Meet the 2023 Bendigo Sports Star Awards finalists

The winner of the 2023 Bendigo Sports Star of the Year will be announced at a black-tie gala event on the evening of Friday, 17 February.

Before then take a look back at the 14 monthly nominees in the running for the award.

 

Emma Berg

Athletics

March

Berg struck gold in the shot put event at the national track and field titles in Sydney for a second time and her best of 13.58 metres was enough to clinch the women’s open crown.

In July, she toured the United Kingdom with a national under-23 team where a best of 14.78 meters earned silver at England’s under-23 field and track championships in Bedford.

Later on the tour, Berg put the shot 15.39 meters at the English open championships, also in Bedford.

The 21-year-old from South Bendigo Athletics Club also plays a key role coaching and mentoring several of the region’s throws stars.

 

 

Kerryn Peterson

AFL

April

Kerryn was named in the AFLW All-Australian team for a third time in four seasons with the 30-year-old defender selected on the interchange bench.

The Blues’ captain earned the Game Changer’s Player of the Year award and was runner-up in the club best and fairest.

She’d previously starred on the basketball court for Bendigo Spirit and Bendigo Braves.

After switching codes, Peterson played for Bendigo Thunder and was a Blues’ rookie in 2018 and played 52 consecutive matches since her debut.

Peterson was the Maxine Crouch Trust Fund recipient in 2007-08.

 

 

Todd Murphy

Cricket

April

Murphy was selected to in the Australia A squad to tour Sri Lanka in June.

A premiership team member with Sandhurst in 2017-18, he also played in two Sheffield Shield matches and seven one-dayers for Victoria before the Sri Lanka tour.

Murphy’s played for Victoria across the 2022-23 Sheffield Shield season and Big Bash T20 for Sydney Sixers before earning selection in Australia’s squad of 18 currently on tour India.

The off-spinner from Moama is among four spinners vying to play in the four-match Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

He also played a key role in the Sixers run to the BBL finals.

 

 

Markcus Brown

Ultraman

May

Brown won Ultraman Australia’s event at Noosa, with the 40-year-old fireman in third after the first day’s competition of a 10-kilometre swim and 140-kilometre cycle.

He was second after the 280.1-kilometre cycle race on day two. Finale to the event was an 84.3-kilometre-long double marathon which he won.

After three days of intense competition in wet and windy conditions, Brown was almost 20 minutes clear of his nearest rival.

A key figure in his success was Shepparton-based coach Jason Shields as the pair focused a lot on the cycling and swimming legs after Markcus was third in Ultraman Australia the previous year.

 

 

Jenna Strauch

Swimming

May

Double gold at the Australian Swimming Championships in Adelaide earned Strauch a place in Australia’s team for the world titles in Budapest, and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

She won the 100 and 200-metre breaststroke at the nationals.

The star who first swam with Bendigo East then went onto earn silver in the 200-metre breaststroke and the 4 x 100-metre medley relay at the world titles.

In Birmingham, Strauch was second in the 200-metre breaststroke and then capped 2022 by swimming at the world short-course championships in Melbourne.

Highs were silver in the 4 x 100-metre medley relay and fourth in the 200-metre breaststroke final.

 

 

Dyson Daniels

Basketball

June

The classy guard/forward was taken at pick eight by New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA draft after the 19-year-old caught the attention of many NBA clubs in a superb season for Ignite in G League.

A graduate of the Bendigo Braves program, Daniels was the 23rd Australian drafted to the NBA.

The 19-year-old’s rookie season has included match-ups with NBA legends LeBron James and Luka Doncic.

His versatility, defensive actions and “team-first” approach are traits Daniels has brought to the court for every team he has played for and he could mark his debut season with the Pelicans with an appearance in the play-offs.

 

 

Joel Selwood

AFL

July

Geelong’s inspirational onballer and captain, Selwood played his 350th AFL game in July while a 160th win as captain surpassed the record held by triple Brownlow medallist and Essendon legend Dick Reynolds.

Selwood marked a fourth AFL premiership victory in October as Geelong romped to an 81-point win over Sydney in the grand final.

It was to be his 355th and final game.

In grand final week, Selwood was named the recipient of the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award.

