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\u201cI discussed the medal with my family, and we decided this is where it should be. Over time, these things can get lost, so this way it\u2019s something the club can hold on to,\u201d Mr Gordon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPoint was a great team. The backing that you get from your teammates is as much to do with you winning an individual medal as what you do yourself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were lucky to play in an era when football was football. We were less professional, we played for the game, and the friendships off the field were lifelong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr White, who went on to play reserves at Carlton Football Club, said the medals will be displayed in the Tommy Neville glass cabinet in East Point\u2019s social rooms.<\/p>\n
He agreed the best and fairest gongs are a whole-team honour that the club will be able to enjoy for generations to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t play with the team, you\u2019re not lucky enough to win something like this,\u201d Mr White said. \u201cIt\u2019s named an individual award, but it\u2019s a team award, because without them you\u2019d never get there.<\/p>\n
\u201cFooty is all about the fun, enjoyment and the mateship, and they are mates you make for life.\u201d<\/p>\n
East Point Football Netball Club memorabilia committee chair Michael Walsh said Golden Point\u2019s Henderson Medals are rare.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the 100-year history, there were only five Golden Point players that won it, so to have them put into storage for public display in the future, that\u2019s a huge thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly one player per year gets a Henderson Medal, unless there\u2019s a tie.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur memorabilia committee is for the Golden Point and East Ballarat football-netball clubs. We\u2019re doing all the history until they amalgamated in 2000.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SINCE 1954, the Ballarat Football League\u2019s best and fairest athlete of the season has been awarded the W.L. Henderson Medal. In 1959, that honour was given to 26-year-old Ian \u201cBuster\u201d Gordon. He was the first Golden Point Football Club player to ever receive it, and went on to play with St Kilda in the then […]<\/p>\n