Toowong resident Max Harding made history for the Pine Rivers St Andrews Hockey Club, after winning the premier individual player award of the Brisbane Hockey League.
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Playing the midfield position, the 23-year-old registered five straight player-of-the-match performances from the first five rounds of the season. Max Harding claimed seven player-of-the-match awards in total throughout 2022.
This makes Harding the first Pine Rivers St Andrews player to bring home the Best and Fairest medal, based on 3-2-1 votes from umpires after each Brisbane Hockey League 1 game, since Garry Jennison in 1997.
Also a midfielder, Jennison debuted for Australia in 1991 and returned to the national side in 1995 and 1996.
Harding was a Queensland Under 21 representative who made his Brisbane Hockey League debut in 2016 and brought up his 100th game for the 2022 season. Whilst he’s currently living in Brisbane, the hockey star originally hailed from Toowoomba.
Max Harding has come close to winning the award in a previous season a couple of years ago, finishing second in the player of the year voting in 2020.
Meanwhile, The Saints also won the The Merv Harris Memorial Shield, an award they have won for the past three seasons. It’s being awarded to the best performing Club across the Senior Men’s Competitions and Divisions of the Brisbane Hockey Association.
About the BHA Best & Fairest Medal
Brisbane Hockey Association’s Best & Fairest Medal is a prestigious honour for hockey players, and was first awarded in 1980 and went by various names, such as the Oakbridge Medal and the Fosters Medal.
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The medal is being awarded to the player who has the most votes from match umpires. Last year’s winner was also from Brisbane, Bulimba Hockey Club’s Cale Cramer (2021), with 26 points.