His’s brilliant career included six All-Australian honours, and a record 40 finals and 245 matches as captain of the club he grew up supporting.

 

 

Col Pearse

Swimming

August

The swimming star from Bamawm, Pearse won gold in the 100-metre butterfly of the S10 class at the Commonwealth Games para swimming in Birmingham, taking the the final in 56.91 seconds to cap his first Games appearance.

The 19-year-old also competed at last year’s World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira, Portugal and earned silver in the 100-metre butterfly and 200-metre medley.

In December, Pearse was a finalist for the male Para-athlete of the year at the Australian Institute of Sport’s Sport Performance Awards.

This is the second Bendigo Sports Star of the Year nomination for Pearse.

 

 

Aaron Wilson

Lawn bowls

August

Wilson capped another brilliant Commonwealth Games campaign by winning the men’s singles final in the lawn bowls action in Birmingham beating Northern Ireland’s Gary Kelly, 21-3, in the duel for gold.

He’s the first Australian and only second bowler in Games history to win back-to-back men’s singles titles.

Wilson’s bowls career began on the greens at North Bendigo. He is now based in Sydney and plays for Cabramatta.

A long-term goal will be to bowl for Australia at the 2026 Commonwealth Games lawn bowls in Bendigo.

The 30-year-old is a dual Bendigo Sports Star of the Year winner.

 

 

Harrison Boyd

Athletics

September

The young gun from Bendigo Harriers, Boyd won gold as he ran the under-18s six-kilometre at Athletics Australia’s national cross-country championships in Oakbank in 20.10 minutes.

On the track, he struck gold in the under-18 3000 metres at last year’s Athletics Victoria state under-age field and track titles where he ran a great time of 8:47.02 at South Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium.

In winter he played a key role in the Bendigo Bats success in Athletics Victoria’s XCR series.

Harrison ran three races for the Bats at under-18 level and another three in open as the Bats were division one premiers.

 

 

Caleb Logan

Wheelchair AFL

October

Logan earned the Robert Rose medal as best and fairest in the Victorian Wheelchair Football League with a best-on-court performance in the final round clinching a dramatic victory for the Essendon star.

In season 2023 he scored a record 115 goals where the Bombers finished runner-up to Richmond and a third consecutive grand final appearance for the red and black.

Logan marked a great finish to the year by being selected in Victoria’s A squad at National Wheelchair Football Championships in November.

Victoria ended South Australia’s run of five consecutive titles as Blue scored an 87-25 victory.

 

 

Andrew Martin

Golf

November

Martin marked the biggest win of his professional golf career as he claimed the Victorian PGA Championship at Moonah Links after a four-way play-off and birdied the par-five 18th hole five times in a row to clinch a dramatic victory.

In December, Martin carded rounds of 73, 69, 68 and 67 to finish at five-under and equal 7th at the Australian Open played on the Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath layouts.

Major goal is to earn a DP World Tour card exemption.

A multiple monthly winner in Sports Star, Andrew first teed off at Neangar Park in Eaglehawk many years ago.

 

 

Tayla French

Harness racing

December

In a remarkable end to the year, French won the Haras des Trotteurs Australasian Young Drivers Championship run during Inter Dominion grand final week.

French teamed with Major Watson, a rank outsider, to win at Melton in the ninth and final race of the series.

Another high was driving Parisian Artiste to sixth place in the $250,000 Sentrack Inter Dominion Trotting Championship grand final.

Originally from Heathcote, 25-year-old French took more than 70 wins last harness racing season.

She and partner Alex Ashwood have set up a horse training business, Ashwood Training, and are operating out of Bendigo.

 

 

Jason Sleep

Water-skiing

December

It was another superb campaign by Sleep at the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation Oceania Championships in Mulwala.

Sleep struck gold in the disabled division for slalom, tricks and overall, and set a new pending world trick record.

He was also named the IWWF skier of the year for the disabled class for a third time.

At nationals, Sleep broke his trick world record and equalled his Australian slalom record.

Another highlight was the Oceania titles where he broke the world tricks record and set an Oceania slalom and trick record.

Sleep is a multiple monthly winner in Sports Star of the Year.