A very happy Joel Pearson with awards from the Blues presentation night Joel is pictured with his mother Lee Loiterton who is the Blues secretary.
Joel Pearson who is one of Cootamundra’s most talented sportsman has cleaned up at the Coota Blues presentation night held on Saturday night.
The awards night held at the Clarke Oval club rooms which saw 70 members and guests celebrate after winning the AFL Community Division Two Premiership defeating Murrumbateman in the grand final by seven pts. Final score 8-5-53 to 6-10-46.
The grand final was played at EPC Solar Park in Woden on Saturday 22 August.
At the presentation night, Joel Pearson took out three awards.
While Joel was the winner of the League’s goal kicker at AFL Canberra awards last Wednesday night, on Saturday night saw Joel take out the Nieuwendyk award for the most votes in the league best & fairest. This time was Joel’s fourth time winner of this award having won the award in 2016, 2023 and 2024.
However, it was the Blues best and Fairest vote count where Joel also shone winning the award for a second time. Joel was first B & F was in 2023.
In a keen fought vote count, Joel edged out Shaun Regan by just 13 votes with Doug Arthur third place.
During the night, Joel was also presented with a pewter mug for playing 250 matches for the Blues. In doing so, he is only the tenth person to reach this milestone.
The Blues top ten in the Best & Fairest:
[1] 77- Joel Pearson
[2] 64- Shaun Regan
[3] 58- Doug Arthur
[4] 54- Jay Pennay
[5] 47- Jacob Tiernan
[6] 41 – Dan Conway – [A great effort considering Dan missed five matches through injury]
[7] 36- James Warwick
[8] 28- Flynn Sierant
[9] 23- Angus Malmo
[10] 22- Ben Rose
Complete list of award winners:
BEST and Fairest: Joel Pearson
Runner Up Best & Fairest 2026: Shaun Regan
Most Courageous 2026: Flynn Sierant
Most Consistent Player 2026: Douglas Arthur
Leading Goalkicker 2026: Joel Pearson – 58 goals
League League Goalkicker : Joel Pearson
Most Improved Player 2026: Tyler Hodges
Coaches Award 2026: Ethan Birks
Rookie of the Year 2026: Jordan McMaster
Captains Award 2026: Angus Malmo
Player’s Player 2026: Ben Rose
President’s Award 2026: Mark Birks
Nieuwendyk Award-Most League Votes: Joel Pearson
Clubperson of Year 2026: Angus Malmo
Junior Clubperson 2026: Georgia Armstrong
CAFC COACH 2026: Matthew Knagge
Scott Roberts Memorial Award 2026: James Warwick
Best in Finals Series 2026: Shaun Regan
250 Games: Joel Pearson
35 years of continuous service: Pat Kerin
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.