Winners of the trophies in the Open competition - Joint highest goal scorer, Todd Alexander (Yanac Tigers), Goalkeeper of the Year, Henry Gill (Nhill Rangers), Best and Fairest and Joint highest goal scorer, Brad Alexander (Yanac Tigers), and runner-up Best and Fairest, Ben Williamson (Warrack Hoops).
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