James wins fourth straight Best & Fairest Award

Harden Hawkettes player Emma James has been awarded a fourth straight George Tooke Shield Ladies League Tag Best and Fairest Award in the 2021 McIntyre Medal Awards, capping off an incredible season for the team.

James has been part of the Harden league tag side since 2015, and picked up her first Best and Fairest medal in 2017.

James says that it is really special to win the award this year alongside her teammates.

“It’s such an honour to win this award, and a great personal achievement. It’s such a great honour to represent my family and my club,” James said.

“I definitely didn’t think I’d win one let alone four, there’s a lot of great talent in our competition so definitely pretty proud to win four of these great awards.”

The Hawkettes went through the 2021 competition undefeated, scoring 490 points and claiming the minor premiership.

As captain of the side, James says that she was really proud of the effort of her teammates.

“It was disappointing we couldn’t go into the finals series together but I’m always proud of the girls and the effort they put in,” James said.

“Where we finished this season, on top, undefeated and minor premiers, is another great achievement for us as a team.”

She has been part of the Harden league tag side since it started and has witnessed changes in the game, and is impressed by the growth of women’s league.

“It’s shown even throughout the [George Tooke Shield] competition this year, seeing new teams and new players, it’s been really good,” James said.

The Harden side have also had a few juniors join the side this year, which James says has been valuable.

“There are a couple of new girls that have come up from juniors, three or four of them, which is really good. They’ve just slotted into the team, they do their job and they definitely add some new skills and things to the team too which is always good,” James said.

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