FOOTBALL
NORTH GIPPSLAND
By TOM HAYES
AGE is certainly no barrier for Churchill’s Brendan Holt.
The 45-year-old claimed Churchill’s senior best-and-fairest at the Cougars’ presentation night last month, the first of his career.
He edged out 2023 best and fairest Bailey Flanigan, who was awarded as the runner-up.
It is no secret that Churchill struggled with injuries this past season, and through all that rubble, Holt emerged as one of the Cougars’ most important players throughout the year.
Incredibly, Holt was in the Cougars’ best 11 out of the 13 games he played, missing out in two games where he still managed to get on the scoreboard.
Speaking of hitting the scoreboard, Holt managed to do so in every game, bar one, perhaps the most surprising fixture – goalless against Gormandale in Round 2 – Churchill won by 147 points.
Holt realised he was the Churchill best and fairest during the club’s vote count on the weekend of the North Gippsland Grand Final.
The best and fairest wasn’t all that Holt went home with during Churchill’s presentation night last month, as his night continued to peak.
He was also awarded with the seniors most valuable player, as voted by his fellow teammates, and just when he thought it was all over, there was one more surprise in store.
To cap off the night which had already seen numerous accolades and awards under the spotlight, Holt was once again under it when he was inducted as a Churchill Football-Netball Club Life Member.
Holt has donned the blue and gold since joining as Tim Darby’s senior assistant coach in 2011, arriving from Yinnar. In the 14 seasons that he has played at Gaskin Park, he’s tallied 183 games and kicked 419 goals, all of which at the senior level.
His goal-to-game ratio means he averages nearly 2.3 goals per game, over a 14-year span. His 2024 season was the second-best of his Churchill career in front of goal, but he had his best goals-to-game ratio of 3.7, coming off the back of his worst goals-to-game ratio in 2023 of 1.5, still an impressive feat.
Also earlier that night, two more life members were announced, those being Chris ‘Squid’ Williams and Jordan Fenech, who also both brought up their 200 senior game milestones during the season. The three entrants joined a group of now 87 life members, spanning over 133 years of the club. Also recognised for his latest milestone was Joe Whykes, who brought up 250 senior games during the year.
Fenech announced that he would no longer be the senior coach going into 2025, as the club remains on the hunt for his replacement.
From a netball standpoint, the Cougars also celebrated Stacey Yates who was inducted into the North Gippsland Football-Netball League Hall of Fame.
Yates brought up two massive milestones during the year, doing so in the same game, those being 250 A Grade games and 350 club games.
Rachael Kearns (nee Loechel) took out her third A Grade best and fairest, also claiming the player-voted most valuable player. Emily Lugton was the runner up, even after finishing as the runner up in the league’s best and fairest.
